The Orientation of Towns and Centuriation

Roman colonies and cities in Italy were characterized as having regular and predictable organization for both their urban and rural aspects during the beginning of the Republican period. The study of urban and rural city planning bears on many different aspects of ancient history and archaeology. By means of modern techniques of computerized survey, digital cartography, geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing, together with the traditional literary, historical and archaeological evidence, aspects of the ancient city and landscape can be documented and interpreted in new ways. With respect specifically to the studies of the orientation of towns and centuriation, precise mapping on both the small and the large scale can provide unexpected and important discoveries.