Description
"A Greek measure of length, and the chief one used for itinerary distances. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or to 125 Roman paces; and the roman mile contained 8 stadia. Hence the stadiura contained 600 feet 9 inches English. This standard prvailed throughout Greece, under the name of the Olympic stadium, so called because it was the exact length of the stadium or footrace course at Olympia, measured between the pillars at the two extremities of the course. The first use of the measure seems to be contemporaneous with the formation of the stadium at Olympia when the Olympic games were revived by Iphitus." — Smith, 1873
