Lesson plan
Plethron
Plethron ( , plural plethra) is an ancient Greek unit of measurement equal to 97 to 100 Greek feet (ποῦς, pous; c. 30 centimeters), although the measures for plethra may have varied from polis to polis. This was roughly the width of a typical ancient Greek athletic running-track. A plethron could also be used as a unit of measured area, and reference to the unit in defining the size of a wrestling area is made by Libanius. A square plethron of c. 30 by 30 meters was used as the standard dimensions of a Greek wrestling square, since such competitions were held within the racing track in ancient Greece. In other connotations, it functioned as the Greek acre, and varied in size to accommodate the amount of land a team of oxen could plow in a day. The plethron continued to be used in the Byzantine Empire, where its variant uses were ultimately codified to refer to an area defined by sides of 100 feet or 40 paces (βῆμα, bema). Ultimately, the unit came to be known as the "stremma", which continues as a metric unit in modern Greece.
Article summary
Plethron ( , plural plethra) is an ancient Greek unit of measurement equal to 97 to 100 Greek feet (ποῦς, pous; c. 30 centimeters), although the measures for plethra may have varied from polis to polis. This was roughly the width of a typical ancient Greek athletic running-track. A plethron could also be used as a unit of measured area, and reference to the unit in defining the size of a wrestling area is made by Libanius. A square plethron of c. 30 by 30 meters was used as the standard dimensions of a Greek wrestling square, since such competitions were held within the racing track in ancient Greece. In other connotations, it functioned as the Greek acre, and varied in size to accommodate the amount of land a team of oxen could plow in a day. The plethron continued to be used in the Byzantine Empire, where its variant uses were ultimately codified to refer to an area defined by sides of 100 feet or 40 paces (βῆμα, bema). Ultimately, the unit came to be known as the "stremma", which continues as a metric unit in modern Greece.
Key claims
- area: 100 feet — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- The record states that the area is "100 feet". What evidence would count against this claim?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1352775796
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.