Re: measuring systems (was: Selenites)

Raymond A. Brown wrote:

> It was.  10 old Roman miles is approx.11 modern AngloAmerican miles.  the
> Roman miles was indeed 1000 "paces", but the "paces" (passus) was a double
> step, i.e. 'left, right', and was regularized as 5 Roman feet, therefore, 1
> Roman mile was 5000 Roman feet.
>
> The Roman mile was approx. 1.5 kilometers & the foot slightly shorter than
> the AngloAmerican foot.
All hail the "units" program, which provides the following
equivalences:

1 Roman foot (pes) = 29.6 cm.
1 Roman pace (passus) = 5 Roman feet = 148 cm.
1 Roman mile = 1000 Roman paces = 1.48 km.

The comments provided with the control table state that in
pre-Imperial times the Roman foot was 29.73 cm; that the
"pes Drusianus", used in Gaul and Germany in the 1st century B.C.E.,
was 33.3 cm; and that in late Imperial times the foot was only
29.42 cm.  The U.S. and Imperial foot is 2.54 x 12 = 30.48 cm,
the mile near enough 1.61 km.

I repeat my standing offer to send "units" to anyone who
has a DOS-compatible computer.  It has all kinds of snazzy units,
and the control table is ASCII, so you can roll your own con-units
as desired.  (How many furlongs in a gzorpnith?)

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)