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Roman Units of Measurement

*Special thanks to Richard Campbell for his help here.

Roman Length Measurements

    1 uncia
=
24.6 mm/0.97 inch Roman inch
12 unciae
=
1 pes
=
295.7 mm/11.6 inches Roman foot
1.5 pedes
=
1 cubitum
=
   
2.5 pedes
=
1 gradus
=
   
2 gradus
=
1 passus
=
1.48 m/1.62 yards Roman pace
125 passus
=
1 stadium
=
   
1000 passus
=
1 mille (mille passus)
=
1480 m/1618 yards Roman mile

Liquid Measurements

The standard unit in liquid measurements was the sextarius, which was about the equivalent of one English pint (0.568 litre).
4 quartarii
=
1 sextarius
6 sextarii
=
1 congius
4 congii
=
1 urna
2 urnae
=
1 amphora

Roman Months

The Roman year revolved around the agricultural calendar, so as the sowing period started in March, this was traditionally the start of the year..

In winter there was less activity in farming than in summers, so these months were not actually named. They were considered the dead months. It was not until later in the Roman Empire that the whole of the year was standardised into the format we know and still use today.

January
=
Januarius
February
=
Februarius
March
=
Martius
April
=
Aprilis
May
=
Maius
June
=
Junius
July
=
Julius
August
=
Augustus
September
=
September
October
=
October
November
=
November
December
=
December

Roman Area Measurements

The basic measurement in Roman agricuture was the iugerium which was approximately 3000 square yards. This was reckoned to be the area of land a pair of oxen could plough in a day..
    1 iugerium
2 iugeria
=
1 heredium
100 heredia
=
1 centuria

Roman Numerals

I
=
unus
=
1
II
=
duo
=
2
III
=
tres
=
3
IV
=
quattor
=
4
V
=
quinque
=
5
VI
=
sex
=
6
VII
=
septem
=
7
VIII
=
octo
=
8
IX
=
novem
=
9
X
=
decem
=
10
XX
=
viginti
=
20
XXX
=
triginta
=
30
XL
=
quadriginta
=
40
L
=
quinquaginta
=
50
C
=
centum
=
100
CC
=
ducenti
=
200
CCC
=
trecenti
=
300
CD
=
quadringenti
=
400
D
=
quingenti
=
500
M
=
mille
=
1000

=written with a bar above them, numbers are multiplied by 1'000, so this:

=10,000
Sign for multiply by 100,000= written with a bar above with tails descending, numbers are multiplied by 100,000, so this:
Sign for multiply by 100,000=1,000,000

*Thanks to Richard Campbell for loaning me the book that made this clear.

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