congius

ancient Roman unit of measurement

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 16, 2026

Quick Summary

The congius was an ancient Roman unit of liquid capacity. It was equivalent to approximately 3.48 liters or nearly a gallon. This measure was part of a system that included other units like the sextarius, urna, and amphora. The congius was one of the principal Roman capacity measures for liquids.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

4 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

measurement system
Greeks and Romans
…products and the quartarus, sextarius, congius, urna, and amphora for liquids. Since all of these were based on the sextarius and since no two extant sextarii are identical, a mean generally agreed upon today is 35.4 cubic inches, or nearly 1 pint (0.58 litre). The hemina, or half-sextarius, based on…
Read More
…products and the quartarus, sextarius, congius, urna, and amphora for liquids. Since all of these were based on the sextarius and since no two extant sextarii are identical, a mean generally agreed upon today is 35.4 cubic inches, or nearly 1 pint (0.58 litre). The hemina, or half-sextarius, based on…
Read More