in Roman antiquity, a piece of money put into the mouth of a person deceased, to enable him to pay Charon, the ferryman, for his passage. It required to be of the current coin of the reigning emperor; and hence from this money the time of the person's death may be known. The sum for poor men was about a farthing, but the rich in general were very liberal to Charon, as appears from the number of coins often found in the neighbour- hood of Rome upon opening the graves of great men. A similar custom prevailed amongst the Greeks. The money put into the mouth of the deceased was by them called δάκρυον.