Aquinqum BHM IMG 0662 land surveyor equipment

''Gromatici'' (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

'' groma'' or ''gruma'', a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

's pole) or ''agrimensores'' was the name for

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

s amongst the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

. The "gromatic writers" were

technical writers A technical writer is a professional information communicator whose task is to transfer information between two or more parties, through any medium that best facilitates the transfer and comprehension of the information. Technical writers researc ...

who codified their techniques of surveying, most of whose preserved writings are found in the '' Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum''.

History

Stele funeraria dei liberti Aebutii con strumenti di misurazione - CIL VI 10588 dettaglio

Roman Republic

At the foundation of a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

and the assignation of lands the

auspice Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" ( Latin ''aus ...

s were taken, for which purpose the presence of the

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...

was necessary. But the business of the augur did not extend beyond the religious part of the ceremony: the division and measurement of the land were made by professional measurers. These were the ''finitores'' mentioned by the early writers, who in the later periods were called ''mensores'' and ''agrimensores''. The business of a ''finitor'' could only be done by a free man, and the honourable nature of his office is indicated by the rule that there was no bargain for his services, but he received his pay in the form of a gift. These ''finitores'' appear also to have acted as judices, under the name of ''arbitri'' (single ''arbiter''), in those disputes about boundaries which were purely of a technical, not a legal, character. The first professional surveyor mentioned is Lucius Decidius Saxa, who was employed by

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

in the measurement of camps.

Roman Empire

Under the

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

the observance of the

s in the fixing of camps and the establishment of military colonies was less regarded, and the practice of the ''agrimensores'' was greatly increased. The distribution of land amongst the veterans, the increase in the number of military colonies, the settlement of Italian peasants in the provinces, the general survey of the empire under Augustus, the separation of private and state domains, led to the establishment of a recognized professional corporation of surveyors. The practice was also codified as a system by

such as

Julius Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

, Siculus Flaccus, and other Gromatic writers, as they are sometimes termed. The teachers of

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

in the large cities of the empire used to give practical instruction on the system of gromatics. This practical geometry was one of the ''liberalia studia''; but the professors of geometry and the teachers of law were not exempted from the obligation of being tutores, and from other such burdens, a fact which shows the subordinate rank which the teachers of elementary science then held. The ''agrimensor'' could mark out the limits of the ''

centuria ''Centuria'' (, plural ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the century changed over time, and from the first century BC through most ...

e'', and restore the boundaries where they were confused, but he could not assign without a commission from the emperor. Military persons of various classes are also sometimes mentioned as practising surveying, and settling disputes about boundaries. The lower rank of the professional ''agrimensor'', as contrasted with the ''finitor'' of earlier periods, is shown by the fact that in the imperial period there might be a contract with an ''agrimensor'' for paying him for his services.

Late empire

The ''agrimensor'' of the later period was merely employed in disputes as to the boundaries of properties. The foundation of colonies and the assignation of lands were now less common, though we read of colonies being established to a late period of the empire, and the boundaries of the lands must have been set out in due form. Those who marked out the ground in camps for the soldiers' tents are also called ''mensores'', but they were military men. The functions of the ''agrimensor'' are shown by a passage of

, in all questions as to determining boundaries by means of the marks (''signa''), the area of surfaces, and explaining maps and plans, the services of the ''agrimensor'' were required: in all questions that concerned property, right of road, enjoyment of water, and other easements (''servitutes'') they were not required, for these were purely legal questions. Generally, therefore, they were either employed by the parties themselves to settle boundaries, or they received their instructions for that purpose from a ''

judex Judex (real name Jacques de Trémeuse) is a fictional French vigilante hero created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède for the 1916 silent film ''Judex''. Judex (whose name is Latin for "judge") is a mysterious avenger who dresses in black and ...

