Pertica (unit)

In the Ancient Rome, pertica, also called decempeda,[2] was a unit of length, usually equal to 10 Roman feet (pedes), or approximately 2.96 meters.

Isidore of Seville (per Codex Gudianus) states that sometimes a pertica of 10, 12, 15, or 17 pedes was used by agrimensores (Roman land surveyors) to accommodate the richness of the soil and approximately even the yield per unit area.

[6][7] Kidson[8] highlights the near-perfect match between the pertica of 17 pedes and the English version of the perch.

The same names, pertica and decempeda, were used for the surveyor's tool, a rod of the corresponding length with subdivision into smaller units, similar to the Ancient Greek kalamos.

[3] The regional area values significantly varied per province (in square meters):[10]