The University of Melbourne

FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND PLANNING

705-117 CULTURE & HISTORY of URBAN

PLANNING
Lecture Notes ©1999 C.M.Gutjahr

PART 3 - CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

Rome

Comparison between Greek and Roman City

Origins of Roman Planning

1. ITALIC, ETRUSCAN and LATIN INFLUENCES

(a) The Religious Element

In founding a new city, the Romans carried out four ritual procedures,
which have been attributed to their Etruscan predecessors (or to the even
earlier Terramare period).

These rites accompanied the founding of military camps and cities and
established Rome's formal planning concept:
i. Inauguratio
ii. Limitatio
iii. Orientatio
iv. Consecratio

(b) The Military Element

In the course of establishing and maintaining their authority, first in Italy

itself and later throughout their vast empire, the Romans needed to
build thousands of fortified legionary camps.

For utilitarian reasons, such camps had to be of simple plan, quick to erect
and set out and, generally, repetitive in detail and construction. The result
was the standard, rectangular CASTRUM ROMANUM PLAN i.e. the Roman
Camp Plan.

2. GREEK-HELLENISTIC HERITAGE

(a) The Idea of the Castrum Plan

(b) The Spatial Concepts within the City
The organization of urban spaces in Roman Planning derived from the:
- Greek agora
- Hellenistic stoas
- vertical layout of such towns as Pergamon. (?)

(c)  The Basic Architectural Concepts  
are also similar to Greek and Hellenistic examples:

- courtyard house
- temples plus colonnades
- theatres

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 - building terms and stylistic features

Development of Building and Planning Styles

1. At beginning, Rome draws freely on the Greek and Etruscan planning

heritage.

2. Subsequently, it evolves into a colonial style within Italy.

3. Then into a military planning style in the provinces which had been
conquered.

Activity in provinces acquaints Rome with achievements of other

civilizations e.g. Greek, Hellenistic.

4. Influence of foreign planning led to the more monumental style of

planning during the Roman Empire.

Note: The purely Roman planning contribution, however, is rather modest; it is

limited only to the Castrum Romanum with its regular layout and
including the two characteristically Roman elements: the Capitol and the
Forum.

The Mediterranean World in 265 BC.

THE CASTRUM ROMANUM

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 Two Roman camps along the Danube
each became the nucleus of a later, important city : RATISBON and VIENNA
(Benevolo)

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 "Together with the Etruscan and the later Roman rules of founding cities, the
castrum plan provided the basis of Roman Planning".

All new, planned Roman towns, either of temporary or permanent intention, were
laid out in the form of the legionary camp plan.

(At first, the need for planning was almost exclusively a military one; all Roman
towns and cities were symbols of Rome's presence, and were subordinate to the
city of Rome itself).

Plan of a typical Roman Military Camp : 1

Castrum Romanum

The elements of the Castrum Plan are:

The Wall
The Principal Streets

CARDO (or VIA PRINCIPALIS) N to S (First Main Street)

DECUMANUS E to W (Second Main Street)

These two principal cross-roads formed the basis of the internal layout of the
Roman camp plan. Minor residential streets would further sub-divide the 4 quarters
of the plan into individual building blocks (insulae).

The Gates
Situated at the four meeting points between the two main streets and the urban
walls i.e. one gate in the centre of each side of the plan:
Porta Principalis Sinistra (N)
Porta Principalis Dextra (S)
Porta Praetoria (E)
Porta Decumana (W)
1 Note: Porta Principalis Dextra and Sinistra are, incorrectly, inverted on the plan!

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The Major Buildings and Spaces

The castrum system of town design provided a simple and well - organized
framework for the location of various Roman Buildings.

At, or near the centre were:

the Forum (open square + colonnades)

the Capitol Public Offices (Quaestorium, Praetorium)
the Basilica (Hall used for public meetings and as law courts)
temple(s)
library (sometimes)

Plan of the city of TRIER

during the Roman Empire

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 Castrum Plan of VERONA
late 1st century BC
(Ward­Perkins)
The CANABAE or 'suburbs'
The unplanned civilian settlements which invariably spring up outside the gates of
the camp or castrum, specifically along main exist routes.

