Step (unit)

A step ({{langx|la|gradus}}, {{abbr|pl.|plural}} {{lang|la|gradūs}}) was a Roman unit of length equal to 2½ Roman feet ({{lang|la|pedes}}) or ½ Roman pace ({{lang|la|passus}}). Following its standardization under Agrippa, one step was roughly equivalent to {{convert|0.81|yd|sp=us|disp=or}}.

The Byzantine pace ({{langx|grc|βήμα}}, bḗma) was an adaption of the Roman step, a distance of 2½ Greek feet.{{refn|Schilbach,{{Citation |last=Schilbach |first=Erich |title=Byzantinische Metrologie}}. {{in lang|de}} cited by Ménage.{{Citation |first=V.L. |last=Ménage |contribution=Reviews: Speros Vryonis, Jr.: The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century. |title=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |publisher=University of London |volume=36, No. 3 |date=1973 |pages=659–661 |jstor=613605 }}.}}

Similarly, the US customary pace is a distance of 2½ feet or inch.