Beyond Practical: Infrastructure in the Capitals of the Roman and Han Empires

• 作 者: AnnaRAZETO;
• 机 构: University of Copenhagen
• 出 处: 2012年中国世界古代史国际学术讨论会
• 发表日期: 2012年期

　　This contribution will discuss within a comparative framework a selection of elements of the urban infrastructure of Rome and Changan, the capitals of the Roman and Han empires.The provisioning of infrastructural facilities, such as walls, gateways, and road networks, represents one of the most practical stages of the process of planning and construction of a city, as such elements should aim to solve logistical problems and improve the quality of urban life.However, these facilities did not only have practical functions, but they could also be imbued with sacred and ritual significance; be used as instruments of social control, vehicles of political propaganda, or as markers of privileged civic status.In this paper I will look specifically at wall circuits and gates, and at intra-mural road networks, concentrating on brief descriptions of their material remains in Changan and Rome; their practical purposes; their symbolism, and the reasons behind their existence.