These ultimately become towns/cities in their own right or are absorbed within the
urban boundaries of the existing city: e.g. CARNUNTUM on the Danube.

Plan of City of Como of 1858

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 outline of Roman Camp plan clearly visible
Examples:

POMPEII

6th century BC - founded as Greek colonial city

3rd - 1st century BC - in form it is a late Hellenistic city - rebuilt
between end of 3rd and beginning of 1st centuries.
- during this period Greek city building practice
gradually gives way to Roman methods.
79 AD - city destroyed through volcanic eruption (Vesuvius)

Plan of Pompeii
(Gallion & Eisner)

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Courtyard House [domus}:
'Casa di Capitelli figurati'
Pompeii

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Pompeii: 'Casa del Fauno'
Large peristyle house (domus)

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TIMGAD (Thamugadi)
located 24 miles east of Batna, in Algeria, North Africa.

100 AD built by Emperor Trajan for veterans of 3rd Legion stationed at

nearby fort of Lamaesis.

often quoted as classic example of Roman chessboard planning,

shows both the strengths and weaknesses (canabae) of Roman
town planning.

Plan of TIMGAD

ROME the city itself

(i) Historical Development

Rome, the 'city of the 7 hills' had its origins in hill villages built by the Latin
tribes; these had moved down to the TIber river plain from the hills to the
south-east.

ROMAN REPUBLIC 510-27 BC

10th century BC original village settlement on Palatine Hill in the province

of Latium.

753 BC Romulus and Remus (descendants of Aeneas of Troy)

legendary founders of Rome on April 21st.

6th century BC settlement on Quirinal Hill.

Two villages merge to form Rome. Gradually, 5 (five)
other fortress settlements join in. These are the hill-top
settlements of the

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 Capitoline,
Viminal,
Caelian,
Esquiline,
Aventine hills

- At this stage, Etruscans are still masters of Northern

Italy, while the south is under Greek influence.
510 BC - Etruscan King driven out by Roman nobility. Begin of
Roman Republic and City's rise to fame and power.
up to 270 BC - Rome fully committed to establishing her mastery over
Italian Peninsula.
- Gradual subjection of neighbours; Rome grows in wealth
and power but in size it is still smaller than:
Tarquinia (capital of Etruscans)
Capua
Tarentus
Syracus
386 BC - Gauls burn down city - only capitol withstands.
378-352 BC - Romans rebuild their city; earthen wall which had kept
Gauls out now replaced by 10m high "Republican Wall".
- Military force improves in strength and quality.
338 BC - Rome rules over other cities in central Italy (Latium):
Etruscan power falls; Greek colonies divided among
themselves. Rome, triumphant, now rules area of 4,650
sq. miles (12,000 sq. km) and over 400,000 inhabitants.
by 264 Rome achieves control over most of Italy and becomes
largest state west of Greece.

Plan of Republican Rome

(Benevolo)

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264-202 BC Punic Wars
Series of wars against Carthage in which Rome reaches out beyond
Italy as its disciplined armies conquer on all fronts, e.g.:

241 in Sicily
238 in Sardinia + Corsica
229 in Yugoslavia (Illyria)
225 in Northern Italy
206 in most of Spain

Consequences of Wars
218-203 BC The bitter struggle against Hannibal was won in the end but the
entire area of southern Italy was ravaged causing a social
revolution, which was later to contribute to Rome's fall.

146 BC Carthage and Corinth flattened; Asia Minor conquered.

Military successes provided Rome with abundant supply of land,
gold, slaves etc. yet Rome could not readily adjust to the sudden
wealth.

Repeated attempts by Roman leaders, Tiberius and Gajus

Gracchus, to make the lot of peasants and the landless class easier
by introducing land reform and relief, failed. This led to :

The Civil Wars

121 BC introduction of Gracchan Laws (Gaius Gracchus).

84-82 BC Sulla versus Marius [another bloody civil war].

73 BC Spartacus and 60,00 slaves and plebeians plunder Italy and

march on Rome; for a time, armed factions rule capital.

Caesar versus Pompeius [another civil war].

