Article 1

Between land and sky. A study of the orientation of Roman 2

centuriations in Italy 3

Andrea Rodríguez-Antón 1*, Giulio Magli 2 and A. César González-García 3 4

1 INCIPIT-CSIC; andrea.rodriguez-anton@incipit.csic.es 5
2 Politecnico di Milano; Giulio.magli@polimi.it 6
3 INCIPIT-CSIC; a.cesar.gonzalez-garcia@incipit.csic.es 7
* Correspondence: andrea.rodriguez-anton@incipit.csic.es; +34600015986 8

Abstract: The centuriations were public lands delimited and divided in regular lots by the Roman 9
state as a result of the conquest but also the conceptual appropriation of new territories, that were 10
transformed according to particular ideas of the space. Despite previous works refused the astro- 11
nomical hypothesis for the orientation of Roman centuriations, recent publications supported the 12
role of particular astronomical phenomena in the design of Roman land and urbanism in Italy. The 13
aim of this work is to determine whether the orientation of the centuriations follow any pattern and, 14
if any, the precepts underlying the election of privileged directions. We present a statistical study 15
of the orientation of 67 centuriations in Italy, the largest sample of this type ever studied in this 16
region, considering the conditions of the surrounding environment together with a comparative 17
analysis with a dataset of the same type including 42 Italian Roman towns. The results show inter- 18
esting patterns shared by both centuriations and towns, some of them coinciding with relevant as- 19
tronomical events in the Roman context, together with other in which other requirements should 20
have been prioritized. Summarizing, we should consider the sky as another element involved in the 21
creation of the Roman urban and rural spaces. 22

Keywords: Archaeoastronomy; Roman Archaeology; Roman urbanism; centuriations; Roman land- 23

scape 24
25

Citation: To be added by editorial 1. Introduction 26

staff during production.
During the Roman Republic and the Empire, a vast amount of land was conquered 27
Academic Editor: Firstname Last- and incorporated to the Roman state. As a consequence, it was felt as necessary to estab- 28
name lish boundaries and to assess lands for census and land-taxes, as well as to divide the ager 29

Received: date
publicus for the development of the colonies. In this context, Romans divided the land by 30
Accepted: date creating regular patterns of squares or rectangles (called centuriae) based on two main 31
Published: date axes. The axes were called cardo and decumanus, that ran approximately north-south and 32
east-west, respectively (Figure 1). Similar systems of land division (limitatio) were previ- 33
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu-
ously applied in Italy by Greeks, Oscans or Etruscans [1-3], but Romans adopted unprec- 34
tral with regard to jurisdictional
edent strategies in terms of scale, skill and possibly according to certain cultural aspects 35
claims in published maps and institu-
referred to symbolic aspects, since centuriation was felt as a way of romanizing the con- 36
tional affiliations.
quered territories. 37
Typical Roman orthogonal grids are characterized by squares with standard sizes, 38
like 20x20 actus (710 m side) or 16x16 actus (569 m side), although other modules were 39
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
used depending on various factors [2,4]. These newly created landscapes defined prop- 40
Submitted for possible open access
erty rights, strengthened the administrative power in conquered areas and served to ar- 41
publication under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
range structures, but also served for a more conceptual, ideological appropriation of ter- 42

Attribution (CC BY) license

ritory sustained by a religious background, in part expressed by the rituality involved in 43

(https://creativecommons.org/license the land division processes likely influenced by Etruscans (Var., L.L., 7, 7; Front., De limit., 44
s/by/4.0/). 9, 28-9). 45

Sustainability 2022, 14, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 15

46
Figure 1. Reconstruction of the Roman grid of the Padova north-east centuriation over the remains 47
of the cardine and decumani in the present territory. Satellite images from Google Earth. 48

