Download ROMAN TOWN PLANNING I. [1]Romans had conquered new towns

ROMAN TOWN PLANNING
I. 1Romans had conquered new towns, also wanted to establish colonies for trade,
control and expansion. How to lay out these new towns? Rome benefitted from
Etruscan and Greek experience, and adopted techniques to Roman purpose, e.g.
Cosa: finest example of Roman planning. Cosa planned 273 BC as a unified site,
combining civil and military needs. Wall is irregular because of hillside, but streets are in
gridiron pattern; there are 3 gates plus the “pomerial” road.. By later years of 2nd B>C>,
Rome had laid out 19 colonies. In so doing, the city developed a blueprint that was to
be used throughout Italy and thence the Empire.
Early Ostia provides a model: rectangular, 2 gates for each road, for the cardo (NS)
and Decumanus (EW). The blueprint could be applied repeatedly, but Rome did take
advantage of conditions or yield to geographical necessities.
The establishment of colonies for veterans also led to increased use of town design
model. In spite of civil disturbances caused by the practice, many such colonies were
founded. Aquila and Verona both show evidence of grid-iron town design.
The grid plan (which might have been followed (after being seen in Greece) was most
efficiently used by the land-surveying teams. Some find the military camp = colony
plans, but others find the two linked: “there is a clear relationship between the military
and civil requirements of the settlements.” (115)
Aquila was established as a base of operations for attacks against Carnici and other
forts in the area. The site had strategic and agricultural / commercial needs. “The
centuriation of its territory from the initial foundation of the colony also indicates that it
was intended to foster peaceful agricultural and commercial conditions in the area”
(116).
Land surveying: Confiscated land distributed to the colonists, as land surveying in the
layout of the town is also important. Even the size of the the insulae, about 2 iugera of
land, was the usual allotment to a colonist.
Towns formed the administrative, social, and religious center for the area. Usual Roman
fora, with its basilica, temple to Capitoline III and ROma and Augustus and Curia are to
be found; other basic buildings--temples, amphitheaters, and esp. thermae--were
present. All were aligned with respect to the insula; even buildings outside the walls
were in line with the two major streets, the cardo and the decumanus.
Roman towns influenced by Etruscan, Greek and Hellenistic kingdoms, esp. in terms of
its architecture and ensembles of buildings. Sanctuaries, too, showed Hellenistic
influence, e.g. Fortuna Primigeria at Praeneste..
1
Information from E.J. Owens, The City in the Greek and Roman World.
(Routledge, 1991): “Roman Town Planning,” = ch. 6 (106-120).
The standard form was able to be repeated, it was also flexible enough to be adapted to
local conditions: Roman knowledge of town planning urbanized the Roman Empire.
II.2 Town planning is more than street design: it “should seek to improve the quality of
life for the inhabitants by providing services and facilities, and by regulating the
component parts of the city in order to gain the best possible situation for the buildings
and the most advantageous conditions for the citizens.”
Generally Roman citizens could expect a high level of services and amenities.
1. Until Pax Romana, “most expensive urban monuments were city walls.” Natural
terrain assisted with the walls in early times. Greek town walls were not part of urban
plan,but Roman walls were fully integrated because of the military = civic town design
for the colonies. Gates with main roads were to intersect at the center, with pomerial
road round. Walls = not only defense, but also status and independence. Hasty defense
walls can be seen in Gaul’s towns, while in Britain the walls were well made with stone
and impressive gateways.
2
Information from Owens, chapt. 8: 149-163.