Bematists or bematistae (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

βηματισταί (''bēmatistaí'', 'step measurer'), from βῆμα (''bema'', 'pace')), were specialists in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

and ancient Egypt who measured distances by pacing.

Measurements of Alexander's bematists

Bematists accompanied

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

on his campaign in Asia. Their measurements of the distances traveled by Alexander's army show a high degree of accuracy to the point that it had been suggested that they must have used an

odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...

, although there is no direct mentioning of such a device: The table below lists distances of the routes as measured by two of Alexander's bematists, Diognetus and Baeton. They were recorded in Pliny's

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

(''NH'' 6.61–62). Another similar set of measurements is given by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

(11.8.9) following

Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; grc-gre, Ἐρατοσθένης ; – ) was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria ...

. Eratosthenes calculated the

circumference of the Earth Earth's circumference is the distance around Earth. Measured around the Equator, it is . Measured around the poles, the circumference is . Measurement of Earth's circumference has been important to navigation since ancient times. The first kno ...

based on work of Egyptian bematists. Notes:
¹⁾ 1 mille passus =
²⁾ 1 Attic stadion =
³⁾ The route is not recorded to have been followed by Alexander himself.

List of bematists

* Amyntas * Baeton * Diognetus * Philonides of

Chersonissos Hersonissos ( el, Χερσόνησος, meaning "peninsula", ''Chersónisos'', ), also transliterated as ''Chersonissos'' and ''Hersónisos'', is a town and a local government unit in the north of Crete, bordering the Mediterranean / Aegean Sea. T ...

Epigraphical Database

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

— Olympia — 336–323 BCE

References

Bibliography

* Engels, Donald W. (1978). ''Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army''. University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1978, {{ISBN, 0-520-04272-7 Military personnel of Alexander the Great Ancient Greek technology Obsolete occupations Length, distance, or range measuring devices

Measurements of Alexander's bematists

List of bematists

See also

References

Bibliography