Roman Distance Measurements
Unit
Roman Equivelant
Description
Modern
Mille (mille passus)
1000 passus
Roman mile. With 5 Roman feet in a passus, a Roman mile was 5,000 ft. Slightly shorter than a modern mile.
4,854 modern ft. or 1,480 meters.
Stadium (stadia)
125 passus
Used often as a measurement by sea. 125 passus = 625 Roman ft.
607 ft. or 185 meters
Actus
120 pedes
Used for land surveying and roughly translated as how far oxen would drive a plough before being turned. Equal to 120 Roman feet.
116.5 ft. or 35.5 meters
Passus
1/1000 mille or 2 gradus
Roughly the 'pace' step of a single legionary. 5 Roman ft.
4.85 ft. or 1.48 meters
Gradus (gradii)
2 1/2 pedes
1/2 passus (2.5 Roman ft.)
2.43 ft. or .74 meters
Pes (pedes)
12 unciae
Roman foot.
11.65 inches or 29.6 cm
Uncia (unciae)
Base Unit
Roman inch.
0.97 inches or 24.6 mm
Did you know?
The Groma (resembling a surveyor's cross) was the favored aligning instrument of the Romans