Colonnaded streets within the Roman cityscape: a “spatial” perspective

Abstract

Studies tackling the Roman legacy of colonial cities and Arabian provinces are still grappling with these cities from an urban planning perspective and/or building typologies. They do not provide a ‘spatial’ analysis that allows reading the Roman cities through the features that structured its urban language; one of which is the colonnaded streets. The study adopts a holistic approach to confront the ambiguities about possible origins, uses and meanings of the Roman colonnaded streets when traced in the Roman East as well as other Western cities. Besides its utilitarian and cultural value, the colonnaded streets are nalyzed according to two interrelated interpretations: astrological interpretation to represent an empire of astral divinity and performative interpretation to represent an empire of imperial power. The colonnaded streets is transformed from a ‘line on site’ into a ‘line of sight’ that testifies to the social norms of the Roman people but also to their ideologies, beliefs, and aspirations.

Keywords:

• colonnaded streets
• Roman urbanism
• spatial analysis
• astrological interpretation
• performative urbanism

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shaher Rababeh

SHAHER RABABEH

Department of Architectural Engineering, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan. E-mail: [email protected]

Shaher Rababeh, the author of “How Petra was Built”, is an associate professor of architecture and construction, the founder and the former chair of the Department of Architecture (2005–2011), the founder and the director of the Department of Engineering Projects (2007 – present), the vice dean of the Faculty of Engineering (2011–2012) and the dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Hashemite University, Jordan (Feb 2012 – present). He received his BSc in Architectural Engineering from Yarmouk University, Jordan in 1987. From the University of Oxford he was awarded his MSt in Classical Architecture and DPhil in Architectural Construction Techniques and Methods of Design, in 2005. Thereafter, he has been associated with the Faculty of Engineering at the Hashemite University for nine years. During that time, he has established the department of Architecture and the Engineering Projects Unit. His approach to research and management is founded in his education and the realities of working as a designer for 14 years before getting the DPhil, and in the main values common to any organisation: respect, team spirit, transparency and creativity.

Rama Al Rabady

RAMA AL RABADY

Department of Architectural Engineering, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan. E-mail: [email protected]

Rama Al Rabady is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan. She earned her three degrees in Architecture: a B.Sc. from Jordan University of Science and Technology; an M.Sc. from the University of Jordan; and a PhD from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include integrated heritage management, good governance in heritage planning, spatial conservation and tourism development in urban contexts, and advanced technology applications in heritage documentation and management.

Shatha Abu-Khafajah

SHATHA ABU-KHAFAJAH

Department of Architectural Engineering, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan. E-mail: [email protected]

Shatha Abu-Khafajah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan. With her B.Sc. in Architectural Engineering and her M.A. in Archaeology, both from Jordan University, she wrote her thesis on the documentation and conservation of architectural heritage in Jordan. She earned her PhD in Cultural Heritage Management from Newcastle University in the U.K. Her research focuses on meanings and uses of cultural heritage, cultural sustainability, and the intersection between anthropology, archaeology, architecture, and urban landscape in different contexts.