ROMAN CITIES

URBANISM I
ERIKAARELLANO
Augusta Delgado
Historical Context
ROME, founded in the year 753 B.C., according to legend by Romulus and Remus.
(twin brothers), but the Empire was established in the year 31 BC when Octavian
Augustus was named emperor, and he lasted five centuries, until 476, the year in which the
barbarians invaded the Western Roman Empire

It is characterized by being one of the first cities to reach a million inhabitants.

it has an irregular topography formed by winding and steep streets of 6.5 meters
width max.

The Roman city is a direct heir of theGreek, but it had a gradual development and
uninterrupted throughout theEmpire.

Initially, they had an organic development, resulting from adding houses to the core.
original.
 Map of the Roman cities
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The Roman City
When we talk about Roman cities, we refer to those whose layout is a grid.
to say, heir of the hipodamic plant

ROME IS AN URBAN CIVILIZATION

- The Roman Empire was a set of cities led by Rome

- The most important part of the Romans' activity took place in the city.

FUNCTION OF THE CITY:

- Political, economic, social and cultural center

- Place from which the exploitation of the territory is directed

MOST IMPORTANT CITIES

- ["Rome","Constantinople","Ravenna","Milan","Naples","Emerita Augusta (Mérida)","Hispalis (Seville)"]

["Corduba","Tarraco (Tarragona)","Antioquia","Alexandria"]
There were several categories of cities:

- FEDERAL CITY
City conquered without resistance. Pact with Rome a treaty of federation, by which it
he handed over part of his wealth to Rome in exchange for maintaining some independence
internal
- MUNICIPALITY
An ancient city conquered that becomes Roman. Its inhabitants ceased to be.
considered Roman citizens
- COLONY
City founded in the provinces by the Romans themselves

Ancient cities were chaotic and did not follow a prior plan, e.g., Rome.

The colonies and the new cities built by the Romans were organized, following
a Hippodamian plan or grid (grids) like the Greek cities
Roman Cities
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Roman City

It is composed of a series of identical modules,

organized and separated by streets.
Together they form a set of rectangular design.
that is surrounded by a perimeter wall with
watch towers.
All the streets are the same, except for two: the one that goes
from north to south -kardo maximus- and the one that goes from
this east to west -decumanus-, which are wider and
that end in the only four doors it has
the wall.
At the intersection of these two streets is the}
city and the market.
With these modules, public buildings are designed.
anfiteatro, elteatro, elmercado, el conjunto delforo

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The Wall and the City Gates

The Roman city was surrounded by a wall and

its urban layout was established with some
regularity, following the Etruscan model and
Hellenistic, around the two main streets
perpendiculars, the cardo and the decumanus. In the
the place where these two streets met was established
the forum
The entrance doors to the Roman city are
They were found at the exits of the thistle and the
decumanus, but also in other points of the
city. They used to be flanked by two towers with
stays where the guard was located.

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The private house (Domus)
It was the residence of the relevant characters within each city, consisting of a
very concrete structure, based on distribution through porticoed courtyards: the entrance
leads to a small hallway, after which a porticoed courtyard appears in its center
is the, or water collection deposit that falls from the. On both sides are
several cameras are deployed that correspond to the slave quarters of
service, the kitchens and the latrines. At the back is the living room, and next to it the
dining room.
The Islands The Villas
It was equivalent to an apple of The Roman villas started from
houses. They were apartment buildings, more structural concept of the domus
humbler than the previous ones and of but they were bigger and
rental. They had an interior courtyard and complicated and did not present
on the outside they had windows and regularity in the plant. They were
balconies. In the lower part there would be far from the city and they were
stores. places generally of
rest.
The Basilicas The Hot Springs
It was a type of new building. The Roman Baths or Baths were
creation. It is not clearly known buildings of great originality in the world
what was its structural origin. They were gathering places with a
It served to administer justice and certain social and recreational character, beyond
to carry out transactions from specific spa use. There was also
commercial. The Basilicas stand out gym, massage areas, libraries and
of Maxentius and Constantine in open walking spaces.
Rome.
The Roman Theatre The Amphitheater
The Roman theater derives directly from the Externally, the Roman amphitheater is
similar to the theater: it has a great
Greek, although there are some
differences. facade with floors, columns, arches
The Roman theater is entirely from and statues in them.
factory, the orchestra is semicircular and not The Roman amphitheater is slightly
circular, therefore the shape of the bleacher elliptical and appears to be the result of
it is also semicircular the union of two theaters.
Historical Circumstances
The Roman civilization, heir to the Greek and Etruscan tradition, constituted a state whose
presence impregnated all its artistic manifestations. Its universalist vocation did not
it was neither in thought nor in art, but in the desire for political domination and
economic.
We can establish three great stages in the history of Roman civilization:

The Etruscan background (8th century B.C. - 509 B.C.).

