Bematist

Bematisten (Greek βηματιστής, ' border; Pedometer ') were specialists in ancient Greece, who were trained to measure distances by counting their steps.

Measurements of Alexander Bematisten

Bematisten accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaign through Asia. Your distances above have such a high precision that was suspected that they had to have used an odometer, although there is no direct mention of such a device:

" The accuracy of the distance measurements of Bematisten should be obvious. The smaller deviations can be explained by small changes in the road over the past 2300 years. The precision of the data implies that the Bematisten used a sophisticated mechanical device to measure distances -. Undoubtedly a odometer, as described by Heron of Alexandria "

The following table lists the distances, as measured by two of Alexander's Bematisten ( Diognetus and Baeton ). The measurements were recorded in the Naturalis Historia of Pliny (NH 6.61-62 ). Further details are narrated by Strabo ( 11.8.9 ), which follows Eratosthenes.

Notes: 1) 1 mille passus = 1480 meters or 1618.5 yards 2) 1 Attic stadium = 185 m 3 ) It is not known whether Alexander himself followed this route.

Notes: If we let each of the highest statistical outliers aside, then, the average deviation of the remaining measurements of Bematisten of the actual distance at 1.9% and 1.5% in Strabo, Pliny, with a total distance of 1958 and 1605 miles.