Decumanus

 ( Ancient Roman City Planning ) 

In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Ancient Rome city or Castra (military camp).

The main decumanus of a particular city was the decumanus maximus, or most often simply "the decumanus".The City Walls of Pompeii: Perceptions and Expressions of a Monumental Boundary by Ivo van der Graaff, M.A. Dissertation. Graduate School of The University of Texas, p. 90 In the rectangular street grid of the typical Roman Urban planning, the decumanus was crossed by the perpendicular cardo, a north–south street.

In a military camp, the decumanus connected the Porta Praetoria (closest to the enemy) to the Castra (away from the enemy).

Alan Kaiser (2011). 9781136760068, Taylor & Francis. . ISBN 9781136760068

In the center – called groma – of a city or castrum, the decumanus maximus crossed the perpendicular cardo maximus, the primary north–south road. The forum was normally located close to this intersection.

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Etymology Decumanus or decimanus was the Latin word for 'tenth'. This name is said to come from the fact that the via decumana or decimana (the "tenth") separated the Tenth Cohort from the Ninth in the legionary encampment, in the same way as the via quintana separated the Fifth Cohort from the Sixth.

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Examples

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Barcino, Barcelona In the ancient Roman city of Barcelona (present day Barcelona, Spain), the decumanus maximus started at the late-Roman gate (which still stands) in front of the current Plaça Nova square.

William E. Mierse (1999). 9780520917330, University of California Press. . ISBN 9780520917330

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Split, Croatia Within the city of Split, in present-day Croatia, is the UNESCO Roman monument, Diocletian's Palace. This city, built by the Emperor Diocletian, exhibits the characteristic Roman orthogonal street system with the decumanus maximus connecting the west Iron Gate to the east Silver Gate. C.Michael Hogan, "Diocletian's Palace", The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, Oct. 6, 2007

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Gadara, Jordan In Roman Gadara, present-day Umm Qais, in Jordan, the decumanus runs east–west for approximately one kilometre with its ancient extant.Ivan Mannheim, Jordan Handbook: The Travel Guide, 2000. Footprint Travel Guides, 404 pages,

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Damascus, Syria Another fine example is the Straight Street or Straight Street in Damascus, which is 1,500 metres long, connecting the eastern and western gates.

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Beirut, Lebanon In Beirut's central business district, Rue Weygand, which runs east–west, still follows the ancient Ancient Rome decumanus.Mannheim, Ivan, Syria & Lebanon Handbook: the Travel Guide, page

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Florence, Italy In Florence, the decumanus is preserved as the streets Via Strozzi, Via Speziali, and Via del Corso in the city's old centre. Although these streets have different names, they form a continuous line with a split between the Via Strozzi and Via Speziali by the Palazzo Strozzi. In Roman times, these three streets formed the decumanus of Florentina, the name of the Roman colonia. The Via Roma and the Via Calimala are formed from the ancient cardo, and what was once the forum in ancient Florence is now the Piazza della Repubblica., Antalya Province, Turkey]]In Naples, there still exist three main decumani which are, from north to south: Fondazione GB Vico , entry on Decumani.

• Superiore: consisting of Via Sapienza, Via Pisanelli, and Via Anticaglia;
• Maggiore: Via dei Tribunali;
• Inferiore: Via Spaccanapoli, consisting of Via Benedetto Croce and Via San Biagio dei Librai.

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Gallery File:Calleva Atrebatum plan.png|Plan of Silchester, England File:Roman Cologne, reconstruction.JPG|Plan of Roman Cologne File:NeapolisStenopoi.jpg|Ancient Naples, decumani in red File:Ostia antica 64.JPG|Sign indicating the decumanus maximus in Ostia Antica File:Ostia Antica 2013-03-08-64.jpg|Ostia Antica, near Rome

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See also cardo maximus

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External Resources

• Exhaustive list of Roman decumanus maximus

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