ROMAN

TOWN PLANNING

SUBMITTED TO:
AR.SHWETA BANSAL

SUBMITTED TO:
NITIN SHIVHARE
MOHIT KUMAR

ROMAN TOWN PLANNING

EARLY TOWN PLANS
IN ITALY THE EARLIEST ETRUSCAN TOWNS GREW WITH LITTLE OR NO
PLANNING, AND MANY OF THE ITALIAN TOWNS AND CITIES,
INCLUDING ROME ITSELF, WERE ALSO UNPLANNED AND GREW
WITHOUT RESTRICTION
ESPECIALLY WHERE THE GROUND WAS UNEVEN, THEIR STREETS
HAD NO CLEAR PATTERN AND WERE OFTEN VERY NARROW, LINED BY
TALL BUILDINGS, WITH SCALAE (FLIGHTS OF STEPS) ON THE SLOPES.
THE FOUNDATION CEREMONY OF NEW ROMAN TOWNS ORIGINATED
IN ETRUSCAN TIMES
GREEK & ETRUSCAN TOWN PLANS WERE INFLUENTIAL IN EVOLUTION
OF ROMAN TOWN PLANS.
THIS TYPE OF TOWN PLAN INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ROMAN TOWN PLANNING, WHICH USED A SIMILAR GRID PATTERN OF
STREETS BUT HAD TWO MAJOR STREETS INTERSECTING AT RIGHT
ANGLES TO PROVIDE A CROSSROADS AS A FOCAL POINT IN THE
TOWN CENTER.

EARLY TOWN PLANS

THE DEFENSIVE CIRCUIT OF THE FORTRESS
MARKED THE EDGES OF THE NEW TOWN
A NEW FORUM WAS LAID OUT TO ONE SIDE
OF THE CENTRAL AXIS OF THE TOWN AND ITS
BASILICA WAS CONSTRUCTED ON TOP OF
THE REMAINS OF THE LEGIONARY
BATHHOUSE.
THE TOWNS PUBLIC BATHS WERE PLACED
ON THE SLOPING GROUND.
ON THE SURROUNDING INSULAE (ISLANDS
OF LAND) TIMBER BUILDINGS GREW UP,
SOME OF WHICH WERE EVIDENTLY SHOPS.
Plan of the Roman town c.
OUTSIDE THE FORTRESS DEFENCES WERE AD 75-150
SOME OF THE INDUSTRIES SET UP TO SUPPLY
THE FORTRESS CONTINUED INTO THE EARLY
CIVIL PERIOD

BY THE LATE 2ND CENTURY THE

TOWN HAD GROWN BEYOND THE
AREA OF THE OLD FORTRESS
AROUND THE YEAR AD 180 A
CONSIDERABLY LARGER
DEFENSIVE CIRCUIT WAS LAID
OUT, FOLLOWING THE NATURAL
DEFENCES OF THE SITE AND
THEREFORE IRREGULAR IN PLAN.
WITHIN THIS AREA STONE
BUILDINGS REPLACED THE OLDER
TIMBER ONES
SOME OF THE STREETS WERE
EXTENDED OR CHANGED TO
SERVE THIS LARGER AREA, BUT IT
IS FAR FROM CERTAIN THAT A
REGULAR GRID OF STREETS
COVERED THE ENTIRE WALLED
AREA.

Plan of the Roman town c.

AD 150-400

View of Roman town in the early 4th century

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF A ROMAN TOWN

ROMAN COLONIAL OR CAMP
PLANS WERE ESPECIALLY
DEVELOPED FOR THE MILLITARY
ENGINEERS.
SUCH PLANS HAD NECESSARILY
TO BE SIMPLE TO SET OUT & THE
BUILDING BLOCKS EASY TO
MEASURE.
IN THIS CASE THE GRID IRON
PLAN PROVED TO BE
SUCCESSFUL.
THE ROMAN DISPLAYED CRUDE
SYMMETRY & ARTISTIC RIGIDITY
IN PRACTISE OF LEVELLING A HILL
TO MAKE THE SITE CONFIRM TO
THE PLAN.
ROMAN PLANNING WAS LIKE
THE CHESS BOARD SYSTEM
HAVING THE PRINCIPAL STREETS
ROUNDING ACROSS THE LENGTH

THE FORUM:
THE FOCAL POINT OF
THE CITY WAS ITS
FORUM.
AN OPEN AREA
BORDERED BY
COLONNADES WITH
SHOPS.
FUNCTIONED AS THE
CHIEF MEETING PLACE
OF THE TOWN.
USUALLY SITUATED IN
THE CENTRE OF THE
CITY AT THE
INTERSECTION OF THE
CARDO AND THE
DECUMANUS.

THE BASILICA:
A ROOFED HALL WITH A WIDE CENTRAL AREATHE NAVEFLANKED
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
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 (C. 120 BC) IS FOUND AT POMPEII.

Pompeii, basilica

Pompeii, basilica

THE PUBLIC BATH OCCUPIED AN IMPORTANT PLACE IN SOCIAL LIFE

OF ROMANS.
SOME OF THE HOUSES WERE EQUIPPED WITH BATHING FACILITIES.
CONSTRUCTION WAS OF STONE, BRICK, WOOD & WINDOW GLASS.

Baths of Caracalla, Rome

ROMANS DEVELOPED WATER SUPPLY & DISTRIBUTION, DRAINAGE

SYSTEM & METHOD OF HEATING WHICH ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO
MANS HEALTH.
THEY CONSTRUCTED GREAT AQUEDUCTS FOR TRANSPORTATION
THROUGH WATER & UNDERGROUND SEVERS.

Aqueduct: Pont du Gare

IF THE AREA IS GOING TO BE UNMANAGABLE THEN A NEW FORUM IS

DEVELOPED FOR A NEW STALITE TOWN.
AN AUGUR MARKED OUT THE AXES OF THE TOWN, THE CARDO
MAXIMUS AND THE DECUMANUS MAXIMUS, BASED ON
ASTRONOMICAL SIGHTINGS.
THE CARDO ON A NORTH-SOUTH AXIS AND THE DECUMANUS ON
AN EAST-WEST AXISAND A GRID OF SMALLER STREETS DIVIDING THE
TOWN INTO BLOCKS, AND WAS 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 (SING. 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
SITED IN THE TOWN CENTER, ALTHOUGH AMPHITHEATERS AND

TYPICAL ROMAN CITY

Amphitheater Arles

Theater, Orange

ROMAN COLLONIES
COLONIAE : SETTLEMENTS OR COLONIES 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 THE HOSTILE, FOREIGN OR
DESIRED TERRITORIES.
ESSENTIALLY, A COLONY CAME INTO BEING WHEN A GROUP OF
ROMAN CITIZENS, BE THEY 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 PRIZED
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.

TOWN FORTIFICATION
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 AND 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 FREE-STANDING 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.

THANK YOU