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EspañolANCIENT ROMAN UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
(Redirected from Ancient Roman weights and measures)
The 'ancient Roman units of measurement' were built on the Greek system with Egyptian influences. The Roman units were generally accurate and well documented.
Modern metrologists have found the Roman foot to be of the Nippur cubit.
'Notes'
#From late Antiquity the Roman foot was sometimes divided into unciae comprising 12 equal parts.
The ancient digit measure, however, largely dominated before the beginning of the Middle Ages.
#The value of the historical Roman foot scientifically obtained through modern statistical methods is 296.2 mm ± 0.5 mm, or about (296.2 ±0.17%) mm ''(cf. Rottländer, Tübingen, Germany)''. The table above is based on this value, but rounded to the millimetre precision for the foot.
# The widely accepted ratio between the Roman foot and the English foot is 36:35. The latter one is 16/28 Mesopotamian cubit and the ratio between this one and the Roman cubit is 20:24. If the present English foot is taken as for reference, the Roman foot should be 296 1/3 mm. That is within the margin obtained by R.C.A. Rottländer ''(see references)''.
#A Roman foot can be visualised as being approximately equal to the height of an A4 sheet of paper. This comparison, although descriptive, is +0.27% out of the range given above.
The Roman acre is the squared Roman arpent, 120 pedes by 120 pedes. This equals 14 400 square feet or about 0.126 hectares.
The Romans also had a unit of area called a quinaria, which was used to measure the cross-sectional area of pipes. One quinaria was considered to be roughly 4.2 cm².
''Note: '' Some researchers assert that the Roman surveyors used a perch of ten Greek "Pous of Kyrenaika", i.e. 3.087 m instead of the perch of ten of their own feet, equal 2.964 m.
According to this hypothesis – currently not supported by the majority of modern metrologists – all the Roman area measures should be multiplied by 625/576, i.e. 8.5 % larger.
If the irrefutable proof for the real existence of a Roman surveyor perch of 10 Roman feet 6⅔ digits can be adduced, then the saltus equates to one Roman square mile exactly.
The Roman jar, so-called "amphora quadrantal" is the cubic foot. The congius is half-a-foot cubed. The Roman sester is the sixth of a congius.
Like the jar, the Roman bushel or "quadrantal" is one cubic foot. It is almost 26.027 L. One-third of a quandrantal is a Roman peck.
The Roman pound is exactly three quarters of the Greek mine.
Thus the Greek and Roman drachm is related by the ratio 32 to 25.
One and a half ounces was called by Romans "sescuncia". Some of these nouns were used to designate Roman bronze coins.
The Julian calendar was introduced in 45 BC replacing the earlier Roman calendar. In the Julian calendar as in the Gregorian calendar an ordinary year is 365 days long and a leap year is 366 days long. The difference is which years are leap years. In the Julian calendar every fourth year is a leap year. The Gregorian calendar uses a more complex algorithm to more closely approximate the length of the tropical year.
★ Vormetrische Längeneinheiten by Rolf C. A. Rottländer, Rottenburg / Köln ''(also see Search-Engine).''
★ Recovery of the Ancient System Foot/Cubit/Stadion by Dieter Lelgemann, acting Director of the Institute for Geodesy and Geo-Information Technology, TU Berlin.
★ On the Ancient Determination of Meridian Arc Length by Eratosthenes of Kyrene Dieter Lelgemann, WS – History of Surveying and Measurement, Athens, Greece, May 22-27, 2004.
★ Knobloch, Eberhard, Dieter Lelgemann und Andreas Fuls: "Zur hellenistischen Methode der Bestimmung des Erdumfangs und zur Asienkarte des Klaudios Ptolemaios.", published in zfv (Zeitschrift für Geodäsie, Geoinformation und Landmanagment) 128. Jahrgang, Heft 3/2003, S. 211-217.
★ Reference draws of the Nippur Cubit at Florencetime.net.
★ Proposal to Add Ancient Roman Weights and Monetary Signs to UCS (Universal Character Set)
★ Systems of measurement
★ History of measurement
★ Units of measurement
The 'ancient Roman units of measurement' were built on the Greek system with Egyptian influences. The Roman units were generally accurate and well documented.
| Contents |
| Length |
| Area |
| Volume |
| Liquid measures |
| Dry measures |
| Mass and Coins |
| Time |
| References |
| See also |
Length
Modern metrologists have found the Roman foot to be of the Nippur cubit.
| Roman unit | Latin name | Feet | Equivalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| one digit | digitus | 18.5 mm | |
| one inch | uncia | 24.6 mm | |
| one palm | palmus | 74 mm | |
| 'one foot' | 'pes' | '1' | '296 mm' |
| one cubit | cubitus | 444 mm | |
| one step | gradus | 0.74 m | |
| one pace | passus | 5 | 1.48 m |
| one perch | pertica | 10 | 2.96 m |
| one arpent | actus | 120 | 35.5 m |
| one stadium | stadium | 625 | 185 m |
| one mile | milliarium | 5000 | 1.48 km |
| one league | leuga | 7500 | 2.22 km |
'Notes'
#From late Antiquity the Roman foot was sometimes divided into unciae comprising 12 equal parts.
