Elbow taken as six handbreadths; three to the elbow and three from the elbow to the shoulder. Another measure was the "cubit" (from "cubital"). This was taken to be the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. Though the elbow is similarly adapted for stability through a wide range of pronation-supination and flexion-extension in all apes, there are some minor differences. In arboreal apes such as orangutans, the large forearm muscles originating on the epicondyles of the humerus generate significant transverse forces on the elbow joint. The structure to resist these forces is
Ancient Roman units of measurement Ancient Roman units of measurement The ancient Roman units of measurement were largely built on the Hellenic system, which in turn was built upon Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented. The basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the "pes" or Roman foot (plural: "pedes"). Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes back at least to 1647, when John Greaves published his "Discourse on the Romane foot". Greaves visited Rome in 1639, and measured, among other things, the foot measure on the tomb of Titus Statilius Aper, that on the statue