Historical sources create an image that Rome was a city full of skyscrapers at the peak of the Roman empire. History also tells us that Rome inherited restrictions concerning the height of...Show moreHistorical sources create an image that Rome was a city full of skyscrapers at the peak of the Roman empire. History also tells us that Rome inherited restrictions concerning the height of buildings (Storey 2008, 8). However, Historical sources have the tendency to be biased, leading to an incorrect vision (King 2017, 3). This leads to historical sources offering narratives that archaeology must correct or dispute. Therefore, this thesis questions what archaeological sources state concerning the height and distribution of Roman buildings in Rome? The height of Roman buildings cannot be measured solely by archaeological sources. So instead, I will mainly be utilizing a map called the Forma Urbis Romae (FUR) as the archaeological visualization of staircases and high-rises. This map displays all the insulae and staircases in Rome in the beginning of the third century AD However, only 10 to 15% exists. By means of a typology of symbols presented as staircases and the spread of these symbols displayed in an edited version of the slab map of the FUR, an interpretation is made of high-rises. The typology includes the symbol “V” with transverse bars in it, with the spaces between the transverse bars being interpreted as floors within a building. A determination of the concept of a high-rise for Roman standards must be set. High-rises tower above the ordinary height of buildings and should be detectable in the urban landscape. The few archaeological remains form the basis of the height per floor, suggesting that the height per floor should be estimated at 3 to 3.5 meter. Based on these heights per floor, the multifloored buildings present on the map are interpreted to range from 6 to 31,5 meters. With a high-rise defined by a minimum of a 3 floored building of 12 to 14 meters. These high-rises are not very abundantly visible in the distribution of Rome and the tallest high-rises are particularly exceptional. These high-rises are only relatively sporadically distributed in small clusters and evade elevated areas. These results point out that archaeological results show a different image than what historical implyShow less
