Pertica (unit)

For other uses, see Pertica (disambiguation).

Allegory of measurement, the decempeda is under the woman's feet with Xs marking the feet subdivisions (by Giovanni Zaratino Castellini  [ nl ], 17th century)

The pertica (from Latin : pertica, measuring rod ^[1] ) 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, ^[2] was a unit of length, usually equal to 10 Roman feet (pedes), or approximately 2.96 meters. ^[3] The variants of pertica contained 12 ^[4] and 15 ^[5] 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. ^{[6] [7]} Kidson ^[8] 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. ^[9]

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. ^[3]

Viennese pertica is on top, Rovereto pertica at the bottom (Palazzo Pretorio, Rovereto  [ it ])

The regional area values significantly varied per province (in square meters): ^[10]

• Bergamo 662;
• Como (milanese) 655;
• Cremona 808;
• Pavia 770;
• Piacenza 762;
• Sondrio 688.

References

1. Morwood 2005, pertica.
2. Duncan-Jones 1980, p. 127.
3. Pertica entry (in Italian) in the Enciclopedia Treccani
4. Walthew 1981, p. 22.
5. Walthew 1981, p. 25.
6. Kidson 1990, pp. 74–75.
7. Duncan-Jones 1980, p. 130, note 19.
8. Kidson 1990, p. 75.
9. Senseney 2013, p. 154.
10. Pertica entry (in Italian) in the Enciclopedia Treccani , 1935

Sources

• Morwood, James, ed. (2005). The pocket Oxford Latin dictionary: Latin - English. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-173958-3.
• Walthew, C. V. (1981). "Possible Standard Units of Measurement in Roman Military Planning". Britannia. 12: 15–35. doi:10.2307/526241. JSTOR   526241.
• Kidson, Peter (1990-01-01). "A Metrological Investigation". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 53 (1): 71–97. doi:10.2307/751340. ISSN   0075-4390. JSTOR   751340.
• Duncan-Jones, R. P. (1980). "Length-Units in Roman Town Planning: The Pes Monetalis and the Pes Drusianus". Britannia. 11: 127–133. doi:10.2307/525675. JSTOR   525675.
• Senseney, John R. (2013-10-28). "Plans, Measurement Systems, and Surveying: The Roman Technology of Pre-Building". A Companion to Roman Architecture. Wiley. pp. 140–156. doi:10.1002/9781118325117.ch8. ISBN   978-1-4051-9964-3.