44 BC Caesar assassinated; confrontation between his successors, Marcus
Antonius and Octavianus.

31 BC Octavianus triumphs; returns to Rome to become Emperor

Augustus (27 B.C)

ROMAN EMPIRE 27 BC - 395 AD

395 AD Empire divided into:

WESTERN EMPIRE 395 - 476 AD

EASTERN EMPIRE 395 - 1453 AD

ii. Planning During the Empire

Development of Roman planning during rise of Empire, was characterised by:

in Rome and other large towns:

(a) STRUCTURAL CHANGE and ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

(b) POPULATION GROWTH and URBAN EXPANSION

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Total Population in Roman Empire:

1st-2nd Century AD 3rd-5th Century AD

Italy 7,000,000 4,000,000
Rome 350,000 65,000
Iberia 6,000,000 4,000,000
Egypt 4,500,000 3,000,000
Alexandria 216,000 122,000
Syria, Palestine 4,400,000 3,000,000
Greece & the 3,000,000 3,000,000
Balkans
Byzantium 24,000 150,000
Asia Minor 8,800,000 11,600,000

Source:
Russell, J.C. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 48, Part 3,
Philadelphia, Pa. 1958.

abroad:
(c) ACTIVE PROCESS of URBANIZATION

iii. Housing Types and Standards

(a) DOMUS
(b) TABERNA
(c) INSULA, CENACULA
(d) VILLA

Older Courtyard House [domus] from Pompeii

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Section of Insula with separate Cenaculae
OSTIA: 'Casa di Serapid'

Plan of Insula with separate Cenaculae

OSTIA : 'Casa di Diana'

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DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE
Events

200 AD Rome begins to crumble under the pressure exerted by

Germanic Tribes to the north, and under internal rivalries and
warfare.

211-217 AD Emperor Caracalla extends citizenship to all free men of the

Empire (by which time it wasn't worth very much).
War against the Parthians and Germanic tribes.
Brought about severe economic crisis.
Built the elaborate Caracalla Baths, in Rome.

218-235 AD Emperors Elagabalus (a degenerate) and Alexander Severus.

Empire in crisis.

284-305 AD Emperor Diocletian. Reforms lead to absolutist autocracy

run by hierachical public service machine.
Persecution of Christians.

4th century AD Empire falls apart at the seams.

330 AD Emperor Constantine makes Byzantium, his capital and

the new centre of the Empire, named CONSTANTINOPLE.

395 AD Emperor Theodosius makes permanent the administrative

separation of 330 A.D. between the West and East Roman
Empires.

410 AD the Westgoths conquer Rome.

455 AD the Vandals follow; Rome sacked a second time

(Vandalism ­  a term coined by French Bishop Gregoire in 1794).

476 AD Western Roman Empire surrenders its power and breaks

up into Germanic Kingdoms.

Reasons

1. The enormity of the size of the Empire.

2. Rome's colonies were not self-governing or self-sufficient.

3. The conquered barbarians turned on the Empirial Power and engineered

its collapse.

4. Disruption of monetary system (silver coinage)

5. Corruption of Roman political, economic and social life.

6. Roman army in the provinces (largely composed of non-Romans) was

unreliable and rebellious.

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The Legacy of Roman Planning
1. The idea of the architectural organisation or order of the city

Wherever Rome colonized, it established its symbols i.e. theatres, arenas,

forum, capitol, triumphal arches and regularly laid out dwellings districts.

2. The Idea of Architectural Monumentality

3. The Magnitude of the Planning Achievement

Rome founded over 5,627 new towns and cities and built 140,000 km of
roads, many have disintegrated since.

4. Rome's Contribution as an Organiser and Administrator

Rome passed laws and regulations applying to everything and everyone:

45 BC Lex Julia Municipalis, under Caesar

which regulated street repairs and maintenance of dwellings

69-70 AD Decree of Vespasianus

gave everyone right of claim to building site if owner failed
to build on it.

Rome seriously tackled the problem of regulating disputes between

persons living side by side in an urban society and established principles
of lasting value:

• all persons of same status enjoy equal rights

• better for the guilty to go free than for an innocent to
suffer

The Weaknesses of Roman Planning

• failed in its potential role as a 'teacher' and 'facilitator' of urban culture;
instead, it imposed its will and views on the conquered regions by force.

