Stadion (unit)
Template:Short description Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Hatnote list' not found. The stadion (plural stadia, Template:Langx;[1] latinized as stadium; also anglicized as stade), was an ancient Greek unit of length, consisting of 600 ancient Greek feet (podes). There are a range of varieties or understandings of what a stadion was and is; these have been calculated by various historians, and those calculations have varied dramatically (as did perhaps the use and meaning of the term stadion over time in ancient Greece). Thus, the exact length of one stadion is not universally agreed upon today: historians estimate it at between 150 and 210 m (490 and 690 ft), with perhaps something of a convergence around the 185 metres (607 ft) length of an Attic stade.
Calculations
According to Herodotus, one stadium was equal to 600 Greek feet (podes). However, the length of the foot varied in different parts of the Greek world, and the length of the stadion has been the subject of argument and hypothesis for hundreds of years.[2]Template:R/superscript[3]Template:R/superscript
An empirical determination of the length of the stadion was made by Lev Vasilevich Firsov, who compared 81 possibly inaccurate, non-straight-line distances given by Eratosthenes and Strabo with the straight-line distances measured by modern methods, and averaged the results. He obtained a result of about 157.7 metres (172.5 yd).[2]Template:R/superscript Various comparator lengths, translating the length of a stadion into modern units of length, have been proposed, and some have been named.[4]Template:R/superscript Among them are:
| Stadion name | Length (approximate) | Description | Proposed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| metres | yards | |||
| Itinerary | 157 m | 172 yd | used in measuring the distance of a journey.[5] | Jean Antoine Letronne, 1816[2]Template:R/superscript |
| Olympic | 192 m[6] | 210 yd | 200 Heracles steps | Carl Ferdinand Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt, 1929[4]Template:R/superscript[7]Template:R/superscript |
| Ptolemaic[8]Template:R/superscript or Attic | 185 m | 202 yd | 600 × 308 mm | Otto Cuntz, 1923;[4]Template:R/superscript[8]Template:R/superscript D.R. Dicks, 1960[3]Template:R/superscript[9]Template:R/superscript |
| Babylonian–Persian | 196 m | 214 yd | 600 × 327 mm | Lehmann-Haupt, 1929[4]Template:R/superscript[7]Template:R/superscript |
| Phoenician–Egyptian | 209 m | 229 yd | 600 × 349 mm | Lehmann-Haupt, 1929[4]Template:R/superscript[7]Template:R/superscript |
Which measure of the stadion is used can affect the interpretation of ancient texts. For example, the error in the calculation of Earth's circumference by Eratosthenes[10] or Posidonius is dependent on which stadion is chosen to be appropriate.
Other uses
From the Middle Ages on, the word stadium has been used as a synonym for the furlong (which is 220 yards, equal to one eighth of a mile), which is of Old English origin.[11]
See also
- Ancient Egyptian units of measurement
- Ancient Greek units of measurement § Length
- Earth's circumference
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Template:LSJ.
- ^ a b c Donald Engels (1985). The Length of Eratosthenes' Stade. American Journal of Philology 106 (3): 298–311. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers". (subscription required).
- ^ a b J. L. Berggren, Alexander Jones (2000). Ptolemy's Geography: An Annotated Translation of the Theoretical Chapters. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Template:ISBN.
- ^ a b c d e Edward Gulbekian (1987). The Origin and Value of the Stadion Unit used by Eratosthenes in the Third Century BC. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 37 (4): 359–363. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".. (subscription required).
- ^ Hoyle, Fred Astronomy, Rathbone Books Limited, London 1962 LC 62-14108
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."stade - measurement". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b c C.F. Lehmann-Haupt (1929) "Stadion"; in August Friedrich von Pauly (ed.), Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Stuttgart: Metzler; cited in: Edward Gulbekian (1987). The Origin and Value of the Stadion Unit used by Eratosthenes in the Third Century BC. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 37 (4): 359–363. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".. (subscription required).
- ^ a b Otto Cuntz (1923). Die Geographie des Ptolemaeus: Galliae, Germania, Raetia, Noricum, Pannoniae, Illyricum, Italia (in German). Berlin: Weidmann. Cited by: Edward Gulbekian (1987). The Origin and Value of the Stadion Unit used by Eratosthenes in the Third Century BC. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 37 (4): 359–363. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".. (subscription required).
- ^ D.R. Dicks (1960). The Geographical Fragments of Hipparchus. Edited with an Introduction and Commentary. London: Athlone Press. Cited in: J. L. Berggren, Alexander Jones (2000). Ptolemy's Geography: An Annotated Translation of the Theoretical Chapters. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Template:ISBN.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Walkup, Newlyn (2005). "Eratosthenes and the Mystery of the Stades". The MAA Mathematical Sciences Digital Library. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pausanias (2012-05-17). Pausanias's Description of Greece. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108047241.
