Belcher. — Land-system of the Iliad. 29 



Ivi-porc-t-ior, qui i^orcas in agro facit arando : ad Virg., 

 G. 1, 21. Furh, furuh, furlii, furrow. Similar words are lira, 

 hale, rig, link, ridge — all indicating the action of the plough.) 

 The furrow is of varied length, but quarantcna, a late Latin 

 word used in agriculture, goes to show that forty units of some 

 unknown length constitute the furrow-long. 



All the ancient village fields of England arc divided into 

 acres, furlongs, and rods. The oldest English Bible uses 

 ceceras for fields. The acre is a furrow of 40 rods long 

 multiplied by an ovpo? of 4 rods : the ancient acres vary 

 according to' the lie of the ground cultivated. There is in 

 some places in England a measurement of land called sJiot 

 or lot, and many such are mentioned in the plan of Purwell 

 Field, Hitchin (Seebohm, p. 2). These are called "long shots" 

 and " short shots," with regard to which Seebohm points out 

 that the average length of the shot is roughly identical with 

 the statute furlong of 40 poles. 



Aristarchus explains ot-po?, ovpov (s. II. x. 351) by reference 

 to the fact that mules, being nimbler than oxen, will plough 

 more land between starting - time and sunset. They are 

 T-poftiepiarepai., and the ovpa in such a case are wider than the ovpa 

 of oxen. Evening is ox-loosing time, the day is over when the 

 day's work is over : this is the ancient basis of reckoning ; 

 while generally, in the history of nations, the day's work 

 either of a yoke of oxen or of the men who work with the 

 oxen has given rise to the words used in the measure of land. 



Thus actus, being the drive of the plough through the soil, 

 is used to signify the balk between fields, and also a measure 

 of 120 feet (40 yards) : jugerum, containing so many actus, is 

 the day's work of a yoke of oxen. Mappa is 40 perches by 

 4 perches, and is used of a day's work. "Yoke," " virgate," 

 " bovate," " carucate," arise from a similar method of calcu- 

 lation. " Carucate" is a holding such as can be worked by 

 a full plough-team of eight oxen; "virgate," the work of two 

 oxen; "bovate," the work of one ox. What determines the 

 measure ? 



"This, too," says Seebohm (p. 124), " is explained. Accord- 

 ing to Welsh law it was the measure of a day's co-ploughing, 

 that is, twice the work done by an ox between starting-time 

 and mid-day." Hence w^e have in 0. Fr. jurnel, L.L, jiirnalis. 

 Germ, morgcn, all equivalent to an acre. 



It is necessary, in all these and similar references, to clear 

 the mind of the influence exercised by the daily use of fixed 

 standards or measures. All words are loosely used in the 

 early stages of national life : it is vain to search for strictness 

 of meaning in the words employed by men locally separated, 

 although using the same speech, if sej)aration is maintained 

 by fear or by mountains. As the Homeric words of measure- 



