Look up: groma

1. 
   Groma
   Roman engineers used a groma as a surveying device to build roads, aqueducts and buildings; a groma consisted of a wooden stand with crossbar from which weights were hung; the weights on the end of each crossbar assured that the groma was kept perpendicular to the ground.
   Found on http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/glossary/glo
   
   
2. 
   groma
   Greek surveying tool used for creating straight lines and right angles. As a survey tool the groma was the singular most important instrument of the mensores, or Roman military surveyors, and their commander, the praefectus castrorum (camp prefect). The groma was used to mark out the 2 main axes of the camp; the cardo decumanus which pointed in the...
   Found on http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/temetfutue/gl
   
   
3. 
   Groma
   Surveying instrument.
   Found on http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/glo_
   
   
4. 
   groma
   ¹ survey tool A groma was the singular most important instrument of the mensores, or Roman military surveyors, and their commander the praefectus castrorum. The groma was used to mark-out the two main axes of the camp; the cardo decumanus which pointed in the direction from which the main danger would arise, and the cardo maximus which lay at right-angles to it. The groma consisted of a cruciform metal frame, set at meticulous right angles, with plumb-lines suspended from the extremities of each arm. The instrument was suspended from a tall staff set slightly off-centre, which would allow the surveyor to make sightings along the plumb-lines unimpeded by the pole itself. The main axes of the camp would then be measured by the mensores - using accurately cut poles perhaps ten feet in length - and marked-out using coloured flags, along the line indicated by the groma. ² focus of the camp The word groma is also thought to name the point where the two main streets crossed before the entrance to the headquarters building - where the like-named surveying instrument was initially placed. There has been evidence of small, temporary altars erected at this position at several forts, particularly in Germany, and it is thought that these altars were used during a religious ceremony conducted by the commander of the regiment, which conferred the blessing of the martial gods upon the camp itself.
   Found on http://www.roman-britain.org/military/mi
   
   
5. 
   Groma
   `Groma` may refer to: * Groma language, spoken in SE Asia * Groma surveying, the principal Roman surveying instrument
   Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groma
   
   
6. 
   groma
   (from the article `surveying`) There is some evidence that, in addition to a marked cord, wooden rods were used by the Egyptians for distance measurement. They had the groma, which ...
   Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/g/72