15. Julian states three different proportions, of five, ten,
or fifteen modii of wheat, for one piece of gold,
according to the degrees of plenty and scarcity (in
Misopogon, p. 369). From this fact, and from some collateral
examples, I conclude that, under the successors of
Constantine, the moderate price of wheat was about
thirty-two shillings the English quarter, which is equal to
the average price of the sixty-four first years of the
present century. See Arbuthnot's Tables of Coins, Weights
and Measures, p. 88, 89. Plin. Hist. Natur. xviii. 12. Mem.
de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 718-721.
Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations, Bk. I, ch. 11 . This last I am proud to quote, as
the work of a sage and a friend.