Surveying tasks and land division were carried out by the agrimensores, who designed 49
and registered the newly settled land, and advised in all kinds of land disputes [5]. They 50
also were designated as gromatici for the groma, a surveying instrument that consisted of 51
a stick with two horizontal cross bars connected by a bracket used to set long straight lines 52
at right angles with great accuracy essential for the creation of centuriae [6]. 53
Territorial signs of these cultural landscapes from different periods are still present 54
in the regions that belonged to the Roman Empire and in Italy in particular. The aim of 55
this paper is to present the results of a project for the study of the role of astronomy in the 56
design of the Roman landscapes, both rural and urban. In particular, here we show the 57
preliminary results of a statistical analysis of the orientations of Roman centuriations in 58
Italy and a comparison with the patterns found in a sample of orientations of Roman 59
towns in the same region. This first approach offers some clues for the understanding of 60
the Roman concepts of space organization and the role that different factors such as as- 61
tronomy and topographic features might have had in the shaping of landscapes. 62

Ancient sources and previous works 63

One of the main sources of Roman ideas about land surveying is the Corpus Agrimen- 64
sorum, an extant collection of short works in Latin, from the Republic and the Empire, that 65
was assembled in the late 4rd century CE and which can be considered as the primary 66
written records of Roman land surveying. In those texts some authors mentioned the use 67
of astronomical observations in order to define the orientation of the cardine and the decu- 68
mani, in particular in the position of the sun (e.g. Frontinus De limit., 10.20–11.6 Th; 11.9– 69
14 Th; see [7] for a recent review). 70
Despite earlier studies refused the idea of astronomical orientations [8-10], during 71
the last decades several researches on Roman archaeoastronomy have shown that the ori- 72
entation patterns of Roman towns across the Empire, and particularly in Italy, are far from 73
random (see e.g. [11, 12]). 74
At present, more than 300 towns have been already measured in Western Europe 75
[7,12,13], the Near East [14] and the Maghreb [15] and astronomical patterns were identi- 76
fied in all regions, some of them shared among different provinces together with regional 77
particularities. Specifically in Italy, several Roman towns were studied [16,17], including 78
Rome itself [18], together with such a masterpiece of the Roman engineering that is Via 79
Appia [19,29], which is a clear example of the integration of astronomical phenomena in 80
the Roman land organization. Also, the implementation of a particular geometrical tech- 81
nique (the varatio) for the orientation of the main axes was explored in Roman towns in 82
the Iberian Peninsula, finding out that geometry might have been also used possibly with 83
astronomical purposes [20]. These works prompt us to study in a similar way the case of 84
the centuriations. The hypothesis we want to test is whether a statistically significant sam- 85
ple of orientation of centuriations do or do not show concentrations that might be related 86
to either astronomical targets or to purely topographic restrictions. 87
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 15

2. Materials and Methods 88

This work includes the analysis of the azimuths of the main axes of 67 Roman centu- 89
riations in Italy (Figure 2). The centuriations included here represent approximately an 90
80% of the known ones listed in a previous work [21], together with a few more grids that 91
have been identified in the last decades. The dataset includes the azimuths of the cardo 92
and the decumanus at each site, since a reference point from where to determine the alti- 93
tudes of the horizon could not be found in all places. According to Higynus Gromaticus 94
(Hyg. Grom. De limitibus constituendis, p. 181, ed. Lachmann) this point (the locus gromae) 95
should be the centre of the grid or of the town if present, supposedly the central point of 96
the territorial systematization, but it cannot be assumed that all centuriations were con- 97
temporary to the correspondent colonies but they could be later developments; suggested 98
at least for the earliest Latin colonies [22,23]. Furthermore, in towns that had more than 99
one centuriated system, these usually have different orientations and not all of them en- 100
compassed the urban area. 101

