Bematist
{{Short description|Ancient Greek surveyors}}
File:Hodometer anagoria, Hilfsmittel der Bematisten (Schrittzähler).jpg
Bematist ({{langx|grc|βηματιστής}}), plural bematists or bematistae ({{langx|grc|βηματισταί}}), meaning 'step measurer' (from βῆμα (bema), meaning 'pace'), were specialists in ancient Greece and ancient Egypt who measured distances by pacing.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient History|entry=Bematists|year=2013|last=Tzifopoulos|first=Yannis|editor-last1= Bagnall|editor-first1= Roger S.|editor-last2= Brodersen|editor-first2= Kai|editor-last3= Champion|editor-first3= Craige B.|editor-last4= Erskine|editor-first4= Andrew|editor-last5= Huebner|editor-first5= Sabine R.|editor5-link=Sabine R. Huebner |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah09247}}
Measurements of Alexander's bematists
Bematists accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaign in Asia. Their measurements of the distances traveled by Alexander's army show a high degree of accuracy to the point that it had been suggested that they must have used an odometer, although there is no direct mentioning of such a device:
{{blockquote|The overall accuracy of the bematists' measurements should be apparent. The minor discrepancies of distance can be adequately explained by slight changes in the tracks of roads during the last 2,300 years. The accuracy of the measurements implies that the bematists used a sophisticated mechanical device for measuring distances, undoubtedly an odometer such as described by Heron of Alexandria.Engels 1978, p. 158}}
The table below lists distances of the routes as measured by two of Alexander's bematists, Diognetus and Baeton. They were recorded in Pliny's Naturalis Historia (NH 6.61–62). Another similar set of measurements is given by Strabo (11.8.9) following Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth based on work of Egyptian bematists.{{cite book |last=Russo |first=Lucio |author-link=Lucio Russo |date=2004 |title=The Forgotten Revolution |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer|pages=273–277}}All data from: Engels 1978, p. 157
| class="wikitable" | |
| ! colspan="4" | Pliny 6.61–62
! colspan="4" | Strabo 11.8.9 ! colspan="3" |Actual distance | |
|---|---|
| Route
! Milia passuum 1) ! English miles !Kilometers ! Deviation ! Stadia 2) ! English miles !Kilometers ! Deviation ! English miles !Kilometers | Route |
| Northern Caspian Gates – Hecatompylos
|align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |align="center" |1960 |{{cvt|225|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |0.8% |{{cvt|227|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | main road | |
| Southern Caspian Gates – Hecatompylos
|align="center" |133 |{{cvt|122|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |2.4% |align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |{{cvt|125|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | main road | |
| Hecatompylos – Alexandria Areion
|align="center" |575 |{{cvt|529|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |0.4% |align="center" |4530 |{{cvt|521|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |1.9% |{{cvt|531|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Silk Route | |
| Alexandria Areion – Prophtasia
|align="center" |199 |{{cvt|183|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |3.2% |align="center" |1600 |{{cvt|184|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |2.6% |{{cvt|189|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | |Herat-Juwain | |
| Prophtasia – Arachoti Polis
|align="center" |565 |{{cvt|520|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |1% |align="center" |4120 |{{cvt|474|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |9.7% |{{cvt|525|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Juwain – Kelat-i-Ghilzai | |
| Arachoti Polis – Hortospana
|align="center" |250 |{{cvt|230|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |0.4% |align="center" |2000 |{{cvt|230|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |0.4% |{{cvt|231|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | main road Kelat-i-Ghilzai – Kabul | |
| Hortospana – Alexandria ad Caucasum
|align="center" |50 |{{cvt|46|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |2.1% |align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |{{cvt|47|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Kabul – Begram | |
| Alexandria ad Caucasum – Peucolatis
|align="center" |237 |{{cvt|218|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |3.2% |align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |{{cvt|211|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Begram – Charsada | |
| Peucolatis – Taxila
|align="center" |60 |{{cvt|55|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |20% |align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |{{cvt|69|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Charsada – Taxila | |
| Taxila – Hydaspes (Jhelum)
|align="center" |120 |{{cvt|110|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |4.8% |align="center" | — |align="center" | — | align="center"|— | align="center" | — |{{cvt|105|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | Aurel Stein’s route | |
| Alexandria Areion – Bactra – Zariaspa3)
|align="center" | — |align="center" | — |align="center"|— | align="center" | — |align="center" |3870 |{{cvt|445|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | align="center" |1.6% |{{cvt|438|mi|km|disp=tablecen}} | | via Kala Nau, Bala Murghab, Maimana and Andkhui | |
| Average
| | | | align="center" |4.2% | | | | align="center" |2.8% | | | |
| Median
| | | | align="center" |2.8% | | | | align="center" |1.9% | | |
Notes:
1) 1 mille passus = {{convert|1480|meters|yards}}
2) 1 Attic stadion = {{convert|606|feet|10|inch|meters}}
3) The route is not recorded to have been followed by Alexander himself.
List of bematists
- AmyntasHeckel, Waldemar: Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire, Blackwell, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-1210-9}}, p. 26
- Baeton
- Diognetus
- Philonides of ChersonissosHeckel, Waldemar: Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire, Blackwell, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-1210-9}}, p. 216[http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=214082&bookid=224®ion=2&subregion=5 Epigraphical Database]: Elis — Olympia — 336–323 BCE
See also
References
{{Reflist|1}}
Bibliography
- Engels, Donald W. (1978). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1978, {{ISBN|0-520-04272-7}}
Category:Military personnel of Alexander the Great