Greek Anthology Book XIV: Metrodorus: 123

Arithmetical Epigram of Metrodorus
Take, my son, the fifth part of my inheritance, and thou, wife, receive the twelfth; and ye four sons of my departed son and my two brothers, and thou my grieving mother, take each an eleventh part of the property. But ye, my cousins, receive twelve talents, and let my friend Eubulus have five talents. To my most faithful servants I give their freedom and these recompenses in payment of their service. Let them receive as follows. Let Onesimus have twenty-five minae and Davus twenty minae, Syrus fifty, Synete ten and Tibius eight, and I give seven minae to the son of Syrus, Synetus. Spend thirty talents on adorning my tomb and sacrifice to Infernal Zeus. From two talents let the expense be met of my funeral pyre, the funeral cakes, and grave-clothes, and from two let my corpse receive a gift.

Solution
Let $n$ be the value in of the narrator's inheritance.


 * To friends and relatives:


 * $\dfrac n 5$ goes to the son


 * $\dfrac n {12}$ goes to the wife


 * $\dfrac {7 n} {11}$ goes to $4$ grandsons, $2$ brothers and mother


 * $12$ go to the cousins


 * $5$ go to Eubulus


 * To the various servants:


 * $25$ go to Onesimus


 * $20$ go to Davus


 * $50$ go to Syrus


 * $10$ go to Synete


 * $8$ go to Tibius


 * $7$ go to Synetus


 * In addition


 * $30$ are spent on adorning the tomb and the sacrifice to Zeus


 * $2$ are spent on the funeral pyre, party food and gladrags


 * $2$ are spent on the gift for the corpse ("probably precious ointment", suggests ).

First let us add up the specific amounts.

The servants get:

Thus the total of the specific allocations:

Finally:

So the narrator's inheritance is valued at $660$, of which:


 * $132$ go to the son


 * $55$ go to the wife


 * $420$ go to the $4$ grandsons, $2$ brothers and mother

and the remaining $53$ are specifically allocated.