102
Figure 2. Map with the 67 Roman centuriations included in the sample. 103

Even in the absence of a locus gromae, the astronomical declination has been calcu- 104
lated for each azimuth considering an altitude of the horizon equal to 0º. This magnitude 105
is independent of the latitude and it allows a direct comparison of the positions of the sun 106
with dates –in this case with the proleptic Gregorian calendar– and incorporates the in- 107
fluence of the surrounding horizon in the visibility of an astronomical phenomenon. Due 108
to the inclination of the Earth rotation axis with respect to the plane that contains the orbit 109
around the sun, the rising and setting positions of the sun over the horizon (and thus its 110
declination value) vary every day. In particular the solar declination at the equinoxes is 0º 111
(although there are other definitions of equinox [24]) and the declination of the sun in the 112
solstices is ±23.4° today whereas, due to the variation of the obliquity, this value was ±23.7º 113
in Roman times. 114
In this sense, declination values for altitude 0º allow the analysis of the orientations 115
considering how the latitude affects the observation of the position of specific celestial 116
objects and can provide an insight about the purposes behind the transformation of the 117
territory. Declination is defined as: 118
sin δ = sin h sin φ + con h cos φ cos A (1) 119
Being δ the astronomical declination, h the altitude of the horizon, φ the latitude of 120
the location, and A the azimuth; considered as the angle from north clockwise. 121
The first step for the data acquisition was doing a selection and identification of pre- 122
viously known centuriations in Italy [21,25], which were the first candidates to be georef- 123
erenced and studied. In most cases the Roman origin of each centuriation has been sup- 124
ported with related bibliography and, whenever possible, the modules of the observed 125
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 15

grids were measured in order to check that their sizes followed one of the Roman stand- 126
ards, such as 20x20 actus (approximately 710x710 m) or 16x16 actus (569x569 m); although 127
modules different to these were used [26]. By this, the aim was to corroborate that the 128
grids were Roman and not remains from previous or later divisions since, due to the suc- 129
cessive land appropriations along the centuries, different cadastres could have been su- 130
perimposed. 131
Finally, once the traces of the grids were identified over the aerial or satellite images, 132
the orientation of their main axes was measured with Google Earth Pro (7.3.3, 7.3.4). This 133
was done in 51 sites and bibliography was also required in areas without visual signs of 134
the centuriations on the present-day terrain but where their existence have been previ- 135
ously attested and their remains studied. In particular, in a number of places there are 136
modern structures, such as roads or water channels, that nowadays follow the axes of the 137
Roman grids; for example in South Padova [27] or in Fermo [28, 10] (Figure 2). The source 138
of data is specified in the column of comments in the Table 1 of data, with “GE” (for 139
Google Earth data) or the bibliographical references consulted for the centuriations not 140
identified in the satellite and aerial images. 141
We have avoided data purely obtained from cartography and only azimuths meas- 142
ured either over orthophotography or satellite images, as well as in situ, were selected. In 143
particular, this last data refers to the above mentioned centuriation of the Pontine 144
marshes, which was studied by one of the authors [19,29]. For some centuriations both 145
bibliographic and Google Earth data could be contrasted and in general the resultant val- 146
ues differed no more than 2º. In those cases the Google Earth values were selected in order 147
to have a more homogeneous data sample. 148
Even though not all Google Earth Pro images have the same spatial resolution, a gen- 149
eral intrinsic error in azimuth of ±1º was estimated for data obtained by this procedure 150
according to previous studies [15]. 151
The same value has been considered for the declinations, since all were calculated for 152
altitude 0º, so this is an acceptable first approach to the real data to within an accuracy of 153
±1º; which means approximately 3 days in dates close to the equinoxes and almost 20 in 154
the days around the solstices. However, a more conservative error of ±2º should be esti- 155
mated for the data extracted only from bibliography where any structures of the centuri- 156
ations were observable. As mentioned, these centuriations are indicated in the Table of 157
data (Table 1) with the corresponding references. For the analysis of the orientation of 158
towns the altitude of the horizon was obtained for the calculation of the declination with 159
the virtual tool HeyWhatsThat [30], as will be discussed later. 160

