Urbanism and Elites – Rome and the Cities of Italy (2nd Century BC – 1st Century AD): an Overview

Abstract

This article brings up for discussion the urban manifestation in the Italian Peninsula, during the end of the Republic and beginning of the Principate, as well as the importance of the rural space in the definition and the evolution of urban planning. Local elites play a defining role as regards urban space because they are involved, to a lesser or higher extent (depending on the time and area), in the construction of public buildings. Also, urban development directly affects the elites causing changes in terms of their way of referring to the urban space. The degree of building development throughout the territory of Italy is not uniform. As a matter of fact, a different level and pace of public buildings constructions is observed between the regions in Italy. Furthermore, the article presents and briefly discusses the most important ideas and work assumptions which have marked the research at the end of the twentieth-century, with regard to urbanity in the Roman antiquity.