Stadium Meets Stadion: A Metrological Analysis of Roman Milestones in Asia Minor

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Road networks were already established in the regions of Asia Minor that came under Roman domination from the late 2nd century BC. As a ready show of the new authority, milestones conforming in distance indications to Roman practice soon appeared along the roads. It may be wondered, however, whether some form of merger was involved in the actual implementation, rather than wholesale replacement of the pre-existing metrological system. This paper investigates whether issues relating to itinerary units can be recognized, and how they were possibly addressed. The study, based on comparative analysis of sources from the Roman period, earlier textual sources and archaeological finds, is made possible by the extensive corpus of milestone information available for Asia Minor, combined with the generalized availability of digitized geographical data and computer-based tools like Google Maps, that can provide acceptably accurate length estimates if properly used. Results suggest that the ratio of eight stades to the mile was used to convert distance indications whatever the actual length of the involved stade unit. In the Roman provinces of Asia Minor, where the stadion was based on the Philetaeric foot, this would produce an accordingly longer mile. This somewhat unexpected outcome is supported by the accuracy of distances restored under this hypothesis, that turns out to be generally rather good, and can explain why to a modern reader some reported distances may appear to be shrunk when the traditional Roman unit is assumed, resulting in a somewhat distorted perception of space.