3. Results 161
3.1. Orientation of centuriations 162
The data are presented in curvigrams, in particular using a probability density func- 163
tion with a Gaussian kernel, one of the most commonly used, and the results are normal- 164
ized by the mean value of the relative frequency. This means that the values of the peaks 165
indicate their distance above the mean. 166
In the different declination curvigrams a horizontal red-dashed line marks the 3σ 167
level of significance, which indicates that 99.7% of the values of a binomial distribution 168
fall within 3 standard deviations from the mean so that that particular value can be con- 169
sidered statistically significant. Despite the 3σ is a general convention for significance in 170
many disciplines, bearing in mind the size and nature of the sample analysed in this pa- 171
per, data above 2σ level (includes 95.5% of the values) can be considered significant. In 172
addition, peaks below these limits should not be underestimated since they can actually 173
represent either minoritarian or local orientation practices. 174
Figure 3 shows the curvigram of the declination towards east of the 67 centuriations, 175
for altitude of the horizon equal to 0º using a Gaussian kernel and a pass band of 2º. This 176
value was selected considering the nature and size of dataset and in order to appreciate 177
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 15

the main clusters avoiding too sharp or smoothed distributions [31]. Since the altitude of 178
the horizon is 0ºfor the declination values, due to the orthogonality of the axes the western 179
values offer a mirror image. 180

181
Figure 3. Declination curvigram of 67 centuriations in Italy considering an altitude of the horizon of 182
0º. The black solid vertical lines indicate the sun rising extreme positions, on the solstices, and the 183
vertical dashed line marks the solar declination on the equinoxes. More details in the main text. 184

The declination curvigram shows various concentrations and 70% of the data fall 185
within the solar rising range of declinations (Figure 3), limited by the black solid vertical 186
lines at +23.75º and -23.75º (solar declinations for summer and winter solstice, respec- 187
tively). There is one main maximum above the 2σ level towards the sunrise at the equi- 188
noxes (12 centuriations) and various secondary peaks. There is a quite spread group of 189
declinations around the summer solstice value, subdivided in two sub-peaks. Interest- 190
ingly, attending to the azimuths, the subgroup around δ=26º (of 7 centuriations) could 191
respond to the use of the Pythagorean triple 3:4:5 for Italian latitudes and that of δ=17º to 192
the use of 5:12:13. Other minor peaks are centred around δ=-22º (beginning of December 193
and mid-January), δ=-12º (mid-February and end of October) and there is one value out 194
of the solar arc centred in δ=-30º. 195

Exploring the role of topography: 196

In a second analysis, it has been explored the possible role of topography in the lay- 197
out of the axes of a centuriation, since in areas of abrupt orography or appreciably affected 198
by water flows and floods the grids should have been inevitably drawn secundum natura. 199
In particular, and as attested by many ancient and contemporary authors, water manage- 200
ment was a primary feature to attend to at the time of designing and dividing lands ‒for 201
example for canalization and irrigation projects required for agriculture and pastures‒, 202
since it was essential for their administration and productive use. Examples where this 203
seems to be prioritized are mentioned for some centuriations along Via Aemilia [32] as well 204
as in towns developed in former marshy areas, like Capua [33] or Acerrae [34]. 205
In order to identify likely environmental restrictions in the tracing of the main axes, 206
the centuriations have been classified in three categories: “topographic”, “possibly topo- 207
graphic '' and “non-topographic”. By these, the majority of centuriations would be poten- 208
tially affected by environmental conditions but it should be noted that this classification 209
is not exempt of subjectivity, since it is basically based on the accounts and impressions 210
of other authors (for the “topographic ” ones) and on personal estimations of the influence 211
of the surrounding terrain, made by the observation of the local topography at present 212
and in Roman times; there are mentions in the ancient texts describing the territory or in 213
environmental land reconstructions made in recent works. 214
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 of 15

