Roman City Planning
The design and structure of a city is as important as the people who dwell within her walls. The placement of streets and the structures built there are carefully plotted for optimal use. Foot and cart traffic, fire hazard, and access to water were all key factors in city planning. Eventually the Romans had fine tuned their design principals in such an advantageous way that they molded all of their city states similarly.
Rome developed from the combination of small farming communities around a hilltop fortification. The city, which was founded before regularized city planning, consisted of a confusing maze of crooked and gnarled streets. The focal point of which was the city’s forum, the main meeting place and site of the many religious and civic buildings such as the Senate house, records office, and basilica. (Rich, 20)
Augustan Rome, with a population estimated at between 700,000 and one million, was the only megalopolis in the West. Rome’s street plan, which at its greatest extent had 85 km of road, was an irregular maze. Most streets were footpaths or could accommodate only one cart at a time. The central city had only two viea (streets on which two carts could pass each other), on opposing sides of the main forum. (Nicholas, 6) A law passed under Julius Caesar, which was still in force well after his death, stated that carriages were forbidden to use these streets by day, since it was found that there was not room in them both for wheeled vehicles and pedestrians. Public streets would be decorated with marble and stone, some houses, as they decayed, have revealed alleyways and passages that existed before reconstruction. (Bowra, 34)
Main streets were often designed carefully to accentuate the housing and monuments that would appear on any given street. Side streets would often be no more than passages, with flights of steps, and sometimes scarcely broad enough for two people to pass in comfort. Many streets were colonnaded; a Roman technique intended to bring shape to shadow and direct light through the streets. Earlier centuries used the stoa, or free-standing portico, to give effects of light and shade to their constructions. It is suggested that the colonnaded street developed out of the stoa; and partly also, perhaps, out of the thrifty use of available space, with the upper stories of houses jutting forw...
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...ordinated plan of the city. The main streets led directly from the center of town to the gates, and the pomerial road ran around the city immediately inside the walls. (owens, 150)
Rome was a living organism constantly changing and evolving as all cities do. However, the design and structure of Rome was born out of knotted roots. The placement of streets and the structures grew from dirt roads to paved passage ways meant to convey movement and beauty. Key factors in city planning revolved around the citizens and their needs. The Roman design principals forged a template by which all of their city states were similarly molded.
Works Cited
Bowra, Maurice Et. Al. Golden Ages of the Great Cities. London, England: Thames and Hudson, 1951.
Morris, AE. History of Urban Form. London, England: George Godwin LTD, 1972
Nicholas, David. The Growth of Medieval City: From late Antiquity to Early Fourteenth Century. New York, NY: Longman Publishing, 1997.
Owens, E. J. The City in the Greek and Roman World. London, England: Routledge Publishing, 1991.
Rich, John & Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. City and the Country in the Ancient World. London, England: Routledge Publishing, 1991.
Gates, Charles. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome. London: Routledge, 2003. Print.
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
Throughout the ages, many scholars and future-scholars have offered an explanation for the meaning of structures from the ancient years, either by their placement or construction. None has fascinated or pushed scholars for reasons than structures and art of the ancient Romans, more specifically those constructed in the years of the Pax Romana and Crisis and Decline of the Roman Empire (27 BC to 284 AD).
Rome's vast empire lasted for an amazing one thousand-year reign. Half of it referred to as the republic, and the other as the empire. However, after its fall in 5oo-a.d. Rome has still remained in existence through its strong culture, architecture, literature, and even religion (Spielvogel 175). Even after its disappearance as a nation Rome left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. Its ideals and traditions have been immolated, and adopted for over two thousand years. Whether, it is through its language of Latin, its influence of religion, or its amazing architectural ability Rome has influenced almost every culture following its demise. The heritage of Rome has been passed down through three different channels; one is through the eastern Roman Empire; through the Roman Catholic Church, and consciously by any and every one who has been in touch with Roman Culture (Hadas 157).
Rome had many architectural buildings that we know of today. Many Roman building ways were copied right from how the greek people use to do theirs. Though they copied Greek style, they came up with their own style. They used many arches, some arches were used to show the wealth of a person, the fancier, the wealthier. Roman people made aqueducts. Aqueducts were able to bring the city of Rome, running water. One of the most famous aqueducts would be the Pont Du Gard, it ran for thirty miles and supplies twenty thousand gallons of water to th...
Favro, Diane G.. The urban image of Augustan Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. (266)
Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. A World History: Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992. 533.
== == = D’Agostino, Bruno (1974) Monuments of Civilisation Greece, Readers Digest, London Connolly, Peter; Dodge, Hazel (1998) The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome Oxford University Press, Oxford Jenkins, Ian (1994) The Parthenon Frieze, British Museum Press, London Peach, Susan; Millard, Anne (2003)
The Romans also saw a need for well-planned cities. They used the same basic layout as they would for an army encampment. Water would flow into a cistern through the aqueducts to be dispersed in the cities plumbing. The cities were laid out in small sections, each section having its own fountain. The wealthy citizens would have also had hot and cold running water. The Romans also made sure that the streets could accommodate heavy traffic. By allowing for extra traffic the Roman army could move through a city more easily and it allowed for future expansion.
A prime example that conveys the idea of buildings being used to express a sense of national identity lies within the Roman Empire and its consequent architecture. In order for the Romans to maintain control of their vast Empire, they required the building of both formal architecture, like temples and basilicas, as well as effective infrastructure, such as bridges, roads and aqueducts. The construction of roads and bridges allowed for communication between all the different provinces. Aqueducts allowed the Romans to supply the cities with water, whilst fortifications and city walls helped to protect them. Roman cities consisted of a network of administrative centers and the buildings within them acted as visual symbols of power throughout the Empire.
Marcel Le Glay, Jean-Louis Voisin, Yann Le Bohec. A History of Rome. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Shelton, J.A. (1998). As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.
Rome, Italy’s capital, is a stretched, city with nearly 3,000 years of influential art, architecture and culture written to share to the world. Ancient Rome was one of the most advanced societies in its time. Ancient Roman culture lasted a long time in the history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. ancient Rome was a joint of the city of Rome which a lot of the activity’s happen. Ancient Rome is known for the prominent Colosseum which is the largest amphitheater ever built. , the , and the Pantheon.The Roman Pantheon is the most maintained and dominant buildings of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of ancient Rome. The city also had many other theaters, gymnasiums, and many taverns. most of the population in Rome lived in
Chandler, Fiona, Jane Bingham, and Sam Taplin. The Usborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of the Roman World. London: Usborne, 2001. Print.
This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.