An exterior exposure of a Etruscan Tomb
Last week we discussed the City of Delos, and how it became a new idea for city organization. This week we continue on our historical look, but rather than just look at an organizational plan we are also interested in the effect a culture can have on its place.
Interior of an Etruscan tomb (a different location than pictured at start of post)
The Etruscans are probably most noteworthy for the inspiration of a progeny culture we know as the Romans. Combined with the perhaps more well known connection to the Greeks, Etruscans lived on the same lands (and for a time alongside the Romans) an occupied and began building permanent traces and manifestations of organized society - and culture. Not just Temples, or permanent military encampments, but also homes for cultural institutions, ideas about building methodology, and developing their own expression of style. Etruscans served as a precursor and a competitor that would eventually push the younger Roman culture to the forefront.
Ultimately history tells that Etruscan society was slowly adapted, enveloped and became a part of an ever expanding Roman Empire - but not before laying foundations which can still be read if you look closely. While reading the lecture, look to see if you find Etruscan influences, not just on the Romans (f.y.i. our next section of study) - has the Etruscan influence has reached even further?
Again, here is another suggested question (optional) you may consider while reading, to get the gears turning:
Are there elements in our urban environments that you might trace to an Etruscan influence?
Comments are due Monday Mar 14th
20 comments:
Woojae H.
Responding to Lecture 11
Being influenced by Etruscans’ culture of caring for dead people, Romans have done the same as Etruscans building tombs around their cities in special way. They built tombs like houses for living people because Romans being influenced by Etruscans thought that dead people’s spirits would be haunted if dead people were properly buried, cremated, and tombs were built for them so that they can be happy in afterlife. They believed in lives after death so the tombs looked like houses from inside. They probably thought that the spirits could rest in those homes built for them.
I imagine those tombs would be built somewhere around their cities all gathered together in same area. If Romans believed that dead people would live another life after death as spirits, the city for spirits should be apart from the city for living people. Also, if the dead people would continue living as spirits at where they were buried after death, they should be buried close to each other so that they live together as spirits after they die. Therefore, I suppose that there may have been an area with concentrated amount of tombs built nearby their cities so that people in the cities could visit the tombs of their deceased loved ones.
Responding to Lecture 12
To compare the city of Marzabotto and the city of Philadelphia, I looked at how the roads were paved on grid lines. The roads in the city of Marzabotto would intersect in right angles on grid lines as well as the roads in the city of Philadelphia. This concept of architecture was introduced last lecture for being Hippodamus’s rationale. It appears clearly how the roads are paved on grid lines when one goes to the city of Philadelphia. One can certainly see when one goes to the intersections. The roads clearly appear to intersect in right angles at most times. I suppose that that is how the roads were paved in the city of Marzabotto as well. It appears on the map provided in the lecture that the roads on the city of Marzabotto intersected in right angles as well. Also, there were roads built specially for when it rains in the city of Marzabotto. The roads were paved with stones above the surface level so that pedestrians could walk on those stones when it rains a lot. In the city of Philadelphia, there are plugholes and sewerage. Those two cities appear similar in a way that both of those cities appear to be ready for rainy weathers.
There are elements in urban environments that I can trace back to Etruscans. First, there are twelve months in a year. Etruscans believed that number twelve was sacred. I suppose that Etruscans’ fascination with the number twelve was descended to us that, as they were listed in the lecture, there are twelve months in a year, twelve hours in a day, and Christ was surrounded by twelve disciples. Also, I suppose the culture of caring for dead people was descended to us as well. We, at funerals, have the photos of the deceased ones in the front wishing the best for them. In Asian countries, some foods are served and laid in front of the photo of the deceased one believing that the spirit of the deceased will be appreciated and eat them. In western countries, however, people do not do such thing.
Responding to lecture 11
A decent and proper burial of the dead in the Roman Empire was considered very important and, therefore, a plan had to be considered in the Roman Empire on how and where their dead ones were going to be buried. The site of Roman burial ground may be the centre of disputable expectation for many homes. The experimental and the desire to achieve new things was something common and successful to the Roman architecture. The Romans originally did not cremate the dead, but practiced inhumation burial. Burial was the original practice of the Romans in the early times, but later cremation was introduced though inhumation burial continued even after cremation.