By this classification, 53 grids of the sample could be potentially affected by the shape 215
and conditions of the terrain –e. g. presence of mountains, slopes, marshes, coastlines, 216
risks of flooding etc. These are the “topographic” (21 grids) and “possibly topographic” 217
(32 grids) centuriations, from which 38 values (70%) fall within the solar range of declina- 218
tion. The declination distribution of the 53 grids likely affected by diverse environmental 219
factors is shown in Figure 4 and in Figure 5 the data of the 21 “topographic” ones are 220
displayed. As expected, both distributions present concentrations that coincide to the 221
main ones found for the full sample but with different levels of significance; in part due 222
to the size of each dataset. The data of the “topographics” (Figure 5) seem more dispersed 223
and presents more and lower peaks, with the exception of a great concentration of values 224
between -24º and -10º approximately. 225

226
Figure 4. Declination curvigram considering an altitude of the horizon equal to 0º of the 53 centuri- 227
ations where topography or water management may have affected the orientation (“topographic” 228
and “possibly topographic”). The black solid vertical lines indicate the sun rising extreme positions, 229
on the solstices, and the vertical dashed line marks the solar declination on the equinoxes. 230

231
Figure 5. Declination curvigram of 21 centuriations likely affected by the natural environment 232
(“topographic”) considering an altitude of the horizon equal to 0º. 233

In this group are included a number of grids developed along the Via Aemilia, in pre- 234
sent-day Emilia Romagna, that some authors assumed they were traced secundum natura 235
to favour drainage and irrigation of fields; for example in Mutina, Regium Lepidi [32] and 236
Bononia [35]. Via Aemilia was one of the main consular roads in the region. Its construction 237
started in the late 2nd century BCE under the rule of the Roman consul Marcus Aemilius 238
Lepidus and it traversed the area between Ariminum (Rimini) to Placentia (Piacenza), being 239
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 15

a key element for the appropriation of the area Cispadana and the creation of several ur- 240
ban centres throughout. The two cardinal ones are Feltria ‒in an irregular terrain, in the 241
course of Cordeville river [36] ‒and one in Capua that belonged to Ager Campanus and 242
was possibly affected by the presence of marshes in the area [33]. 243
Finally, in Figure 6 the 21 “topographic” centuriations have been discarded. In con- 244
trast to the curvigrams of Figures 4 and 5, this diagram presents less and more defined 245
maxima, with 70% of the centuriations within the solar arc and mostly grouped around 246
the sunrise on the equinoxes (11 grids) and both solstices, with the exception of a minor 247
cluster around -11º (final October and mid-February). A similar percentage of solar-com- 248
patible orientations appears for the ‘non-topographic’ centuriations (60%), which are 249
mostly concentrated around the equinoxes and around δ=26º, so that they could have been 250
obtained by using a triangle 3:4:5 or possibly they might correspond to summer solstice 251
orientations for local altitudes of the horizon different to 0º. 252

253
Figure 6. Declination curvigram with altitude of the horizon 0º of 47 centuriations where topogra- 254
phy does not seem to have been a restriction and where there is a possibility related to water man- 255
agement (“non-topographic” and “possibly topographic”). 256

3.2. Orientation of Roman towns 257

In a final step, the declination of the centuriations has been compared with those of 258
a number of Roman towns in Italy and three in the Roman province of Illyria (present-day 259
Croatia), since the centuriation of Histria is included in the sample. In particular, this da- 260
taset includes 42 declinations from 39 towns (Figure 7), since in Tergeste (modern Trieste) 261
there are three grids developed in different constructive processes (see Table 2). From 262
these, 24 towns are inserted in centuriations of the sample and the remaining azimuths 263
were extracted from other publications [12] or measured over satellite images by the au- 264
thors of this paper; except at Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (modern Aosta), whose orienta- 265
tion was obtained in situ by one of the authors [17]. 266
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 15

