Groma - Pompeii, Verus' Workshop |
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One of the reforms implemented by the Emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) was the unification of local measurements with those in use in Rome. This led to the universal application of the "foot," corresponding to approximately 29.65 cm, the basis of both surface and volume measurements. Regarding surface measurements, one of the primary fields of application was surveying: the measurement and division of lands according to geometrically regular models. This was done using a special surveying instrument, the groma, or "surveyor's cross", found intact only in Pompeii. A complex mechanism known as the odometer existed instead to measure the miles traveled during a journey, and is known to us only through literary sources. |
2.1 Modius 
