The forum and the city : rethinking centrality in Rome and Pompeii (3rd century B.C. - 2nd century A.D.)
This thesis details the development of fora in Rome and Pompeii in order that our understanding of these spaces as 'centres' accounts for their changing relationship with the city, between the third century B.C. and the second century A.D. It is a diachronic study of spatial practice and the representation of space, based on archaeological evidence for infrastructures of movement and textual evidence for the articulation of spatial concepts. Having asserted the importance of movement in shaping the perception of space in antiquity, this thesis details the changes to the physical disposition, the management of access, and the representation of fora. It concludes that while the centrality of the Forum Romanum was related to its potential for through movement, access was increasingly restricted in the late-first century B.C. This changing disposition of public space informed the development of the imperial fora, which in turn informed the development of fora outside of the city of Rome. Fora changed from shortcuts to obstacles in the city; from spaces of movement through to spaces of movement to. This represents a fundamental redefinition of their relationship with the city of which they were a part, and of their
Newsome, David John
DG Italy ; D051 Ancient History
The forum and the city : rethinking centrality in Rome and Pompeii (3rd century B.C. - 2nd century A.D.). This thesis details the development of fora in Rome and Pompeii in order that our understanding of these spaces as 'centres' accounts for their changing relationship with the city, between the third century B.C. and the second century A.D. It is a diachronic study of spatial practice and the representation of space, based on archaeological evidence for infrastructures of movement and textual evidence for the articulation of spatial concepts. Having asserted the importance of movement in shaping the perception of space in antiquity, this thesis details the changes to the physical disposition, the management of access, and the representation of fora. It concludes that while the centrality of the Forum Romanum was related to its potential for through movement, access was increasingly restricted in the late-first century B.C. This changing disposition of public space informed the development of the imperial fora, which in turn informed the development of fora outside of the city of Rome. Fora changed from shortcuts to obstacles in the city; from spaces of movement through to spaces of movement to. This represents a fundamental redefinition of their relationship with the city of which they were a part, and of their
forum city rethinking centrality rome pompeii century detail development fora rome pompeii order space account change relationship_city second_century diachronic_study spatial practice representation space base archaeological_evidence infrastructure movement textual_evidence articulation spatial concept assert importance movement shape_perception space antiquity detail change physical disposition management access representation forum concludes centrality forum relate potential movement access increasingly restrict change disposition public_space inform_development imperial forum turn inform_development forum outside city_rome fora change obstacle city space movement space movement represent fundamental redefinition relationship_city part