267
Figure 7. Map with the 42 Roman towns studied in Italy. 268

The altitudes of the horizon were obtained by using a Digital Terrain Model with the 269
application web HeyWhatsThat [30]. Since altitude data are now introduced, in this case 270
the estimated error for the declinations is ±1.5º, the same considered in a previous analysis 271
of the sample of Roman towns obtained by these methods [12]. 272
In Figure 8 the declination curvigram of Roman towns is displayed, where 76% of the 273
declinations are within the solar rising arc. Like in the previous curvigrams for the centu- 274
riations, a Gaussian kernel was used with a passband of 2.5º, considering a larger error 275
introduced by the measurement of the altitudes and in order to differentiate the maxima. 276
Approximately, the distribution of towns shares the general trend present in the orienta- 277
tion of centuriations (Figure 3) to cluster around the equinoxes, avoiding mostly values 278
around -8º and +8º. The diagram presents maxima above the 2σ level spreadly grouped 279
around -18º and 27º, slightly right to the summer solstice value (Figure 8). However, data 280
of centuriations are in general more dispersed than in the case of towns. 281

282
Figure 8. Declination curvigram of 42 decumani of Roman towns in Italy by using a Gaussian kernel. 283

The coincidental orientations between centuriations and towns make sense since 284
from the 24 towns inserted in the centuriations studied, 16 have conformal grids (i.e. ur- 285
ban axes follow the same direction that their correspondent centuriation) and at some 286
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 15

places the centre of towns could have been the point from where centuriations were de- 287
veloped; i. e. the locus gromae. 288
Additionally, the curvigram of towns presents a peak approximately around δ=+13º 289
that coincides with a minimum in the different subsamples of centuriations (Figures 290
3,4,5,6). It is interesting to note that this value corresponds to the declination of the sun 291
rising on April 25th, a date close to a relevant moment for the Roman calendar that was 292
the anniversary of the mythical foundation of Rome, on April 21st that would be within 293
the errors considered for these data. 294

4. Discussion 295
The analysis presented here encompasses the biggest dataset of orientations of cen- 296
turiations in Italy and it is the first statistical comparison with data of Roman cities from 297
the same region. In a first sight, attending to the orientation patterns displayed in the dif- 298
ferent curvigrams we identify that 70% of the declinations coincide with values for the 299
rising sun. In addition, some maxima may respond to the practice of astronomical obser- 300
vations or the application of simple geometrical techniques such as the varatio –previously 301
studied for Roman towns in Hispania [20,44] –, together with more dispersed data that 302
could be explained by diverse environmental restrictions of the terrain where centuria- 303
tions were located. 304
Attending to potential effects of the surrounding environment in these results, as ex- 305
pected, the main maxima present in the general sample of centuriations are restricted 306
within the declination curvigrams that display both “topographic” centuriations (Figure 307
6) and when only “topographic” and “possibly topographic” grids were considered (Fig- 308
ure 4). In both cases more than half of the values are in the solar arc of sunrise, although 309
some maxima and their significance differ among samples. When the “topographic” ones 310
are ignored (Figure 6), the values look more clustered around the cardinal direction, the 311
summer solstice and slightly left to the winter solstice. The 21 “topographic” declinations 312
(Figure 5) appear more spread along the eastern sector (that may be also an effect of the 313
smaller dimension of this dataset) and from this sample and attending to Figure 4, it could 314
be inferred the use of Pythagorean triangles even in presence of some kind of topographic 315
constrains; in particular the 5:12:13 triangle (δ≈±17º for latitude 42º). 316
It should be remarked the subjectivity in the classification of the centuriations for the 317
study of the role of topography, which is largely based on the accounts of ancient writers, 318
considerations of other authors as well as on personal impressions, so in any case other 319
motivations cannot be fully discarded. Furthermore, recent studies show the impact of 320
anthropogenic activities in the environment during the Roman times, such as deforesta- 321
tion and even centuriations, and their effect in the increasing of floods [37]. These events 322
may suggest a lack of proper maintenance of the territory in periods of political turbulence 323
or strong rainfall episodes, but also that the processes of land division could have some- 324
times conflicted with the local hydrological conditions if others than practical motivations 325
(e. g. following special, sacred directions) were prioritized at the time of establishing the 326
limites, at least on certain moments of the Roman history. In addition, meteorological 327
changes from climate stability to periods of drought and increasing rainfall, for example 328
during the Triumviral and Augustan ages, should have influenced the design of the cen- 329
turiated lands as observed at the alluvial plains of Luni and Lucca [37]. 330
Nonetheless, even though topography should have been an unavoidable central fea- 331
ture that conditioned the orientation of the axes of various centuriation, different factors 332
related to state authority ‒e.g. kind of division, assignation and use of lands‒ and ritual 333
practices may have played a role in the designing and setting of boundaries. This is sug- 334
gested by predominantly solar pattern with maxima clusters around relevant moments 335
such as the equinoxes and probably solstices, considering the error margin and the fact 336
that the real influence of the surrounding horizon is unknown by the moment. Both are 337
temporal landmarks, commonly considered transition moments on the solar cycle accom- 338
panied with festivities and rituals, at least in the Mediterranean and Roman traditions [38- 339
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 15

