02-22-2011, 11:42 AM
According to an older article on Bill Thayer's excellent website:
Quote:The type of Roman abacus which has survived is a small portable instrument with movable beads which could be slid up and down slots. This type, which has some resemblance to the Chinese suan-pan or Japanese soroban, is nowhere mentioned in Latin literature. The two surviving examples, in Rome and Paris, are both about 5 by 3 1/2 inches.
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
www.davidcord.com