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ON THE ORIENTATION OF ROMAN TOWNS IN ITALY
Author(s) -
MAGLI GIULIO
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0092.2007.00296.x
Subject(s) - orientation (vector space) , foundation (evidence) , archaeology , preliminary report , history , field (mathematics) , geography , ancient history , geometry , mathematics , physics , pure mathematics , medical physics
Summary. Several Roman writers report on the existence of a town foundation ritual, inherited from the Etruscans, which allegedly included astronomical references. However, the possible existence of astronomical orientations in the layout of Roman towns has never been considered in a systematic way. As a first step in this direction, the orientation of 38 Roman towns in Italy is studied here. Non‐random orientation patterns emerge from these data, calling for further research in this field.