![Allegory of measurement, the
decempeda
is under the woman's feet with Xs marking the feet subdivisions (by Giovanni Zaratino Castellini [nl], 17th century) Allegory of measurement (Giovanni Zaratino Castellini).jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Allegory_of_measurement_%28Giovanni_Zaratino_Castellini%29.jpg/220px-Allegory_of_measurement_%28Giovanni_Zaratino_Castellini%29.jpg)
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.
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.
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]
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]) PerticaViennese.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/PerticaViennese.jpg/220px-PerticaViennese.jpg)
The regional area values significantly varied per province (in square meters): [10]
The acre is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong, which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. Based upon the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac but is usually spelled out as the word "acre".
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