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> the first time since the Greek stadia that an earth measure was used to define units of measurements as compared to the body (feet, inches etc)

I'm not so sure this is accurate. Miles based on the length of a degree at the Earth's meridian were used widely during that interval.

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There is no need to downvote. The Romans were the first to use the unit of long distance mille passuum (literally "a thousand paces" in Latin, where each pace was two steps) and hence back to the human body! (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man).

That specific mile you are talking about is not one of the examples I am talking about. Have a look at nautical miles, sea miles, and geographic miles and you will find they were based on the Earth at times during that period. Apparently the Chaldeans used an Earth-based "mile" also.

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