Miles to Roman Cubits (mi to cubitum)

1 mile equals 3,624.648649 Roman cubits (rounded).

1 mile = 3,624.648649 Roman cubits

How to convert miles to Roman cubits

To convert miles to Roman cubits, multiply the number of miles by 3,624.648649. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply Roman cubits by 0.0002758888094 (rounded).

Roman cubits = miles × 3,624.648649

Example: 10 miles = 36,246.48649 Roman cubits.

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

About these units

Mile (mi)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

5,280 feet or 1,760 yards, exactly 1,609.344 meters. This is the statute (international) mile used on US and UK roads.

A thousand paces gave the mile its name. It descends from the Latin mille passus, the Roman mile, by way of Old English mil and Middle English myle. For centuries after Rome, miles of many lengths coexisted; a sixteenth-century Mercator map, for example, shows small, medium and large Flemish miles on a single scale bar. The English statute mile was fixed by an Act of Parliament under Elizabeth I in 1593, which declared that a mile contains eight furlongs, or 5,280 feet.

The 1959 international yard and pound agreement made that mile exactly 1,609.344 meters. A slightly longer US survey mile, about 1,609.347 meters, lingered in American land surveys and was slated for retirement from 1 January 2023. Today the mile is the road unit of the United Kingdom, the United States, Liberia and Myanmar, along with several territories such as the Bahamas, Belize, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. In Canada it survives chiefly in rail transport and horse racing.

1 mile = 1,609.344 meters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Mile; Wikipedia: Foot (unit); NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8: conversion factors

Roman Cubit (cubitum)

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

One and a half Roman feet, about 44.4 cm.

Cubitum was the Latin word for elbow, and it came from a verb meaning to lie down or recline, the root of the English cubit. Roman writers such as Vitruvius defined it as one and a half Roman feet, or six palm widths, which gives about 444 mm. That is the figure used here. It was meant to span roughly the length of the forearm from the elbow to the fingertips.

Compared with other ancient cubits it was short. The Egyptian royal cubit survives on rods measuring about 523 to 529 mm, and Wikipedia says ancient cubits generally ranged from about 44.4 to 52.9 cm, so the Roman one sits at the bottom of that range. Romans also used a separate, longer ulna of about 120 cm. In a modern setting the Roman cubit is a little over 17 inches.

1 Roman cubit = 0.444 meters (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Cubit; Wikipedia: Ancient Roman units of measurement

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