ON THE ORIENTATION OF ROMAN TOWNS IN ITALY

2008/01/08 by Giulio Magli · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Historical and Architectural Studies #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies #Historical Geography and Cartography

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0092.2007.00296.x

openalex publication_date 2008/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

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.

Cited by

• Archaeoastronomy [wikipedia]

Related

• The orientation of Julia Augusta Taurinorum (Torino)
• Astronomical orientation analysis of three proto-historical sites in Friuli - Italy
• The orientation of Trajan's town of Timgad
• ‘No easy way from the earth to the stars’: a new statistical approach to the orientation of the Maltese temples
• Dating the foundation of Augusta Taurinorum ex sole. The augustean propaganda and the role of Astronomy