Roman mile

American  

noun

1. a unit of length used by the ancient Romans, equivalent to about 1,620 yards (1,480 meters).

---

Roman mile British  

noun

1. a unit of length used in ancient Rome, equivalent to about 1620 yards or 1481 metres

---

Etymology

Origin of Roman mile

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

We shall reach it in about half a Roman mile.'

From Zenobia or, the Fall of Palmyra by Ware, William

There was a good road all the way, with a milestone at every Roman mile, or about 1600 yards.

From Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul by Tucker, T. G. (Thomas George)

“Furlong” was as early as the 9th century used to translate the Latin stadium, 1⁄8th of the Roman mile.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

The Roman mile probably rested on a measure of a degree of the meridian.

From The Voice of Science in Nineteenth-Century Literature Representative Prose and Verse by Various