The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

cities to mean either a

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within ...

in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

that occupied such a city block specifically in Rome and nearby Ostia. The latter type of ''Insulae'' were known to be prone to fire and rife with disease. A standard Roman city plan was based on a

grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...

of orthogonal (laid out on right angles) streets. It was founded on ancient Greek city models, described by

Hippodamus Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; 498 – 408 BC) was an ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosopher, who is considered to ...

. It was used especially when new cities were established, e.g. in Roman ''

coloniae A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''. Character ...

''. The streets of each city were designated the decumani (east–west-oriented) and cardines (north–south). The principal streets, the

Decumanus Maximus In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street g ...

and Cardo Maximus, intersected at or close to the

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, around which the most important public buildings were sited.

References

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Sources and further reading

*The Insula IX Excavation: http://www.reading.ac.uk/silchester/town-life/insula_ix.php *Pompeii Insula 9: http://donovanimages.co.nz/proxima-veritati/insula-9/index.html History of urban planning Ancient Roman city planning