![Calleva Atrebatum plan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Calleva_Atrebatum_plan.png)
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 of the ...
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 letter ...
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 t ...
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 b ...
. 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''.
Characteri ...
''.
The streets of each city were designated the
decumani
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 gr ...
(east–west-oriented) and
cardines
A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...
(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 gr ...
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
{{reflist
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