Cremation was practiced for the purpose of hygiene due to the expanding population. Despite cremation, being introduced burial remained useful since children and slaves were continued to be buried, also burial continued to be a culture after Christianity was introduced to Roman Empire. Burial and cremation on the city walls was forbidden since the twelve tables, therefore, all burials and funeral sites were taken outside the city walls. Tombs were introduced and lining the roads were large tombs enough to hold the entire Rome generation. These planning help the living since the middle and the lower class, the retainers, freedmen, and the guest could afford their burials with the help of co-operative burial societies and charity from the patrons and generous people.
Tombs were believed to be the home of the dead who were not cut off completely from the living. Some tombs were bigger that the slaves and the poor would make themselves shelter from the tombs. The potter’s were also introduced, this were grave pits for the poor, slaves, plague –infected bodies, criminal outcast, unidentified dead, and the arena victims among others. Some tombs look like houses of which furniture are contained. Also some artistic like sculptures were able to last long in the tomb.
Responding to lecture 12
Etruscans occupied both the city of Philadelphia and Marzabotto since the ancient time. Both territories were controlled directly by Etruscans and both regions were a point of passage on commercial routes. The landscapes of both regions were covered and are still covered with hilly areas with thick woods, also they contain a lot of water source, and most of them are lakes mostly of volcanic origins. Both Philadelphia and Marzabotto habitats practiced the external language of classical Greece architecture for the purpose of the Romans to create architectural style.
In conclusion, the Etruscan prolonged from 8th century BC to the 2nd century BC. The success of Rome architecture was mostly from the muscle of Etruscan influence. The Etruscans extended their influence all over Italy. In northern Italy, they enhanced city-states, which they expanded to the south that continued further into Latium. Etruscan was enriched by mining of copper and iron hence this made them more influential than the rest of the Italic people. They also played a major role of mediators between the Romans and the Greeks in antiquity. Civilization of the ancient Italy is given the name Etruscan civilization in the modern English.
Lecture 11
A significant interest of the Etruscans was the afterlife. Their planning for burial sites and the imagined cities of the dead shows the utmost respect for the dead as they move into this afterlife, possibly becoming gods in the process. They were not simply thrown into a ditch, but were handled with meticulous care and consideration. The Romans may have taken this into account when designing their cities for the living. The growing empire would have wanted spaces to represent a strikingly similar respect for the living as the Etruscans did for the dead. Although both results may be vastly different from the other it still shows an understanding and an appreciation of the function of cities for the dead or living. Techniques in the design of the imagined cities of the dead may have represented a utopian society, a place of dreams from which the dead would occupy. Some of this information in design and use may have been extracted by the Romans in creating a physical manifestation.
Lecture 12
Philadelphia’s city layout mimics that of early Roman (or arguably Etruscan) models, particularly in relation to Marzabotto. Although the ideological representations for each are vastly different, the physical manifestations are very similar. Broad and Market streets closely resemble the cardo and the decumanus, respectively, as being the two paths or roads from which a subdivision can occur. This division brought forth by Broad and Market was William Penn’s original idea; Broad would be the center line that divides the east from the west and Market being the line that creates division between the north and south sections of the city. In the center of Philadelphia sits the dominating City Hall building. In no respects is it directly relatable to the mundus in Etruscan culture. Instead, locating city hall at the intersection of Broad and Market exemplifies the shared belief of the importance of the intersection within their respective cultures. Philadelphia and the western culture places importance to life and governance, as seen in the statues of Penn and other living beings on the building of city hall. The Etruscans valued death and their relationship with nature. The importance of both are articulated on their placement within the city.
Joseph Ridilla said…
Lecture 11
The Etruscans had the utmost respect for the dead, almost more than the living and designed their burial sites with that in mind. Their burial sites were designed in such as fashion as to emphasize great respect and importance for the dead and the afterlife. In terms of the Romans and how they planned their cities for the living, the Romans used the same principles just for reality instead of for the afterlife. The Romans built great temples and structures for their highest rulers and through this type of city planning illustrated their respect and honor for these people. By examining how the Etruscans designed and organized their burial sites for the dead, the Romans could do the same for the living. As the Roman Empire expanded so did their respect for the living and like the Etruscans the Romans continued to design and construct their cities based on these ideals.
Joseph Ridilla said...
Lecture 12
Philadelphia is very similar to Marzabotto in terms of design in a number of ways. Philadelphia from a city planning case was designed to be split by Broad Street and Market Street creating a crisscross from North to South as well as East to West. The city itself was also designed to be split into a grid after being divided by Broad and Market Street. Marzabotto follows an almost identical pattern and perhaps influenced the design in Philadelphia. Marzabotto was split in the same fashion by two signature intersecting lines known as the Cardo from north to south and the Decumanus from east to west. The city was also subdivided into sixteen smaller sections just as Philadelphia is divided into smaller sections from the streets that run parallel to both Broad and Market. IN Marzabotto at the intersection of the Cardo and the Decumanus stood the Mundus or a shaft with great importance as it led to the underworld. At the intersection of Broad and Market stands City Hall which also stands as a structure or great importance in Philadelphia.
