Ancient Rome is a word used to refer to a small town on River Tiber in central Italy that grew to an empire encircling a more substantial part of Europe, Western Asia, northern Europe, Britain, and Mediterranean Islands. The town was founded by twin brothers Romulus and Remus I 753 BC and led by Romulus after he killed Remus. The small town grew tremendously through conquests both in size and in power. Rome forms the largest municipality in Europe characterized by the distinctive distribution of buildings and precious environmental and cultural worth. The growth and development of Rome hold the most significant lessons on comprehension of the development of cities (History.com).Therefore, an analysis on the importance of Rome in development of cities, the contribution of the way of life to the development Rome and the lessons from the pre-requisite on an urban center.
Ancient Rome is important as an example of aspects of the development of an urban center. Rome held several markers of urban change that characterized the development of cities. For one, Rome rose from being a small town to becoming a city-state and eventually growing to become the center of the most powerful urban center in the world. The process of development and the elements of the social and political organization of Ancient Rome that resulted to its eventual advancement to Roman Empire provide a significant basis for an example in comprehending the development of urban centers. The political systems were designed to ensure that no one man had more power than the others enabling for stimulation of development. Rome also represents a good case of management and use of resources to stimulate growth and development.
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Ancient Rome development is characterized by a cultural change that enabled development of the modern Rome city through cultural aspects such as architecture, religion, social history an structure, education and language, art and sports and entertainment among others. Architecturally, the cities of roe were made up of a wide range of architectural diversity ranging from modern houses to country villas with most people residing in the city in apartments. There were a number of temples and aqueducts for supplying water for irrigation. The architecture played a great role in creating an urban presentation, and the supply of water enabled irrigation which enabled agriculture to take place. Religion also played a great role in the urban development of Rome since it allowed the existence of several religions as long as they did not cause chaos (Zarmakoupi, 2015). As a result, Roe was able to accommodate people of diverse cultures and gift it with the numbers to drive development.
Roman law and art also significantly contributed to the development of urban centers. Roman law distinguished between public and private law as well as the legislation is still used in the modern western world. Roan law also greatly influences the modern practices of international law such as the use of juries and indictments. Defense procedures employed in modern law can be easily traced to the procedures in ancient Rome as well as aspects of the law such as a written law to protect individuals and ideologies such as 'innocent until proven guilty.' The aspects of legislation represent civilization which is a significant element of urbanization. Roan art and infrastructure systems also characterize modern urban centers. Roan art is still among one of the acknowledged quality arts in the world. Modern city planning and construction of structures are made up of elements of Roans ideas. Rome constructed its city buildings through intensive construction activities in the bringing together of the empire. The architecture of reinforcement in developing urban structures, keen on compact space and fast navigation, focusing the depiction on the eye of the viewer, led to attentiveness in the drafting of plans for construction. The same can be seen in the construction of modern-day urban structures in London and US among others.
Cities develop as a result of the existence of certain conditions that allow for the formation of cities. The conditions often known as the prerequisites of an urban center enable the development of the city by acting as engines for growth, and their deterioration leads to the decline of the urban center. Historically one of the major conditions for the formation and development of cities was agriculture in the pursuit to conserve surplus products and generate economies of scale. The prerequisites for urban centers include favorable environment and a stable social organization.
A favorable environment constitutes aspects such as a good climate and for agriculture and presence of conducive factors to carry out economic functions that result in development. The stable social organization is characterized by efficient and stable leadership and dependable cultural background for development. The environment and the social organizations determine the ability of people to function in a way that generates development. The prerequisites form the foundation of a city, and their deterioration leads to the decline of the urban center (Turok & McGranahan, 2013). Rome was founded on strong and complex political structure and a defined way of life for the people who enabled its development. Ultimately, when the empire enlarged, and the complex political structure was under pressure to govern the large empire the political structure crumbled disorienting the social organization and resulting in the fall and decline of Rome.
In conclusion, Ancient Rome evidently remains a significant contributor to the development of urban centers. The development of Roe from a small town to one of the great urban centers in the world today is instrumental in explaining the development of urban centers. Key in the contribution of Rome to the development of urban centers is the architectural influence, civilization, and legislation which render Rome important in the study of developing urban centers.
References
History.com. Ancient Rome . Retrieved on 25 April 2018 from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-rome.
Turok, I. & McGranahan, G. (2013). Urbanization and economic growth: The arguments and evidence for Africa and Asia. Environment and Urbanization, 25 (2), 465 – 482. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247813490908.
Zarmakoupi, M. (2015). Balancing Acts between Ancient and Modern Cities: The Ancient Greek Cities Project of C. A. Doxiadis. Architectural Histories, 3 (1). doi: http://doi.org/10.5334/ah.cv.
