Miliarium

Replica of a milestone on the Via Claudia Augusta near Unterdiessen, Germany

A miliarium (Classical Latin: [miːllɪˈaːrɪ.ũː ˈau̯rɛ.ũː]) was a cylindrical, oval or parallelepiped column placed on the edge of Roman roads to mark the distances every thousand passus (double Roman steps), that is, every mile.[1] Today, this is equivalent to a distance of approximately 1480 meters.[1] The stone known as the Milliarium Aureum the point used to indicate the distance to Rome from any point in the Roman Empire.[2]

  1. ^ a b A passus is an ancient Roman unit of length that is 2 gradūs. One passus is 1.62 yards (1.48 m). There are 1000 passus in one mille, which was sometimes referred to as a mille passus. A passus was roughly the pace step of a single legionary.
  2. ^ Lajo Pérez, Rosina (1990). Léxico de arte (in Spanish). Madrid: Akal. p. 134. ISBN 9788476004937.