ROMAN CITIES

PLANNING PRINCPLES:-

Romans adopted the technology and planning skills of the Greeks. They were more advanced than
the Greeks in terms of technological skills which they used to develop better infrastructural facilities
and construction techniques. It had two main axial roads called Cardus E-W Decumanus N-S
"Secondary streets" complete the gridiron layout and form the building blocks known as " Insulae"
Perimeter of the city was usually square/rectangular with bassions. Cross streets occasionally
stepped and bridged around the city due to topographical condition. Generally rectangular walled
city entered by several gates, showing complete town organization. From the religious significance of
the Temples by the Greeks there was a change to the civic influence of Law Courts "Basilica" which
became more important than the public buildings. The most important part of the city was the
forum, where political, economic, administrative, social and religious activity were centred. “Forum
Area" usually located centre ofthe town formed by the intersection of the Decamanus and cardo
similar to Greek “ Agoras”. In big cities there were theatres, circuses, stadiums, odeons.

ADVANCE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION:

MATERIALS:

1. Lime-Motar, Concrete
2. Stone-Ashar masonary
3. Bricks

BUILDING SYSTEM:

1. Lintel: Copied from the Greek Spaces are closed by straight lines
2. Vaults: Taken from the Etruria Barrel vaults Use of domes
 3. Arches: They used half point or semicircular arches. They could use lintels above these
arches.
4. Colonnades: Strong stone walls with foundations were constructed so that they do not use
external supports.

ARCHITECTONIC TYPOLOGY:

Religious building: temple

Civil buildings: Public: basilicas, baths

Spectacles: theatre, amphitheatre, circus

Commemorative: Triumph arch, column

Funerary: tombs

Engineering works: Bridges, Aqueducts

Domestic: House, villas, Palace

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT:

They were more advanced than the Greeks in terms of

technological skills which they used to develop better
infrastructural facilities and construction techniques. Lime and
concrete was invented. Applied mechanics for moving heavy
masses developed. Roads were paved with stones Advanced
system of water supply (Aqueducts &water reservoirs), sewage
system and drainage system through ducts and underground
sewers in semi-circular vaulted form were used(like cloaca
maxima). All public latrines were connected to underground
sewerage system. People normally used the public latrines leads
to betterment in public health. Methods of centralize heating.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT:

Power and control.

Defense and security

Civic influence of Law and order

Formation of bye-laws for urban development

TOWN PLANNING IN POMPEI

THE PREHISTORIC SITE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENTOF POMPEII

Pompeii arose on a ledge of prehistoric

lava flow 40mabove sea level on the
side of Mount Vesuvius. This ledge had
a couple of flat areas but was
otherwise disheveled with a strong
slope north-south towards the gulf. The
lava flow stopped short creating a
sharp cliff hence creating a strong
dominating position over the sea. The
position was ideal in a number of ways,
and played a huge role in the city’s
fortunes.
It allowed control of the trading route between Stabiae and Naples as well as a dominating position
with respect to the river Sarno, therefore enabling control of the access inland from the sea. Access
to sea allowed long distance trade, particularly with north Africa and towards the Orient. Lastly the
volcanic nature of the surrounding terrain made it extremely fertile and suited to growing
agricultural produce, olives (oil) and wine.

TOWN PLANNING IN POMPEII

Pompeian architecture is the subsequent influence of different cultures, starting with the Samnites,
followed by the Etruscans, Greek colonies and finally Romans. The earlier Samnite-Etruscan city was
the western part of Pompeii with the Forum, main temples and public buildings. A more organic
approach to urban development is plainly visible. The rigorous grid structure of Greek cities, is most
evident in the Eastern part of the city, near the Amphitheatre with boulevard-like parallel streets"
decurions “, (W-E) connected by cross streets ("cardines", N-S) creating rectangular blocks of
buildings ("insulae")Pompeii is an irregular oval area of about 66hectors, planted on a small natural
hill and girt with stone wall nearly two miles in circumference .On the west there was originally
access to the sea. Near western end of the town is the Forum, with the principal temples and public
buildings round it. At the east end of the town, nearly 1200 yds. from the western extremity, is the
amphitheater. the town-walls appear to have been drawn so as to include it. Three major road
arteries contributed to subdivision of the city. This subdivision allows us to identify the coordinates
of the various houses in ancient Pompeii by using a 3-digit coordinate.