''. In this capacity they were '' advocati''. But they also acted as ''judices'', and could give a final decision in that class of smaller questions which concerned the ''quinque pedes'' of the Lex Mamilia (the law setting which boundary spaces were not subject to ''

usucapio ''Usucapio'' was a concept in Roman law that dealt with the acquisition of ownership of something through possession. It was subsequently developed as a principle of civil law systems, usucaption. It is similar to the common law concept of adverse p ...

''), as appears from Frontinus. Under the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

emperors the name ''mensores'' was changed into ''agrimensores'' to distinguish them from another class of '' mensores'', who are mentioned in the codes of

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

and

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

. By a

rescript In legal terminology, a rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response (it literally means 'written back') to a specific demand made by its addressee. It does not apply to more general legislation. Over ...

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

and

Constans Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was mad ...

(344 AD) the teachers and learners of geometry received immunity from civil burdens. According to a constitution of

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

and

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

(440 AD), they received jurisdiction in questions of '' alluvio''; but some writers disagree that this crucial passage is genuine. According to another constitution of the same emperors, the ''agrimensor'' was to receive an

aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cen ...

from each of any three bordering proprietors whose boundaries he settled, and if he set a ''

limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a ...

'' right between proprietors, he received an aureus for each twelfth part of the property through which fee restored the ''limes''. Further, by another constitution of the same emperors, the young ''agrimensores'' were to be called "clarissimi" while they were students, and when they began to practise their profession, "spectabiles".

Jean-Baptiste Dureau de la Malle Jean-Baptiste Dureau de la Malle (27 November 1742, Ouanaminthe, Saint-Domingue – 19 September 1807) was a Saint Dominican writer of French literature and translator. He was made a member of the " Corps législatif" in 1802 and was admitted in ...

. ''Economie Politique des Romains'', vol. i. p. 170

Writers and works

The earliest of the gromatic writers was

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

, whose ''De agrorum qualitate'', dealing with the legal aspect of the art, was the subject of a commentary by Aggenus Urbicus, a Christian schoolmaster. Under

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

a certain Balbus, who had accompanied the emperor on his

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

n campaign, wrote a still extant manual of geometry for land surveyors (''Expositio et ratio omnium formarum or mensurarum'', probably after a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

original by

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

), dedicated to a certain Celsus who had invented an improvement in a gromatic instrument (perhaps the ''

dioptra A dioptra (sometimes also named dioptre or diopter, from el, διόπτρα) is a classical astronomical and surveying instrument, dating from the 3rd century BC. The dioptra was a sighting tube or, alternatively, a rod with a sight at b ...

'', resembling the modern

theodolite A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...

); for the treatises of

see that name. Somewhat later than

was Siculus Flaccus (''De condicionibus agrorum'', extant), while the most curious treatise on the subject, written in barbarous

and entitled ''Casae litterarum'' (long a school textbook) is the work of a certain Innocentius (4th-5th century). It is doubtful whether Boetius is the author of the treatises attributed to him. The ''Gromatici veteres'' also contains extracts from official registers (probably belonging to the 5th century) of colonial and other land surveys, lists and descriptions of boundary stones, and extracts from the ''Theodosian Codex''. According to Mommsen, the collection had its origin during the 5th century in the office of a vicarius (diocesan governor) of Rome, who had a number of surveyors under him. The surveyors were known by various names: ''decempedator'' (with reference to the instrument used); ''finitor'', ''metator'' or ''mensor castrorum'' in republican times; ''togati Augustorum'' as imperial civil officials; professor, ''auctor'' as professional instructors. The best edition of the ''Gromatici'' is by

Karl Lachmann Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann (; 4 March 1793 – 13 March 1851) was a German philologist and critic. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to the field of textual criticism. Biography Lachmann was born in Brun ...

and others (1848) with supplementary volume, ''Die Schriften der römischen Feldmesser'' (1852). The 1913 edition of Carl Olof Thulin contains only a few works. The 2000 edition of Brian Campbell is much broader and also contains an English translation..

History

Roman Republic

Roman Empire

Late empire

Writers and works

See also

References

Further reading