I] MEASURES OF LAND 37 



Latin acnua.^ The smallest division of a iugerum is 

 called a scripulum^ that is, a square 10 feet by 10. 

 Taking this (iugerum) as the unit, land surveyors 

 sometimes when speaking of a bit of land which is 

 left over after they have reached the iugerum^'^ call 

 it an ounce, or two ounces, or whatever it be, for 

 the iugerum has 288 scripula^ which is what our 

 ancient as weighed before the Punic w^ar/ A couple 

 of iugera, an allotment said to have been made first 

 by Romulus to each man to descend to his heir, 

 was called a heritage, heredium. Afterwards these 

 hundred ** heritages" (200 iugera) were called a 

 centuria. Acenturia (133 acres) is a perfect square, 

 each side of which is 2,400 feet long. Four centuriae^ 

 moreover, joined so that there be two together in 

 every direction, are, in the case of allotments to 

 individuals by the State, called a saltt^s, 



' Latine acnua appellatur. Columella, v, i, 5, mentions the 

 Gallic equivalent for actus (half a iugerum) as arepennis 

 (French arpent), and states that this measure was called by 

 the farmers of Baetica acnua. In the same section he quotes 

 Varro in relation to the actus minimus (480 sq. ft.). Probably 

 some words have dropped out of the text, or Baetice should 

 be read instead of Latine. 



' In subsecivum. In subsecivo seems a probable emenda- 

 tion. It would mean "in the case of a piece left over." A 

 copyist might easily take in subsecivo for in subsecivo^ stand- 

 ing for in subsecivom. 



* Unciam agri. The cls — originally a measure of weight — 

 was divided into 12 ounces or 288 scripula (scruples). The 

 iugerum was also divided into 288 scripula. Hence fractions 

 of the iugerum might be expressed by the sam denomination 

 as fractions of the as. 