• city plans inflexible and repetitive; interior layouts rigid and formalized.

• Roman cities could not cope with urban growth (physical expansion);
hence the canabae.

• structural changes within cities proved crippling.

The Role of Empires

Refer to Gideon Sjoberg's argument that empires and cities are
interdependent; read "The Origin and Evolution of Cities" in Cities, pp. 25-
39, a Scientific American Book.

The Close of the Ancient World

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306- Constantine, emperor of Rome, carried on plan originally envisaged by
337 AD Augustus, to provide the great empire with an eastern capital (as eastern
part of empire then dominant in terms of population numbers and
commercial activity).

326 Byzantium is chosen as new capital (in preference to Troy and

Alexandria) and renamed Constantinople (330).

395 Empire divided into East and West; Rome Capital of West Roman Empire
[from 404 Ravenna]; Constantinople capital of East Roman or Byzantine
Empire.

476 Western Roman Empire falls and Constantinople assumes control over
the diminishing remains of Roman Empire for another ten centuries.
Finally, defeated by Turks in 1453.

622 Period of Antiquity brought to an end with rise of Islam, as an important

power in the Mediterranean and Oriental worlds.

Upon fall of Rome, centre of gravity of urbanization shifts from the Mediterranean to
the Islamic world and to Asia (China and India).

Map of Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian

(Müller/Vogel)

Bibliography Part 3: Classical Antiquity: Rome

Principal references are shown in bold.

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Bacon, E. (1967), Design of Cities, London, Thames & Hudson, pp. 68-77.

Balsdon, J.P., Roman Civilisation, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

Barrow, R.H. (1949), The Romans, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

Bell, C. & Bell, R. (1969) City Fathers: The Early History of Town Planning in Britain,
London, Barrie & Rockliff: the Cresset Press, pp 7-12.

Benevolo, L. (1980), The History of the City, Scolar Press, London.

Carcopino, J. (1962), Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

Castagnoli, F. (1971) Orthogonal town planning in Antiquity, Cambridge M.I.T. Press,

Chapter 6,

Collingwood, R.G. & Myres, J.N.L. (1937), Roman Britain and English Settlements,
Oxford History of England Book 1, Oxford University Press.

Gutkind, E.A. (1969), Urban Development in Southern Europe: Italy and

Greece, Vol. IV - International History of City Development New York,
the Free Press, pp. 9-63, 181-205.

Gutkind, E.A. (1971) Urban Development in Western Europe: The Netherlands and
Great Britain New York, The Free Press, pp 134-151.

Haverfield, F. (1913) Ancient Town Planning, Oxford, Clarendon Press, Chap. 1

Hibbert, C. (1985), Rome: The Biography of a City, Viking, Chapters 1-4.

Hiorns, F. (1956), Town Building in History, London, Harrap, pp.44-75.

Mazzolani, L.S. (1970) The Idea of the City in Roman Thought: from walled city to
spiritual commonwealth, Hollis & Carter, London.

Morris, A.E.J. (1972), History of Urban Form, London, George Godwin,

pp.37-62.

Moholy-Nagy S. (1968) Matrix of Man: An illustrated History of Urban Environment,

London.

Mumford, L. (1966), The City in History, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

Chapter 8.

Richardson, Jr. L. (1988), Pompeii: An Architectural History, John Hopkins, University

Press.

Richmond, I.A. (1955), Roman Britain, Penguin Books.

Rykwert, Joseph (1988), The Idea of a Town, Cambridge, Mass., M.I.T. Press.

Sellman, R.R. (1956) Roman Britain, London, Methuen Outline.

Stambaugh, J.E. (1988), The Ancient Roman City, Baltimore, London, John Hopkins,
University Press.

Stewart, C. (1952), A prospect of Cities, London, Longmans & Company, pp. 21-55.

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Wacher, J.S. (1979, The Coming of Rome (Britain before the Conquest). Routledge
& Kegan Paul, London.

Ward-Perkins, J. (1974), The Cities of Ancient Greece and Italy, New York, George
Braziller.

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