TALENT (Lat. talcntum, front Gk. rfXavrov, talanton. talent, weight, balance; connected with rXijrac, to bear, Lat. tonere, to lift, Skt. tulS. balance). The maximum unit of weight and value among the Greeks; the equivalent of 60 mime or 6000 drachnue. In the Homeric poems the word is used in a different sense to signify a small weight of gold, apparently of no great value, since two talents are worth less than a handsome bronze caldron. While the name is Greek, the weight came from Babylonia and Ifficenicia. Here a system of 60 shekels to a mina and 60 minx to a talent was employed in early times, and in two forms, a 'common' and a 'royal,' the latter being about one-twentieth heavier than the common. Furthermore, both forms had a 'heavy' and a 'light' system, of which the latter was one-half the former. More over, in weighing gold, 50 shekels were reckoned to a mina, or 3000 instead of 3600 to a talent. For silver, again, a new standard was introduced, so arranged that while the ratio in value of silver to gold was I to the ratio of weight should be 1 to 10 (Babylonian) or 1 to 15 (Phwnician). The 'royal' forms seem also to have varied at dif ferent times. The Greeks, in borrowing these sys
tems, naturally varied them somewhat, and we therefore find considerable variety among the dif ferent Greek States. It is obvious that a very slight variation in the weight of the shekel, or drachma, would make a large difference in the talent. Of the chief Greek systems the _Eginetan is not exactly identical with auy of these Eastern standards, but is perhaps connected with a Babylonian `royal' form, and at any rate seems to have been adapted to their trade with Asia Minor. This tal ent weighed about 37.8 kilograms. The other common standard was the Euboic-Attic with a talent of about 2G kilograms, which has been usually connected with the common light Phconi cian standard, though recent writers prefer to connect it with the Babylonian. In Athens this was used in reckoning money, while in the mar ket a talent of about 37 kilograms was em ployed. The value of the Attic silver talent, which was not a coin, hut a sum of money, was about $1080. Consult Bill, Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins (London, 1899).