City Boundaries and Urban Development in Roman Italy

In Roman cities, boundaries were an important way of defining spaces.

The significance of such boundaries was mediated by specific cultural

rules. Besides physical boundaries, such as city walls and gates, also

immaterial ones, such as the pomerium, demarcated an urban

context. Certain civic boundaries were highly visible and relevant to

everyone, while others were important to only a small number of people.

This book takes a new approach to Roman urban boundaries and city

planning by exploring the dynamics and interaction between urban

development processes, city limits and the law. As a result, Roman

attitudes towards the symbolic meanings of civic boundaries can be

better understood. Not only landownership influenced and determined the

use of urban space and its boundaries; also conflicts and constant

negotiations between law, culture and tradition, politics, and the

dynamics of everyday urban life were important for the way the Romans

approached urban limits.