I think there is a parallel as well as discord between Etruscan society and that of ancient Egypt. Both Etruscan and Egyptian society had an obsession with the afterlife, prioritizing it over the present day. In the same way Etruscan society placed an emphasis on their sixteen deities over the people, Egyptians placed an emphasis on a pharaoh over the people. This pharaoh was considered a living god and many people were worked to death as slaves just so this one man could be buried in a proper sacred burial when he dies.
Additionally, both Egyptians and Etruscans used a spot in the city and a special building to release these spirits. In ancient Egypt, the spirits of the pharaohs were taken to the next life with a pyramid built over the span of their lifetime. In Etruria, a Lapis Manalis, Stone of Dead Souls, would be placed in the very center of the city, the mundus, and removed three times a year to release the spirits of the dead.
Both Egypt and Etruria have this emphasis for the dead that got in the way of their actual lives. Many slaves were killed to make the pyramids for one person's afterlife, and in a similar way towns in Etruria could not expand with the population due to the sacred significance of the original design. As was mentioned in the lecture, Etruria fell to Rome despite its superior size because it became apathetic. I think it is reasonable to presume that Etruscans grew apathetic because there was no appreciation for life on Earth, instead on life after this one. Though respect for the dead is important and admirable, it has negative emotional and societal effects when made the priority.
Chapter 11 response:
I imagine that the principals for cities of the dead can inspire projects such as housing and temples to honor deities. In creating housing you are trying to achieve many people being given space to perform their individual functions as a family. Such work could benefit from the way burial sites are able to achieve a similar space for the many dead bodies housed within and separated by the associated living family paying respects. Cities of the dead also offer some form of hierarchy to differentiate the importance of the many people buried. The more space afforded to the body, the more importance that body held. This principal is similar to Roman temples and structures meant for giving reverence to the Roman pantheon and as such are modeled to match the importance of the individual god or goddess to Roman religion. Minerva, as goddess of wisdom and sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy, held more importance to the Roman people than Neptune, god of freshwater and the sea. As such, Minerva had more temples, resources, and importance than Neptune who was given a single temple near the Circus Flaminius.
Chapter 12 response:
The city of Philadelphia holds a number of similarities with the city of Marzabotto. Marzabotto followed the guidelines of Etruscan city planning, so it can be believed to have some of the elements discussed in the Ch.12 reading. Elements such as two main intersecting lines laid on the cardinal points, a sense of colonial autonomy and independence, and also a pretty hip music scene. The last element isn’t really a principal; it and the other two elements listed are something Philadelphia and the Etruscan city of Marzabotto share. In terms of being laid on the cardinal directions, the city of Philadelphia was planned as a rectangular gridiron. The same large roads and centralized planning that Morzabotto had, is similar to the streets of Philadelphia. Another interesting similarity is the sense of autonomy and independence within the city-states of Etruscan cities. As someone new to the city, I noticed that many people were sure to make a distinction when asked where they were from or currently living. It wasn’t just Philly, they were from North Philly or South Philly and all the others as well. The last thought I wanted to share was a fun fact I found while looking at the wiki on Etruscan society; Etruscan society had access to a large array of musical instruments. Loots, lyres, tintinnabulums, and more were found on frescos and bas-reliefs from Etruscan civilization. They probably had a groovy music scene out there, just like Philly.
Lecture 11
When the Romans would look at the the Estrucian's city they could see the importance of where there burial grounds would be located. Etruscians believed that life after death was more important then life itself so when designing there cities they kept this in mind. The Romans on the other hand could then use what they know about this to design there cities based on these ideas but they would be more used by the people living in the here and now other then the after life. When honoring the dead the placement could help the Romans understand where they should put there most important and sacred temples and such. This also gave them knowledge on where the could put the more profane buildings such as housing because they could start to position these buildings away from the more sacred spaces of the city.