40] as well as for many cultures throughout history. Roman author Vitruvius stressed the 340
importance for the architects to have notions of astronomy (1.1.3) as well as to know the 341
principles of the Heavens, the equinoxes, the solstices and the course of the stars (1.1.10). 342
The Roman calendar suffered several modifications until Julius Cesar reform in 45 343
BCE. The Roman year started in January in Republican times (as attested in Fasti Antiates 344
Maioris), but ancient sources mention that the first Roman calendar established by Romu- 345
lus (legendary founder of Rome) started in March in the spring equinox (Macrobius, Sat. 346
13.3) and festivities are associated to this moment [24]. 347
The winter solstice was also a central point of the natural and ritual Roman year (co- 348
inciding with the longest night, from which days start to be longer) that was embodied in 349
the orientations identified in Rome itself [18], several towns across the Empire [7,11] and, 350
particularly, in towns founded during the reign of emperor Augustus. The first Roman 351
emperor incorporated Capricorn and the winter solstice to his Imperial propaganda as 352
symbols of political renewal [12,17]. Although nowadays the sun is in the constellation of 353
Sagittarius in the winter solstice, in Roman times the “host” constellation was Capricorn, 354
that is, Capricorn stars were in the background of the sun in a moment in which daily 355
hours of light increase. In parallel, during this period the autumn equinox became a cen- 356
tral date because it coincided with Augustus birthday and this is also observed in the 357
orientation patterns of cities founded by him. 358
Similar patterns to those of the centuriations are present as well in the Roman urban 359
examples in Italy included in this paper, a result that supports the interest in the study of 360
astronomical motivations behind the land division practices. In a first sight, data of towns 361
appear less dispersed (Figure 8), maybe due to the greater land extensions covered by the 362
centuriations that should have been more affected by environmental constrictions than 363
the less extensive urban centres. Furthermore, towns and centuriations may not neces- 364
sarily be contemporary but the last could be post-date according to the necessities and 365
circumstances of colonization and bearing in mind the pre-Roman origin of some urban 366
centres [23]. However, there are some parallelisms between the orientation patterns of 367
towns and centuriations, mainly the in the equinoxes and in dates around the summer 368
solstice. In addition, towns present a maximum for the declination towards the rising sun 369
in such an important day that was the Dies Natalis of Rome, which has been previously 370
identified in the urbanism in further regions of the Roman Empire as well as in such a 371
notable structure of the Roman architecture that is the Pantheon in Rome [41]. 372
Finally, the use of geometry should not be dismissed either, as suggested by the max- 373
ima around δ≈+26º and δ≈+17º in the centuriations curvigram of declination (Figure 3), 374
which are compatible with the use of the Pythagorean triangles 3:4:5 and 5:12:13, respec- 375
tively, for null altitudes of the horizon and medium Italian latitudes. The role of geometry 376
in the layout of lands has been explored in several studies on Roman land and urban de- 377
sign across the Empire, with both practical and symbolic intentionality [20,42-44] and, in 378
addition to hypothetical direct observations of particular astronomical phenomena ‒such 379
as sunrises on special dates‒, astronomy was also required for the implementation of those 380
particular geometric relations over the cardinal axes by using a gnomon (see e. g. [20]. 381

