Post on 22-Jan-2016
description
GREEK & ROMAN URBANISM
Classical Greece
The Greek World
http://www.uoregon.edu/~atlas/europe/maps.html
The Greek urban system
Site and Culture (enabling factors, not determining)
No floods Abundant and diverse
resources Fish, grain, grapes, olives,
chestnuts, figs Many isolated valleys and
islands (natural barriers) Sea ≈ moat Isolation meant greater
security, so power took a less aggressive form both externally and internally
Alphabet derived from Phoenician consonant system, promoted democracy and public life
Money (local) Decentralized political power Ritual blended with
competition to produce a fairly relaxing life
Tremendously creative society: drama, poetry, sculpture, painting, logic, mathematics, geometry
The Greek Polis
The Greek Polis
A self-governing city-state Not large cities Plato thought ideal city
should have 5,000 citizens
Athens at its peak had a bit over 100,000 citizens -- about the size of Waco
Questions: What are the odds of Waco
producing a great thinker like Plato or Aristotle?
A great dramatist like Sophocles, Euripides, or Aeschylus?
Need I continue?
How were the Greeks able to do what they did with such small cities?
Source of Greek Creativity
Each citizen was expected to participate in the polis in regard to its: Political life Economic relations Spiritual worship Social events (e.g. dramatic performances)
Was this asking too much of people? Would we appreciate these duties?
Greek Democracy
Decentralization of power was a throwback to village governance
Separation of church and state was indicated by distance between the agora and the acropolis
Imperfect democracy: citizens constituted only about 10% of the total urban population
Approximate mix of citizens & non-citizens
citizens
citizens' wives
citizens' children
slaves
foreigners &merchants
Agora and Acropolis
Agora Gathering place and
market On the road from the
harbor Bordered by temples,
workshops, vendors’ stalls, statues
Place for public event
Acropolis Elevated temple district Contained various
temples Architectural “vocabulary”
used well into the 20th c. for banks, courthouses, town halls, etc.
Periodic processions to Acropolis also celebrated the polis