Note 428 — Chapter II · GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTOR STATUES AT OLYMPIA.
Reading edition
Pollux, Onomastikon, II, 158, says that the cubit (πῆχυς) contains 24 δάκτυλοι or 6 παλασταί; it was therefore 18.25 inches and the finger 0.7 inch long. The Solonian cubit of 444 mm. gives 17.53 inches, the finger .73 inch, which makes Diagoros’ statue 6 feet 1.75 inches tall.Though the cubit was later lengthened to about 2 feet, the old size was retained for measuring wood and stone: cf. Boeckh, Metrologische Untersuchungen, 1838, p. 212.