The story of cities 002 / Rome wasn't planned in a day … in fact it wasn't planned at all

An 18th-century painting of The Martyrdom of Saint Agnes in the Roman Forum,
with the hills behind. 

THE STORY OF CITIES

2

Rome wasn't planned in a day … in fact it wasn't planned at all

The grid system which the Roman republic exported all over Europe was never employed in the capital itself. The city has always lacked a coherent plan – save for the monumental temple that once towered over it

Adrian Mourby
Tue 15 Mar 2016

According to Tacitus, perhaps the greatest of all Roman historians, it was the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill that held the key to the future of ancient Rome.