1
Decumanus
ETHAN SPANIER
Decumanus, running east–west, and its coun-
terpart kardo, running north–south, were the
axial lines of the Roman coordinate system
used to demarcate land. These two lines ran
at right angles to one another to form an intri-
cate grid of squares and rectangles with the
farthest extent of these lines called the limites.
This coordinate system may have originated
with the layout of a military camp (castrum),
was later applied to organize a colony, and
became standard practice in Roman urban
planning. Typically, city walls were laid out in
a square shape with two principal streets (viae
principiae) bisecting the square. Parallel streets
more narrow in width ran on either side of the
main streets forming blocks (insulae) and met
at a central forum. This coordinate system also
demarcated rural land organized for centuri-
ation. This scheme divided up agriculturally
productive land into an intricate grid of squares
or rectangles, of which any one unit could be
located in terms of its relation to the two
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print page 1957.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06094
axial tracks. The most common unit was the
centuria, a square plot theoretically of 100 fam-
ily-plots, totaling 200 iugera (ca. 125 acres),
enclosed on all sides by field tracks. Ancient
authorities differ on the etymological origin of
decumanus, with Frontinus (De Limitibus)
suggesting it was a shortening of duocimanus
and Siculus Flaccus (De Quaestoriis Agris)
arguing that it referred to marking off the
length of ten actus. However, modern scholars
assert that the term, which could just mean
“large,” was simply “the wider of the two
limites designating a centuria” (Campbell
2000: 326; see also Dilke 1971: 231–3).
SEE ALSO: Colonies, Roman and Latin; Land
and landholding, Rome; Military lands;
Weights and measures, Roman.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Campbell, J. B. (2000) The writings of the Roman
land surveyors: introduction, text, translation
and commentary. London.
Dilke, O. A. W. (1971) The Roman land surveyors:
an introduction to the agrimensores. New York.