Drakhme

It is a singular fact that payment for attending the assembly, by contrast with payment for jury-service, did rise during the fourth century: beginning at one sixth of a drakhme after the democratic restoration of 403, it was soon raised to half a drakhme, and by the 320’s it stood at one and a half drakhmai for each ‘principal’ meeting and one drakhme for each of the rest.

The building accounts of the Erekhtheion (409/8 and 408/7) show 1 drakhme a day as the usual wage irrespective of whether the workman was metic, slave or citizen, while in the Eleusinian accounts (329/8) unskilled labourers are recorded as receiving 1½ drakhmai a day and semi-skilled and skilled workers 2 or 2½ drakhmai.

For under his administration the measures were made larger than those of Pheidon; and the mina which previously had a weight of 70 drakhmai was advanced to the full 100. (The standard coin in early times was the 2-drakhme piece.)