Pace (unit of length)

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A pace (or double-pace) is a measure of distance used in Ancient Rome. It is the measure of a full stride from the position of the heel when it is raised from the ground to the point the heel is set down again at the end of the step. In Rome this was standardized as five Roman feet (about 1.48 metres or 58.1 English inches).

The Byzantine pace or vema (βήμα ['vima]) was 2½ feet (pous).^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Erich Schilbach, Byzantinische Metrologie, cited by V.L. Ménage, Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century, Berkeley, 1971; in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) 36:3 (1973), pp. 659-661. at JSTOR (subscription required)

[edit] See also

• Ancient Roman weights and measures
• Systems of measurement
• History of measurement