Milestone里程碑(路边所设的标志距离的石碑) In the early, days of the Roman Empire, a large stone was positioned in the Forum at Rome. Along the roads leading out of Rome were additional markers. Each represented a distance of 1,000. paces. (One pace. equals approximately five feet. So 1.000 paces would be the equivalent of one mile. ) Chiseled on each stone was the distance from Rome to the site of the stone. Such a stone was called a milliarium, from the: Latin term mille, meaning "thousand"; Our mile is a derivative of mille.