Pertica (unit)
{{Short description|Ancient Roman unit of length and area}}
{{other uses|Pertica (disambiguation)}}
File:Allegory of measurement (Giovanni Zaratino Castellini).jpg
The pertica (from {{langx|la|pertica}}, measuring rod{{sfn | Morwood | 2005 | loc=pertica}}) was a pre-metric unit of either length or area, with the values varying by location. For a similar unit in Northern Europe, see perch.
Ancient Rome
In the Ancient Rome, pertica, also called decempeda,{{sfn | Duncan-Jones | 1980 | p=127}} was a unit of length, usually equal to 10 Roman feet (pedes), or approximately 2.96 meters.{{Treccani|pertica|Pertica}} The variants of pertica contained 12{{sfn | Walthew | 1981 | p=22}} and 15{{sfn | Walthew | 1981 | p=25}} pedes. Isidore of Seville (per Codex Gudianus) states that sometimes a pertica of 10, 12, 15, or 17 pedes was used by agrimensores (Roman land surveyors) to accommodate the richness of the soil and approximately even the yield per unit area.{{sfn | Kidson | 1990 | pp=74-75}}{{sfn | Duncan-Jones | 1980 | p=130 | loc = note 19}} Kidson{{sfn | Kidson | 1990 | p=75}} highlights the near-perfect match between the pertica of 17 pedes and the English version of the perch.
The same names, pertica and decempeda, were used for the surveyor's tool, a rod of the corresponding length with subdivision into smaller units, similar to the Ancient Greek kalamos.{{sfn | Senseney | 2013 | p=154}}
Italy
{{see also|Italian units of measurement}}
The linear unit in Italy was about 3 meters, area unit contained about 600 square meters. After switching to the metric system, the unit became equal to 1 decare.
File:PerticaViennese.jpg pertica is on top, Rovereto pertica at the bottom ({{ill|Palazzo Pretorio (Rovereto)|it|lt=Palazzo Pretorio, Rovereto}})]]
The regional area values significantly varied per province (in square meters):{{Treccani|pertica_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29|Pertica||1935}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book | editor-last=Morwood | editor-first=James | title=The pocket Oxford Latin dictionary: Latin - English | date=2005 | isbn=978-0-19-173958-3 | publisher = Oxford University Press}}
- {{cite journal | last=Walthew | first=C. V. | title=Possible Standard Units of Measurement in Roman Military Planning | journal=Britannia | volume=12 | date=1981 | doi=10.2307/526241 | pages=15–35 | jstor=526241 }}
- {{cite journal | last=Kidson | first=Peter | title=A Metrological Investigation | journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes | volume=53 | issue=1 | date=1990-01-01 | issn=0075-4390 | doi=10.2307/751340 | pages=71–97| jstor=751340 }}
- {{cite journal | last=Duncan-Jones | first=R. P. | title=Length-Units in Roman Town Planning: The Pes Monetalis and the Pes Drusianus | journal=Britannia | volume=11 | date=1980 | pages=127–133 | doi=10.2307/525675 | jstor=525675 }}
- {{cite book | last=Senseney | first=John R. | title=A Companion to Roman Architecture | chapter=Plans, Measurement Systems, and Surveying: The Roman Technology of Pre-Building | publisher=Wiley | date=2013-10-28 | isbn=978-1-4051-9964-3 | doi=10.1002/9781118325117.ch8 | pages = 140–156}}
Category:Ancient Roman units of measurement
Category:Obsolete units of measurement
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