The Urban History of Rome: A Survey of Roman Urbanisation from Antiquity to the 20th Century

Instructor: Prof. Antonella de Michelis [see profile]
Disciplines: Urban Studies, Architecture, History

Emperors, popes, kings and dictators have left indelible marks on the city of Rome. This course explores street planning from antiquity to the Fascist regime under Benito Mussolini in the 1940s. Themes that will be discussed are the politics of urban planning, the mythology of Rome as caput mundi (“head of the world”), and the physical city and its infrastructures.This survey considers the practicalities of urbanism: how streets were planned and funded; who were the planners and agencies involved; and what laws governed the process.

Further topics include street design and the model of long, straight roads with vistas; the importance of urbanism and how projects symbolically expressed power and strategy; and the representation of the city and the early science of cartography. Significant architectural examples will also be discussed in this context and major architects will be considered.

Requirements:

• a midterm
• final project that includes research paper (8-10 pages) to be completed in two parts
• final exam

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