Founded in 753 BC by the Etruscans, Once the

the Romans expelled the Etruscans and their kings and they
they were emancipated from their power, the city organized itself as a
"Republic" governed by a "Senate" that represented the
interests of the patrician nobility (the richest social class,
owner of the lands and livestock). From this point on
at the moment the city will go to war with all its neighbors,
initiating a process of territorial expansion that soon
will turn Rome into the main state of the peninsula
Italian.
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 Roman Republic (509-27 BC)
It started as a small city in Lazio, and ended up
like a great state that controlled the entire Mediterranean.
The territorial conquests, based on an imposing
war machine, the Roman army, drove the
creation of a territorial empire that spanned the entire
Italian peninsula and part of the Mediterranean basin.
At this stage, the Etruscan influence and a
mimetic attitude towards artistic achievements
Greek (very widespread in the cities of Magna
Greece) and the Hellenistic kingdoms, continuators, such as
we have seen, from the classical tradition.

It is at the end of this stage, starting from the 2nd century BC, when
we can talk about a distinctly Roman style,
continuator of Greek classicism, but not an imitator of it
same.
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EMPIRE (27 BC - 476 AD)
Political and military power is concentrated in one person, the
Emperor, who passes it on to his descendants. The Empire
it represents a form of monarchy that the Romans despised
since the time of Etruscan domination, but it was adapting
perfectly to the new needs of the gigantic state
created by the territorial conquests carried out by the
Republic.
Roman imperial architecture was keenly interested in the
interior space, where human activity takes place. In
the sculpture, the worship of ancestors, a trait inherited from the
Etruscan tradition stimulated the individuality of portraiture. Rome,
created, in short, a personal style.
The sculpture also served to 'narrate' the military grandeur of
Roman state, through the relief in arches, columns, etc. The
the military and artistic greatness of the Roman world reached its zenith
in the so-called 'High Empire' [Link]
Mediterranean Conquest
 Economic Circumstances
Roman civilization was characterized by its high degree of
urbanization.
The cities were important centers of economic activity and
of product consumption, and with Rome being the capital, it was the most
Important: All roads lead to Rome

The characteristics of its economy were:

- Slave labor, which was the foundation of the economy

- Military expansion, which provided slaves and great wealth in
his/her conquests
- The security within the Empire
- Excellent communication routes (roads)
- The currency was the denarius of silver (ancient Roman coin)
AGRICULTURE:
- They cultivated cereals, legumes, fruit trees, vines, and olive trees.
- They used new techniques such as fertilization, irrigation, crop rotation and
the fallow land
- The farmland could be small (modest farmers) or
large properties (richest inhabitants and the State).
- In the large estates there were villas where slaves worked and
colons.

CRAFT
- It was done in the cities
- Various materials were used for a multitude of different products
- There were artisanal food industries where food was produced.
oil, wine, bread, salted foods, garum, etc.
- Ruins of a factory where salted fish were produced in Tarifa (Cádiz)
MINING
- Mining was focused on gold, silver, iron, copper, tin, lead, and
the mercury.
- On the Mediterranean coasts, salt was exploited, used for salting and preserving.
the foods.
- Silver mines of La Unión. They were very important in Roman times.
TRADE
- Rome maintained intense trade with the provinces of the Empire, which was
where the raw materials came from
- He also traded with other peoples:
- North and East of Europe: amber, furs, slaves
- Africa: gold, precious stones, slaves
- India and China: spices, silks, perfumes
- Trade increased due to the use of money (arising from a multitude of
metals) and by trade routes both by sea and by land (roads)
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Social Circumstances
Roman society is divided into:

FREE PERSONS:
Patricians. They were the nobility and a minority. They held all political rights and
economic and could participate in the Administration

Plebs. The majority of the population. They possessed certain rights that they acquired.
in the Republic as a result of a confrontation with the patricians through the
magistratura de “Tribuno de la Plebe”. Al final del imperio consiguieron los mismos
rights that the patricians

SLAVES: They were not considered people but rather a commodity that was bought and
was sold. Slavery was reached by being captured in wars, not paying a
debt or for being the children of slaves. They had the worst jobs.

LIBERTOS: They are former slaves freed by their masters who become persons.
free
WOMEN

Women, regardless of their wealth or place of origin,

they were never considered citizens, so they lacked most of
the rights: for example, they could not participate in political life nor enter
in the army

- They were under the guardianship of a man: first their father, and if he died, their
brother or another relative; when they married, they came under the guardianship of their
husband.
- It was thought that the main role of women was the upbringing of the
children, but the legal authority over them was only that of the father.
- Despite these limitations, women could own property.
manage businesses and participate in parties, shows, etc.
ROMAN SOCIETY
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Desconocido. (2013). Urbanismo Romano. Construcciones de la ciudad romana. 06/2018, de Arte España
Website: [Link]

Rey, A. (2011). Historical context of Roman civilization.. 06/2018, from History of Art 2nd Year of Baccalaureate
Website: [Link]

Desconocido. (2013). ARQUITECTURA URBANA: LAS CIUDADES. 06/2018, de Spanisharts

Sitio web: [Link]

Fernández, J. (2011). Roma. la vida en las ciudades romanas. 06/2018, de Slideshare

Website: [Link]

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