Lecture 12
When looking at Philadelphia and Marzabotto in close context you can see many similarities where Philadelphia could have taken some of its ideas. Manly its distribution of City streets that split them both into four sections. These divisions are created by Broad and Cardo from North to South, and Market and Decunamus from West to East. These four sections are then subdivided into many other grided systems where Marzabotto is split into precisely 16. As these sections it divided the widths of the street begin to get small er as they become less important and crowded. When looking at the intersection of the two main streets both have a very important structured in this center of the city. At Marzabotto there is the Mudus which is suppose to be the entry to the underworld, while in Philadelphia there is City Hall and although it has no spiritual value it still once of the most important locations in the city. Lastly, after looking at a map I was able to see that both cities positioned there burial grounds a little outside the central part. Marzabotto positioned it at the northwestern corner of the city while Philadelphia has Laurel Hill and Mt Vernon Cemeteries both located in the same sectors.
Going off what Craig W is saying about the relationship between the Egyptians and the Etruscans I would agree that they both have this large interest in the afterlife and that they do relate a lot of there city to what they believe the after life is. The only ting I don't agree with is that they let this kind of belief get in the way of there actual lives and although many people did in the creation of the pyramids, the slaves themselves were building these tombs because they were being forced to, and not necessarily because they believed that it was an important aspect of the after life. Therefore the Egyptians were different from the Etruscans because these people were building burial grounds for the good of everyone who died in there city so that they may have a good after life, whereas the Egyptians were only making these burial grounds for one person, the pharaoh. So even though they both agreed in an afterlife and build things as a tribute to this, they did it for different reasons. I don't think that the Romans could have learned as much as the did from the Etruscans because of this.
Responding to lecture 11:
The Etruscians gave their great respect to the end of life. Afterlife became the most important thing. The imagined cities they have may be called heaven, where those good people will live after they die. As in the lecture, it says that the Etrucians has combines both west culture and east culture together, especially Greeks culture, as their own culture. Since Etrucians has great impact on Roman’s history, Roman may also combines a lot things from Greece. Nowadays, most of the cities in Roman is built around those scared buildings. Roman’s built a lot of temples for Twelve Olympians which came from ancient Greece. Those temples can be seem related to afterlife living place. While Romans plan their cities for the living, they built the cities around those temples and those Temples should be at the center. Moreover, Romans used all their intelligent ideas and knowledge to built the temples.
Responding to lecture 12:
The way that Philadelphia was designed has a lot of commons with Marzabotto. There are two main streets in Philadelphia, which has double ways on the road. the Broad Street is from North to South can be seem as cardo, and the Market Street is from East to West can be seem as decumanus. The intersection of these two main streets was used to built the City Hall which can be seem as scared place. The meaning of the City Hall is similar to the meaning of mundus. The rest of city plans about the streets are follow grid system just like what the lecture said “The city itself stood on level ground, laid out on a gridiron plan of wide streets intersecting at right angles, with secondary streets dividing the urban area into unequal insulae”. Those small streets in Philadelphia usually designed as one way, which can easily feel that small streets is not as busy and important as the main streets. Furthermore, in Marzabotto, the lecture said “at certain intervals large stones were set above the surface of the road so that in bad weather pedestrians could cross without wetting their feet”. People there had rocks to walk on. Here we have sidewalks which designed for people to walk. Moreover, as the Philadelphia is divided, North philly always seems to be the most dangerous and unfavorable place rather than East, West and South.
Here is a resource:
A person divided the whole Philadelphia and marked each area about how safe the place is.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/philadelphia/965160-south-philly-safety-map.html
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=39.924482%2C-75.172577&spn=0.228537%2C0.528374&hl=en&t=h&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&msa=0&z=12&ie=UTF8&mid=zVuLVX-55AtU.kAQoLpXFO6Q8
Phil S.
Lecture 11 response:
It seems as if the burial sites used by the Etruscans, which where viewed as cities for the dead, had a great impact on the way the the Romans planned their cities for their living. They certainly embodied the aspect of sacred space that the Etruscans spent to much time perfecting, and they also understood that the importance of a building stemmed, in large part, from it distinction from other buildings. And, just as the Etruscans placed their burial sites at the center of their cities, the Romans - who placed less emphasis on religion and more on people - centered their cities on public meeting spaces.
Lecture 12 response:
When comparing Philadelphia to the Etruscan city of Marzabotto, the most obvious similarity is the presence of the Cardo - being Broad street - and the Decumanus - being Market street. These streets serve as the basis for the organization of the rest of Philadelphia, and likewise where heavily emphasized in Etruscan city building. The 5 squares of Center City Philadelphia are akin to the separate quarters of Etruscan cities, and have their own spiritual qualities. City Hall which lies as the intersection of the Cardo and the Decumanus, can be considered the Templum, as it serves as an organizing force for the rest of the space. While not unique to Philadelphia - the crosswalks, which help pedestrians cross busy streets - are similar to the stone paths that Etruscans used to cross muddy streets after it rained.
