Category Books

Ancient Rome: City Planning and Administration »

Authors: O. F. Robinson, F. Robinson O.
ISBN-13: 9780415022347, ISBN-10: 0415022347
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Routledge
Date Published: March 1992
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: O. F. Robinson

Book Synopsis

The population of ancient Rome at its peak was tremendous. To keep the inhabitants fed, provided with water, drainage and entertainment; to enable the people to move about in harmony with their neighbors, required a detailed, pragmatic and workable system of administrative law. This book describes the legal framework on which the administration of ancient Rome as a city depended.

O. F. Robinson begins by introducing the purely physical aspect of Rome--its populations and boundaries. An overview of town planning is offered, followed by an in-depth treatment of building and controls, public works, streets and traffic.

Ancient Rome is a comprehensive account of the running of a great city without modern technology. It will be of considerable interest to historians, archeologists and lawyers, as well as modern government specialists. _

	Preface
	Introduction: limitations of space and time	1
1	The Physical City	5
	The City's boundaries	5
	Population	8
	The divisions of the City	9
2	Planning: The Overall View	14
	The concept of planning	14
	Julius Caesar and Augustus	17
	The Principate after Augustus	19
	The Severans and after	22
	Overall planning: administration	23
	The distinction between public and private	26
3	Building Controls	33
	Building regulations	34
	'Civil' use of urban property	38
	Demolition	42
4	Public Buildings and Public Works	47
	New building in the Republic	48
	New building in the principate	51
	The cura operum publicorum	54
	Public buildings and their purpose; libraries, etc.	56
5	Streets and Thoroughfares	59
	Repair and maintenance in the Julian law	59
	Repair and maintenance under the Principate	62
	Cleaning the streets	69
	Traffic	73
	Open spaces	77
	Appendix: tabula Heracleensis, vv.20-82	79
6	The Tiber	83
	Bridges	83
	Sewers	83
	Flood protection and the creation of the cura Tiberis	86
	The zone of public access	90
	Navigation	91
	Other uses of the river	93
	Co-operation	94
7	Water and Fire	95
	The Republican provision of water	95
	The arterial water supply under Augustus and after	98
	The administration of the water supply	99
	Fire control in the Republic	105
	The vigiles	106
8	Public Health	111
	Attitudes to health	111
	Baths	113
	Fresh air	116
	Drains and sewers	117
	Latrines	119
	Cleansing services	122
	Burials	124
	Medical services	127
	Civil remedies and public health	129
9	Control of Services	130
	Markets	131
	Bars, eating-houses and inns	135
	Prostitution	137
	Controls over trades and professions	140
10	Feeding the City	144
	The procurement of grain	144
	The distribution of grain	151
	The operation of the cura annonae at Rome	155
11	Shows and Spectacles	160
	The theatre	162
	The circus	163
	Gladiatorial games	166
	Animals on show	168
	Audience control	169
12	The Forces of Law and Order	173
	Republican measures	174
	The forces in Rome under the Empire	181
	Jurisdiction: the Urban Prefect and others	188
	The tools of law and order	191
13	Public Order	196
	Violence and sedition	196
	Undesirables	200
	Low life	204
	Control of animals	206
	'Public discipline'	208
14	Loose Ends	210
	Bibliography	213
	Index of sources	232
	General index	246