One of the major prerequisites for any great city is a regular water supply. The early inhabitants of
pompeii relied on water from the river Saro, deep wells a d rain collecting cisterns for their water
supply. At te time of Augustus, the imperial aqueduct at Misenum had a branch built to supply
Pompeii (Serinum aqueduct). Water from this channel flowed into a main tank or water tower
(castellum aquae) near the Vesuvian Gate. From the castellum, it was siphoned off into three main
pipes that fed different areas of the city. The sloping terrain aided the water pressure that dispersed
the water to various tanks all over Pompeii. Fourteen of these secondary tanks have been uncovered.
Many private homes in Pompeii were connected directly to this source of fresh, running water.
The Romans are renowned as engineers, particularly for their extensive communication system of
roads. Pompeii is proof of their skill and accuracy in road making. We see the Roman paving
techniques using polygonal blocks of basalt; raised footpaths on either side of the roads with kerbing
made of basalt or tufa; and the ingenious use of pedestrian stepping-stones that also allowed access
to wheeled traffic. This was particularly clever because it enabled Pompelans to cross the roads
without stepping in the sewage that overflowed in the gutters when it rained. Deep groove marks in
the roads that can still be seen today, indicate the volume of traffic. The streets at Herculaneum had
less traffic but their drainage and sewerage systems seem to have been more efficient.

Walls

Throughout its early history, Pompeli was surrounded by a series of defensive stone walls with 12
towers and eight gateways leading into the town. When Pompeii became a colony of the Romans,
defensive walls lost their importance and in parts of the city walls were pulled down to make way for
housing.

Gates

The city gates were positioned at the end of the main thoroughfares. The most impressive examples
of gateways at Pompeii are the Marine Gate and the Herculaneum Gate.
Roman town planning

Roman colonial or camp plans were especially developed for military engineers. Such plans had to be
simple to set out, with building blocks easy to measure. In this case, the gridiron plan proved to be
successful. The Romans displayed crude symmetry and artistic rigidity in the practice of leveling a hill
to make the site conform to the plan. Roman planning resembled a chessboard system, with
principal streets running across the length.

The forum, the focal point of the city, was an open area bordered by colonnades with shops. It
functioned as the chief meeting place of the town. Usually situated in the center of the city at the
intersection of the cardo and the decumanus.

The basilica was a roofed hall with a wide central area, known as the nave, flanked by side aisles, and
it often had two or more storeys. In Roman times, business transactions and legal proceedings took
place in the basilica, but the building type was adapted in Christian times as the standard form of a
Western church. The first basilicas were erected in the early 2nd century BC in Rome's own Forum,
but the earliest well-preserved example of a basilica (circa 2nd century BC) is found at Pompeii.
The public bath occupied an important place in the social life of Romans. Some of the houses were
equipped with bathing facilities. Construction was of stone, brick, wood, and window glass. Romans
developed water supply and distribution, drainage systems, and methods of heating which are
directly related to human health. They constructed great aqueducts for transportation. If the area
became unmanageable, then a new forum was developed for a new satellite town.

An augur marked out the axes of the town, the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus, based
on astronomical sightings. The cardo ran on a north-south axis and the decumanus on an east-west
axis, with a grid of smaller streets dividing the town into blocks, surrounded by a wall with gates.
Streets parallel to these axes formed a grid pattern that divided the area into blocks of land (insulae)
for building. The shape of the insulae (singular insula) was usually square or rectangular and of equal
size.

Planned towns usually had a unified complex of forum and basilica, and eventually acquired public
buildings such as a theater, amphitheater, baths, and various temples. Many of the public buildings
and the forum were often cited in the town center.

Roman colonies, or coloniae, were settlements established by the state to form a self-administering
community, often with a strategic defensive function. The creation of coloniae allowed Rome to
extend its people, culture, and control over hostile, foreign, or desired territories. Essentially, a
colony came into being when a group of Roman citizens, whether veterans or civilians, received from
the state a grant of land in a province (or in Italy). The amount allotted to each colonist followed the
regular plotting used as the standard throughout the empire (centuriation).

Once measured, all the colonists' land received the privileged status of ius Italicum, in which no
tribute was demanded because they were all citizens. The advantages were obvious, and in an
empire where commercial, social, and administrative competition was fierce, it helped to have every
conceivable edge. The founding of colonies reached a peak in the reign of Augustus. Most newly
founded colonies were provided with defenses, usually consisting of a wall with defendable
gateways.

One purpose of these colonies was to dominate their surrounding areas and implant the Roman way
of life, but not all areas were hostile, so town walls may not always have been needed for defenses.
However, impressive masonry walls provided the colony with enhanced status, representing the
power of Rome. Walls varied in plan and construction from town to town but were usually built as
freestanding masonry walls with a carefully finished facing of small blockwork.

Gateways were kept to a minimum (usually one per side if the town was planned as a rectangle) and
were usually flanked by towers rising higher than the walls. There might also be interval towers on
the perimeter wall itself. Gateways usually had single or double passageways for vehicles, flanked by
narrower passageways for pedestrians.