Steffanie.M
Lecture 11
The Romans were famous for a lot of things, their ability to incorporate new ideas and adapt them to their needs being foremost. As all things die it’s the inevitable truth that there will always be more things that are dead than living. As a society stays in one place long enough the number of the dead will quickly outstrip that of the living, and the question of what to do with the dead becomes a very important question as you cannot just leave the dead to rot and burning the dead can quickly strip the surrounding area of natural resources. Being extremely practical people, the Romans, would quickly have seen the usefulness of the Etruscian idea of planning a place for the dead. As cities grow, land management becomes paramount. As the city grows so too does its dead which unlike the living whom may move to another city or simply just die, the dead stay dead and don’t travel to other cities simply because things are getting cramped. This means eventually the dead will take up more room than the living, and nobody wants to live on top of grandpa and grandma’s dead bodies. So the concept of planning for burial grounds in an organized fashion to provide for ample burial space in which premium land space is not accidently allocated or simply expanded into is a very important one.
I think that in terms of modeling their cities after Etruscan burial sites, the Romans really focused on the communal aspect of life. The photo above of the Etruscan tomb looks like the living room of a home or some type of gathering space where the dead might commune in the after life. The Romans had many such sites throughout their cities. One example is the thermal baths. These baths were designed to be places where people came to gather, think, and pass the time. Another example that I can think of, especially in the city of Rome, is the Forum. The Roman forum was the place where the governing body of the Roman Empire would come to for business and discussion. Third, perhaps the greatest examples of communal space in Roman cities are the theater, amphitheater, and stadium. These were spaces that the Empire created specifically for the gathering of the common people of Rome so that they could come together and enjoy sport and entertainment. Gladiatorial and Naval fights were an integral part of Roman living and brought the people of the city together. Places like the Colosseum became central gathering spaces for the people of Rome.
The concept of City Planning in Philadelphia that mirrors Marzobotto the most is the idea of two main axes running through the city and intersecting at the center. Here, we have Broad Street and Market Street. When originally planned, William Penn wanted these to be large, wide avenues, and he wanted the intersection of these two roads to be the most sacred place in the city, which to him meant the site of the central Quaker meeting house. Today, the intersection of these two roads is where City Hall sits, along with a hub of public transportation beneath it. While it is not a sacred place in terms of religious practice, it is where the central governing body in the city of Philadelphia is located.
The lecture also talks about Marzobotto having secondary roads, which branch off of the two main axes, themselves subdividing the city into insulae. This is similar to the Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. From beginning to end, the Boulevard is a major axis which runs through North and Northeast Philadelphia. it is twelve lanes wide and carries massive amounts of traffic through the city each day. Branching off of the Boulevard are roads that are still busy, yet not quite carrying twelve lanes of traffic. Oxford Avenue, Bustleton Avenue, Cottman Avenue, Grant Avenue, Red Lion Road, etc. are examples of the streets branching off of the Boulevard. These roads then divide the city into different neighborhoods of smaller narrower streets which are no longer commercial, but residential. While this may just be a result of Philadelphia expanding in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is very reminiscent of the city of Marzobotto.
Lecture 11:
I find that the most interesting aspect of Etruscans culture is their focus on the afterlife. With their location in mind it is easy to see how their culture was formed. Being situated between Greek and Egypt cultures they seem to operate as a mesh of the two. Their knowledge taken from Greek practices and their afterlife was a mix between Greek and Egyptian culture. In terms of forming Roman cities I think that much like the rest of the information Romans took away from the Etruscans was mixed up. In doing so they began to design more luxurious homes and temples which can be seen in the ruins. They adapted great concepts but also seem to have started the idea of materialism in the modern world. In the use of the cardinal mapping the Etruscans were able to lay out their city and create places delineated to certain functions or programs. I also found it odd that they used it to order the bad areas as well as the good. In looking at the burial sites of Etruscans the Romans could have learned the idea of power in numbers in terms of “two heads are better than one” because they saw that these tombs were most likely “homes” to many people. In this understanding of culture I think that Romans messed up their deciphers and misread the true meaning and use of the sites. With this misunderstanding they may have seen these places as areas of gathering, maybe not just burial sites. Also seeing the decoration of the interiors may have influenced them to go more into detail of their cities, because they wanted to be better than the cities they conquered.
