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Centuriation (in Latin ''centuriatio'' or, more usually, ''limitatio''〔O. A. W. Dilke ''The Roman Land Surveyors'', p. 134, 1992 (1971), ISBN 90-256-1000-5〕) was a method of land measurement used by the Romans. In many cases land divisions based on the survey formed a field system, often referred to in modern times by the same name. According to O. A. W. Dilke,〔O.A.W.Dilke ''The Roman Land Surveyors'', p. 34, 1992 (1971), ISBN 90-256-1000-5〕 centuriation combined and developed features of land surveying present in Egypt, Etruria, Greek towns and Greek countryside. Centuriation is characterised by the regular layout of a square grid traced using surveyors' instruments. It may appear in the form of roads, canals and agricultural plots. In some cases these plots, when formed, were allocated to Roman army veterans in a new colony, but they might also be returned to the indigenous inhabitants, as at Orange (France).〔A. Piganiol, ''Les documents cadastraux de la colonie romaine d'Orange'', XVIe supplément à ''Gallia'', Paris, 1962.〕 The study of centuriation is very important for reconstructing landscape history in many former areas of the Roman empire. ==History== The Romans began to use centuriation for the foundation, in the fourth century BCE, of new colonies in the ''ager Sabinus'', northeast of Rome. The development of the geometric and operational characteristics that were to become standard came with the founding of the Roman colonies in the Po valley, starting with ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) in 268 BCE.〔Umberto Laffi ''Studi di storia romana e di diritto'', p. 415, 2001, ISBN 88-87114-70-6〕 The agrarian law introduced by Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE, which included the privatisation of the ''ager publicus'', gave a great impetus to land division through centuriation.〔Umberto Laffi ''op. cit.,'' p. 416, 2001〕 Centuriation was used later for land reclamation and the foundation of new colonies as well as for the allocation of land to veterans of the many civil wars of the late Republic and early Empire, including the battle of Philippi in 42 BCE. This is mentioned by Virgil, in his Eclogues, when he complains explicitly about the allocation of his lands near Mantua to the soldiers who had participated in that battle. Centuriation was widely used throughout Italy and also in some provinces. For example, careful analysis has identified, in the area between Rome and Salerno, 80 different centuriation systems created at different times.〔Giacinto Libertini, ''Persistenza di luoghi e toponimi nelle terre delle antiche città di Atella e Acerrae'', 1999〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「centuriation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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