Lucae Paeti ... de mensuris, et ponderibus Romanis, et Graecis

my continues from previous page: servant to the end, concerning the institution of heirs: whose words are these: "An inheritance is usually divided into twelve inches, which are contained under the name of an As." These parts also have their own names from the inch up to the As: Sescuncia, Sextans, Quadrans, Triens, Quincunx, Semis, Septunx, Bes, Dodrans, Dextans, Deunx, As. Thus also, Columella divided the iugerum Roman acre of land, and he divided the inch itself into a siliqua, a sextula, a scripulum, and a semiscripulum (Book 5, chapter 1), nor did he proceed beyond the semiscripulum, that is, the Greek obolus small coin/weight, even though Severinus Boethius, as far as it pertains to the discipline of geometry, divided the pedal inch not only into ninety-six semioboli and 144 siliquae, but also divided the siliqua itself, which is the sixth part of a scripulum or the third of an obolus, into two puncta points, and the point itself into two minuta minutes, and the minute into two momenta moments. These latter parts can be perceived by the mind rather than seen by the eyes or demonstrated, unless the inch were established as a quantity so large that it would receive these divisions. Pliny also mentions this sicilicus (to return to him). Likewise, the same person seems to have made an As of all Africa (Book 18, chapter 6), writing thus: "Six men possessed half of Africa when the prince Nero killed them." They also called these uncial parts by number, no less, as is evident from the same Book 33, chapter 8, which spoke thus of the Heraclean or Lydian stone: "They are small, not exceeding four inches in length and two in width." Moreover, Frontinus, in his book on aqueducts, divided the quinaria (which is a measure of water), the inch, the measuring finger, and finally the finger-scripulum itself into an As and inches. "The modulus standard of an inch," he says, "has a diameter of one finger and one-third of a finger. It holds more than the eighth part of a quinaria, that is, a sescuncia of a quinaria, and three scripula and two-thirds of a scripulum. A square finger reduced into a round one has a diameter of one finger and a sescuncia of a finger, and a sextula. It holds a dextans of a quinaria. A round finger has a diameter of a finger, and it holds a septunx, a semuncia, and a sextula of a quinaria." So far he. Regarding these divisions and names of the inch, and how they relate to the inch, I have said enough below in the fifth book. Columella called a pedal space a pedale spatium (Book 5, chapter 9), which would be of the measure of one foot, in these words: "Then let a pedal space be left for the little tree in the circuit, and thus let the plant be dug up with its own sod." Thus also they called bipedaneum and tripedaneum that which was the measure of two or three feet.