The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: [17] L40:12:4 = 1000 drachmae.
[18] I.e. exactly 18 or nearly 20 per cent. The following table will
make the arithmetic clear:--
6 ob. = 1 drachma 10 minae = 6000 ob.
100 dr. = 1 mina = 1000 dr.
600 ob. = 1 mina 1000 dr.:180 dr.::100:18 therefore nearly 1/5
3 ob. (a day) x 360 = 1080 ob. p.a. = nearly 20 per cent.
= 180 dr. p.a.
As to the 3 obols a day (= 180 dr. p.a.) which as an Athenian
citizen he is entitled to, see Grote, op. cit. p. 597: "There will
be a regular distribution among all citizens, per head and
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