May 8, 2007 — Ancient Romans built their towns using astronomically aligned grids, an Italian study has concluded.
Published recently on the physics Web site, www.arXiv.org, maintained at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the research examined the orientation of virtually all Roman towns in Italy.
"It emerged that these towns were not laid out at random. On the contrary, they were planned following strong symbolic aspects, all linked to astronomy," Giulio Magli, of the mathematics department at Milan’s Polytechnic University, told Discovery News.
Part of a wider study published in Magli's book "Secrets of the Ancient Megalithic Towns," the research examined the orientation of some 38 towns in Italy.
Magli explained that ancient Roman writers, including Ovid and Plutarch, documented how the foundation of a new town took into account the flight of birds and astronomical references.
"However, the link between Roman towns and sky symbolism has never been fully investigated," Magli said.
The Romans founded many towns, or colonies, especially during Rome's Republican period and the first Imperial period, roughly from the 5th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.
Their layout, inspired by the so-called castrum (a military camp), was always the same. The city consisted of a rectangle bounded by walls, with streets organized in a grid to form various residential quarters (insulae).
Two main roads, called cardus and decumanus, criss-crossed the whole city. Their intersection was the center of the social and religious life, while four main gates were placed at their ends.
"I did not take into consideration all the Roman towns, but only those in which at least the two main roads are still clearly discernible," Magli said.
