# Jugerum

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{{Short description|Roman unit of area}}

The '''jugerum''' or '''juger''' ({{langx|la|iūgerum}}, ''{{lang|la|iūgera}}'', ''{{lang|la|iūger}}'', or ''{{lang|la|iugus}}''){{efn|The form ''{{lang|la|iugus}}'' as a neuter noun{{dubious|date=January 2017}} of the third declension is very common in the oblique cases and in the plural.{{fact|date=January 2017}}}} was a [Roman unit of area](/source/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement), equivalent to a rectangle 240&nbsp;[Roman feet](/source/Roman_feet) in length and 120 feet in width (about 71×35{{Frac|1|2}}{{nbsp}}m), i.e. 28,800 square Roman feet ({{langx|la|pedes quadratum}})<ref>Colum. R. R. v.i § 6; Quintil. i.18.</ref> or about {{Frac|1|4}}{{nbsp}}[hectare](/source/hectare) (0.623&nbsp;[acre](/source/acre)).

==Name==
It was the double of the {{lang|la|[square actus](/source/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement)}}, and from this circumstance, according to some writers, it derived its name.<ref>Varro, L. L. v.35. Müller, R. R. i.10. [Actus.]</ref> It seems probable that, as the word was evidently originally the same as {{lang|la|iugum}}, a [yoke](/source/yoke), and as {{lang|la|actus}}, in its original use, meant a path wide enough to drive a single beast along, that {{lang|la|iugerum}} originally meant a path wide enough for a yoke of oxen, namely, the double of the {{lang|la|actus}} in width; and that when {{lang|la|actus quadratus}} was used for a square measure of surface, the {{lang|la|iugerum}}, by a natural analogy, became the double of the {{lang|la|actus quadratus}}; and that this new meaning of it superseded its old use as the double of the single {{lang|la|actus}}. 

[Pliny the Elder](/source/Pliny_the_Elder) states:

<blockquote>That portion of land used to be known as a "jugerum," which was capable of being ploughed by a single "jugum," or yoke of oxen, in one day; an "actus" being as much as the oxen could plough at a single spell, fairly estimated, without stopping. This last was one hundred and twenty feet in length; and two in length made a jugerum.<ref>Pliny the Elder: ''The Natural History'' (Book XVIII, Chapter 3). Translated by John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.</ref></blockquote>

Pliny (Book VIII, Chapter 16) also used jugerum as a measure of length.  The translator (Bostock) speculated that the jugerum length measurement was equivalent to the Greek [plethron](/source/plethron), about 30 meters or 100 feet. This was based on Pliny translating Aristotle's "plethron" to "jugerum".

The uncial division ''as'' was applied to the {{lang|la|iugerum}}, its smallest part being the {{lang|la|[scrupulum](/source/scrupulum)}} of 100 sq ft or 9.2 m². Thus, the {{lang|la|iugerum}} contained 288 {{lang|la|scrupula}} (Varro, R. R. l.c.). The {{lang|la|iugerum}} was the common measure of land among the Romans. Two {{lang|la|iugera}} formed an {{lang|la|[heredium](/source/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement)}}, a hundred heredia a [centuria](/source/Centuria_(unit_of_measure)), and four {{lang|la|centuriae}} a {{lang|la|saltus}}. These divisions were derived from the original assignment of landed property, in which two {{lang|la|iugera}} were given to each citizen as heritable property.<ref>Varro, l.c.; Niebuhr, ''Hist. of Rome'', vol. II, pp. 156– and Appendix II.</ref>

[Columella](/source/Lucius_Columella) states:

<blockquote>The square actus is bounded by 120 feet each way: when doubled it forms a iugerum, and it has derived the name iugerum from the fact that it was formed by joining.<ref>Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (1954). ''On Agriculture'' (''De Re Rustica'', Book V). Translated by Forster and Heffner. London: Heinemann MCMLIV.</ref></blockquote>

In [Gaul](/source/Roman_Gaul), half of a ''jugerum'' was called an ''arepennis'' ("head of a furrow”). It was the measure of a plowed furrow before the plowman turned the plow to cut a new parallel furrow. It was the origin of the later French unit of area, the ''[arpent](/source/arpent)''.

==See also==
* [Ancient Roman units of measurement](/source/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement)

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Noteslist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== General and cited references ===
* ''[A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities](/source/A_Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Antiquities)'' (1842)

Category:Ancient Roman units of measurement
Category:Units of area

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