View source for Plethron

{{Short description|Ancient unit of Greek measurement (unit of length)}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2020}}
<!--PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY MORE MATERIAL WITHOUT SOURCES, AND PLEASE—PAST EDITORS COMPOSING THE ARTICLE THAT NOW STANDS—RETURN TO INDICATE THE SOURCES FOR ALL THE EARLIER-ADDED, UNSOURCED MATERIAL THAT STILL APPEARS (IN CLEAR VIOLATION OF WP:VER AND WP:OR).-->
'''Plethron''' ({{langx|grc|{{linktext|πλέθρον}}}}, plural ''plethra'') is an ancient unit of Greek measurement equal to 97 to 100 [[pous|Greek feet]] (ποῦς, ''pous''; c. 30 centimeters),<ref>{{Cite web| author = Calvert, J.B.
 | date = 13 May 2010 | title = Old Units of Length | department=MySite.DU.edu | publisher = University of Denver | url=https://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/oldleng.htm |access-date = 3 March 2020}} Original creation date, 3 July 1999.</ref>{{better source|date=March 2020}} although the measures for plethra may have varied from [[polis]] to polis.{{citation needed | date = March 2020}} This was roughly the width of a typical ancient Greek athletic running-track.{{citation needed | date = March 2020}}

A plethron could also be used as a unit of measured area, and reference to the unit in defining the size of a wrestling area is made by [[Libanius]].<ref>[[Libanius]], ''[[Orationes]]'', Chapter 10.{{full|date=March 2020}}</ref>{{full|date=March 2020}}{{primary source inline|date=March 2020}} A square plethron of c. 30 by 30 meters was used as the standard  dimensions of a [[Greek wrestling]] square, since such competitions were held within the racing track in ancient Greece.{{citation needed | date = March 2020}} In other connotations, it functioned as the [[Greek units|Greek]] [[acre]], and varied in size to accommodate the amount of land a team of oxen could plow in a day.{{citation needed | date = March 2020}}

The plethron continued to be used in the [[Byzantine Empire]], where its variant uses were ultimately codified<!-- among different [[themata|themes]]{{what}} --> to refer to an area defined by sides of 100 feet or 40 [[pace (unit of length)|pace]]s (βῆμα, bema).<ref name=vlm>{{cite journal | author = Ménage, V. L. | date = 1973 | title = Review of Speros Vryonis, Jr. 'The decline of medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the process of islamization from the eleventh through the fifteenth century' [Berkeley, 1971] | journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | publisher = University of London | volume = 36 | issue = 3 | pages = 659–661 | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00120117 | jstor = 613605 }} See also Schilbach, Erich (date not provided) ''Byzantinische Metrologie''.{{full|date=March 2020}}</ref> Ultimately, the unit came to be known as the "[[stremma]]", which continues as a metric unit in modern Greece.<ref name=vlm/>

==See also==
* [[Acre]]
* [[Byzantine units]]
* [[Greek units]]
* [[Roman units]]
* [[Stremma]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite web |author=Calvert, J. B. |date=13 May 2010 |orig-year=Original creation date 3 July 1999 |title=Old Units of Length |url=https://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/oldleng.htm |department=MySite.DU.edu |publisher=University of Denver |access-date=3 March 2020}}

{{Hellenic measurement}}

[[Category:Ancient Greek units of measurement]]
[[Category:Society of the Byzantine Empire]]

{{AncientGreece-stub}}