Thepous (pl. podes;Ancient Greek:πούς,poús) orGreek foot (pl. feet) was aGreek unit oflength of approximately 300mm or 12 inches. It had various subdivisions whose lengths varied by place and over time. 100 podes made up oneplethron, 600 podes made up astade (the Greekfurlong) and 5000 made up amilion (theGreek mile). The Greek pous also has long, median and short forms.
The pous spread throughout much ofEurope and theMiddle East during theHellenic period preceding and following the conquests ofAlexander the Great and remained in use as aByzantine unit until theFall of Constantinople in 1453.
A pous is divided intodigits orfingers (daktyloi) which are multiplied as shown. Generally the sexagesimal or decimal multiples haveMesopotamian origins while the septenary multiples have Egyptian origins.
Greek measures of short median and long podes can be thought of as based on body measures. The lengths may be compared to the Imperial/U.S.foot of 304.8 mm.Stecchini and others propose the Greek podes are different sizes because they are divided into different numbers of different sizeddaktylos to facilitate different calculations. The most obvious place to observe the relative difference is in the Greek orders of architecture whose canon of proportions is based on column diameters.
| Unit | no. ofdaktyloi | eachdaktylos (mm) | total (mm) | inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Doric order pous (foot) | 18 | 18 | 324 mm | 12.755905511811 | |
| 1Luwianpous (foot) | 17 | 19 | 323 mm | 12.71654 | |
| 1Atticpous (foot) | 16 | 19.275 | 308.4 mm | 12.14173 | |
| 1Minoanpous (foot) | 16 | 19 | 304 mm | 11.9685 | |
| 1Egyptianbd (foot) | 16 | 18.75 | 300 mm | 11.81102 | |
| 1Ionian Orderpous (foot) | 16 | 18.5 | 296 mm | 11.65354 | |
| 1Romanpes (foot) | 16 | 18.5 | 296 mm | 11.65354 | |
| 1Athenianpous (foot) | 15 | 21 | 315 mm | 12.40157 | |
| 1Phoenician (Pele)pous (foot) | 15 | 20 | 300 mm | 11.81102 |