Iugerum

Ancient RomanHistorical unit (no longer in standard use)Approximate value

28,800 square Roman feet, about 2,523 m² (0.62 acre). The area a yoke of oxen could plow in a day.

1 iugerum = 2,523.3408 square meters (approximately).

Approximate value. Standards for the iugerum varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.

About the iugerum

Plowland gave the iugerum its meaning. Pliny the Elder described it as the ground a single yoke of oxen could work in a day, and the name is generally linked to the Latin iugum, a yoke, though the exact derivation is argued. Columella instead tied it to the idea of joining two actus together.

Its form was a rectangle 240 Roman feet by 120, or 28,800 square feet, which works out to about 71 by 35.5 m. With the usual 296 mm foot that gives roughly 2,523 m2, the figure used here, or close to a quarter of a hectare and 0.62 acre. A slightly different foot would move the total a little, so the figure is approximate.

The Romans built a whole land system on it. Two iugera made a heredium, the plot supposedly granted to each early citizen as heritable property, and 100 heredia made a centuria. Surveyors also split it into uncial fractions, down to the scrupulum of 100 square feet. In Gaul, half an iugerum was the arepennis, which fed into the French arpent.

Sources: Wikipedia: Jugerum; Wikipedia: Roman units of measurement

Iugerum conversion chart

1 iugerum expressed in every other area unit:

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