Lewis & Short

stătēra, ae, f. [perhaps kindred with στάθμη, a rule], a steelyard; also, a balance (syn.: libra, trutina).

  1. I. Lit., Vitr. 10, 8; Petr. 35; Suet. Vesp. 25; Plin. 31, 3, 23, § 38; Stat. S. 4, 9, 46: auraria, a goldsmith’s scales, Varr. ap. Non. 455, 20; called also aurificis, Cic. de Or. 2, 38, 159.
    1. B. Transf., of any thing of a similar shape.
      1. * 1. The pole-bar of a chariot, Stat. S. 4, 3, 35.
      2. * 2. A kind of platter, so called from its resemblance to the scale of a steelyard or balance, Nep. ap. Plin. 33, 11, 52, § 146.
  2. * II. Trop., the value of a thing, Plin. 12, 26, 57, § 127.