{{Short description|Roman unit of length}} A '''step''' ({{langx|la|gradus}}, <small>{{abbr|pl.|plural}}</small> ''{{lang|la|gradūs}}'') was a Roman unit of length equal to 2½ Roman feet (''{{lang|la|pedes}}'') or ½ Roman pace (''{{lang|la|passus}}''). Following its standardization under Agrippa, one step was roughly equivalent to {{convert|0.81|yd|sp=us|disp=or}}.
The '''Byzantine pace''' ({{langx|grc|βήμα}}, ''bḗma'') was an adaption of the Roman step, a distance of 2½ Greek feet.{{refn|Schilbach,<ref>{{Citation |last=Schilbach |first=Erich |title=Byzantinische Metrologie}}. {{in lang|de}}</ref> cited by Ménage.<ref>{{Citation |first=V.L. |last=Ménage |contribution=Reviews: Speros Vryonis, Jr.: ''The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization<!--sic--> from the eleventh through the fifteenth century.'' |title=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |publisher=University of London |volume=36, No. 3 |date=1973 |pages=659–661 |jstor=613605 }}.</ref>}}
Similarly, the US customary '''pace''' is a distance of 2½ feet or {{convert|30|in}}.
==See also== * Pace (unit) * Roman and Byzantine units * US customary units
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Units of length Category:Ancient Roman units of measurement
{{Unit-measurement-stub}} {{Ancient-Rome-stub}}