The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

cities to mean either a

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

that occupied such a city block specifically in Rome and nearby Ostia. The latter type of ''Insulae'' were known to be prone to fire and rife with disease. A standard Roman city plan was based on a

grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News ...

of orthogonal (laid out on right angles) streets. It was founded on ancient Greek city models, described by Hippodamus. It was used especially when new cities were established, e.g. in Roman ''

coloniae A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''. Characteri ...

''. The streets of each city were designated the decumani (east–west-oriented) and cardines (north–south). The principal streets, the Decumanus Maximus and Cardo Maximus, intersected at or close to the forum, around which the most important public buildings were sited.

References

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Sources and further reading

*The Insula IX Excavation: http://www.reading.ac.uk/silchester/town-life/insula_ix.php *Pompeii Insula 9: http://donovanimages.co.nz/proxima-veritati/insula-9/index.html History of urban planning Ancient Roman city planning