The ancient digit measure, however, largely dominated before the beginning of the Middle Ages.
#The value of the historical Roman foot scientifically obtained through modern statistical methods is 296.2 mm ± 0.5 mm, or about (296.2 ±0.17%) mm ''(cf. Rottländer, Tübingen, Germany)''. The table above is based on this value, but rounded to the millimetre precision for the foot.
# The widely accepted ratio between the Roman foot and the English foot is 36:35. The latter one is 16/28 Mesopotamian cubit and the ratio between this one and the Roman cubit is 20:24. If the present English foot is taken as for reference, the Roman foot should be 296 1/3 mm. That is within the margin obtained by R.C.A. Rottländer ''(see references)''.
#A Roman foot can be visualised as being approximately equal to the height of an A4 sheet of paper. This comparison, although descriptive, is +0.27% out of the range given above.
Area
| Roman unit | Latin name | Acres | Equivalence |
|---|---|---|---|
''also known as'' acnua | |||
The Roman acre is the squared Roman arpent, 120 pedes by 120 pedes. This equals 14 400 square feet or about 0.126 hectares.
The Romans also had a unit of area called a quinaria, which was used to measure the cross-sectional area of pipes. One quinaria was considered to be roughly 4.2 cm².
''Note: '' Some researchers assert that the Roman surveyors used a perch of ten Greek "Pous of Kyrenaika", i.e. 3.087 m instead of the perch of ten of their own feet, equal 2.964 m.
According to this hypothesis – currently not supported by the majority of modern metrologists – all the Roman area measures should be multiplied by 625/576, i.e. 8.5 % larger.
If the irrefutable proof for the real existence of a Roman surveyor perch of 10 Roman feet 6⅔ digits can be adduced, then the saltus equates to one Roman square mile exactly.
Volume
Liquid measures
| Roman unit | Latin name | Sesters | Equivalence |
|---|---|---|---|
The Roman jar, so-called "amphora quadrantal" is the cubic foot. The congius is half-a-foot cubed. The Roman sester is the sixth of a congius.
Dry measures
| Roman unit | Latin name | Pecks | Equivalence |
|---|---|---|---|
Like the jar, the Roman bushel or "quadrantal" is one cubic foot. It is almost 26.027 L. One-third of a quandrantal is a Roman peck.
Mass and Coins
The Roman pound is exactly three quarters of the Greek mine.
Thus the Greek and Roman drachm is related by the ratio 32 to 25.
| All the multiples of the Roman ounce have their own names | |||
|---|---|---|---|
One and a half ounces was called by Romans "sescuncia". Some of these nouns were used to designate Roman bronze coins.
Time
The Julian calendar was introduced in 45 BC replacing the earlier Roman calendar. In the Julian calendar as in the Gregorian calendar an ordinary year is 365 days long and a leap year is 366 days long. The difference is which years are leap years. In the Julian calendar every fourth year is a leap year. The Gregorian calendar uses a more complex algorithm to more closely approximate the length of the tropical year.
References
★ Vormetrische Längeneinheiten by Rolf C. A. Rottländer, Rottenburg / Köln ''(also see Search-Engine).''
★ Recovery of the Ancient System Foot/Cubit/Stadion by Dieter Lelgemann, acting Director of the Institute for Geodesy and Geo-Information Technology, TU Berlin.
★ On the Ancient Determination of Meridian Arc Length by Eratosthenes of Kyrene Dieter Lelgemann, WS – History of Surveying and Measurement, Athens, Greece, May 22-27, 2004.
★ Knobloch, Eberhard, Dieter Lelgemann und Andreas Fuls: "Zur hellenistischen Methode der Bestimmung des Erdumfangs und zur Asienkarte des Klaudios Ptolemaios.", published in zfv (Zeitschrift für Geodäsie, Geoinformation und Landmanagment) 128. Jahrgang, Heft 3/2003, S. 211-217.
★ Reference draws of the Nippur Cubit at Florencetime.net.
★ Proposal to Add Ancient Roman Weights and Monetary Signs to UCS (Universal Character Set)
See also
★ Systems of measurement
★ History of measurement
★ Units of measurement
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