Lecture 12:
Philadelphia carries many similarities to the city of Marzabotto. It shares the idea of a grid that is split into many uneven blocks much as the city of Philadelphia is. Their plan seems slightly chaotic which can be experienced at the crossings of Ridge and Germantown in the Philly grid. The orientation of their grid can also be related to that of Philly’s original plan. The first Philly plan had Market and Broad being large access points in order to get across the city. Also in the orientation of neighborhoods in Etruscans cities can be seen to some sort in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. As far as areas are situated they formed the city of Marzobotto to be aligned around an order of knowledge. Philly began that way which can be seen in the buildings and layout of old city.
Lecture 11
The principles for planning cities of the dead created a strong fascination for the after life more so than for life of the living. These ideas carried a sense of respect, as well as held a greater significance, upholding a distinction between sacredness and normality or profane. The Romans’ ideologies in planning cities of the dead and sacred burial sites could have applied to cities for the living, providing for efficiency and growth in human civilization. Many cities could have the capabilities to expand into greater empires, and resources may be readily available and more useful for the living. Such resources have the potential to create grand architecture that may last for centuries, rather than preserving a dead civilization.
Lecture 12
The city of Philadelphia and Marzabotto are similar in that the buildings are in close range with each other, some located on streets with intersecting right angles and on level ground. Both have also elaborate drainage systems and have streets facing in the four cardinal directions. However, Philadelphia is different from Marzabotto due to the size of pedestrian streets; Philadelphian sidewalks are only a quarter of the size of the traffic roads reserved for automobiles, so pedestrians and bikers do not have enough reserved space. Some streets of Philadelphia are also less linear and parallel, some curving and more circular than the straightforward ones of Marzabotto. Philadelphia also does not group together sacred buildings, and rather, has many separate and individual spaces located in many parts of the city.
Lecture 11
The first thing that stuck out to me what the picture in the lecture of a burial area that had a room that seemed to resemble a living room. This seemed to have carried over into the structure of homes for the living as well as the dead. They also respected the difference in sacred and unsacred. They kept the burial grounds (the sacred) sectioned away from the unsacred (the city) so this could have taught them how to properly segment their cities in the grid formation that they eventually adapted. Furthermore, the detail in the burial grounds was so elaborate that this could be something that they learned from that for their future cities.
Lecture 12
Philadelphia and Marzabotto are similar in the sense that they both are set up in an uneven grid formation. Also, Philadelphia has the Cardo, which is Broad street, and the Decumanus, which is Market street. These streets are the main point of organization for Philadelphia, which was also shown in the Etruscan city building.
Lecture 11
The Etruscans, being the intellectual mediators between the older, more established Greek culture and the younger, soon to be dominant Romans, transferred several major design principles from the former to the latter. While they implemented genuinely unique elements, they were effectively a gateway between the two on many levels. The Greeks developed city planning to the most complex and scientific level that it had been at that time. Their cities showcased a hierarchy between the sacred and the profane, highlighting levels of respect and function separately. The Etruscans utilized these principles with regards to their burial grounds, or "cities for the dead." Since, culturally and religiously, they seemed to be obsessed with life after death, it makes sense that much of their focus on city planning was for the dead.
The Romans therefore could utilize the ever pervading concept of sacred vs. profane in city planning however they so chose. While the Etruscans transferred this intellectual knowledge through their burial grounds, the Romans could possibly implement the same ideals and delineations towards their temples of worship and government buildings, the latter which they developed to unprecedented levels. Thus, the Etruscans, despite their unique style, simply passed on generations old knowledge that they themselves had interpreted from the Greeks previously.
Lecture 12
Marzabotto and Philadelphia share certain similarities in their plans. One major similarity is the presence of the Cardo and the Decumanus: Broad Street and Market Street respectively. These two major thoroughfares establish the structure for much of the rest of the city moving outwards towards the North, South, and West, with their intersection at City Hall being one of the most important and noticeable junctions in the region. Furthermore, both cities do follow a grid of varying sized blocks, with large multi unit apartment buildings between many of them. This order breaks at certain points throughout the cit. A pointed difference that demonstrates the technological climate of each city historically speaking would be the widths of the streets. While Marzabotto has massively wide streets to accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians, Philadelphia's streets are much more narrow despite a presumably heavier load of traffic. Perhaps this difference shows the emphasis on pedestrian travel that must have been prominent in antiquity.
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