5. Conclusions 382
It is undisputable that Roman surveyors had to deal with several environmental and 383
topographical issues at establishing a new colony and for the reorganization, division and 384
exploitation of land. Transformation of the territory and modification of water courses 385
was essential for productive activities but also for favouring the conditions of the terrain 386
for the development of settlements. But, in addition to the adaptation to physical and nat- 387
ural constrains, at some points of the Roman history strategic and defensive motivations 388
may have been prioritized for the location of colonies and even certain political contexts 389
and necessities should have left footprints in the landscape transformations [45] that could 390
be now identified in elements such as the preference for specific directions in the layout 391
of the axes of a new urban or agrarian project. 392
Sustainability 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 15

The results of this study suggest that, even without considering the altitudes of the 393
horizon, we should not discard neither the existence and application of special practical 394
guidelines for the orientation of the axes of the centuriations nor the possibility that those 395
precepts involved some kind of astronomical observations and symbology (as stated in 396
various ancient texts). It is especially suggestive to find the main maxima around the equi- 397
noxes and the solstices, which are more appreciably when the centuriations clearly condi- 398
tioned by topography (“topographic”) are discarded (Figure 6). 399
Furthermore, the parallelisms between the declinations of centuriations and those of 400
the cities ‒mainly in the equinoxes and towards the summer solstice‒ together with the 401
group of towns facing the sunrise the day of the mythical foundation of Rome could be 402
exhibiting the relevance of specific astronomical events together with such an important 403
festivity for the Roman state as it was the celebration of the mythical foundation of the 404
mother town, on April 21st. 405
All these findings reinforce the astronomical hypothesis that proposes the existence 406
of some kind of surveying practices that involved the observation and knowledge of par- 407
ticular astronomical events in the layout of both the urban and rural Roman landscapes, 408
combined with the necessary adequation to the environmental features for productive ac- 409
tivities, salubrity as well as subject to diverse political processes and changes. In conclu- 410
sion, as reasonable, there is not a single but a more complex interpretation of such an 411
ambitious project as it was the creation and implantation of new political and ideological 412
orders in a vast land for centuries. 413

Supplementary Materials: Tables 1 and 2 of data can be downloaded at: 414

Funding: This research was funded by the State Research Agency (AEI), the Spanish Ministry of 415
Science and Innovation (MICIN), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under 416
grants with references PID2020-115940GB-C22 ’Orientatio ad Sidera V’ and is also part of the project 417
EIN2020-112463, funded by grant MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100022033 and by the European Union 418
“NextGenerationEU”/PRTR”. 419

This research was also funded by GAIN (Agencia Galega de Innovación) from Xunta de Galicia 420
(Spain) for financing the project by its postdoctoral programme “Axudas de apoio á etapa de for- 421
mación posdoutoral”. 422

Data Availability Statement: In this section, please provide details regarding where data support- 423
ing reported results can be found, including links to publicly archived datasets analyzed or gener- 424
ated during the study. Please refer to suggested Data Availability Statements in section “MDPI Re- 425
search Data Policies” at https://www.mdpi.com/ethics. If the study did not report any data, you 426
might add “Not applicable” here. 427

Acknowledgments: Digital CSIC platform for supporting the data. 428

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 429

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