In Roman cities, these terms indicated the streets running north-to-south (cardo) and east-to-west (decumanus). The cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus were the two main streets of the settlement, and the point where they intersected was usually the forum. ...

Originally created as a market place, with the passing of time the forum would become a proper meeting point where all citizens would go to participate in the administrative, political and economic affairs of the territory. The most important cities had more than one: the forum boarium for cattle ...

Remote sensing is the remote measurement of an object or environment, carried out by aircraft but also more increasingly by satellites. The result of the process is an image created by scanning different types of electromagnetic waves collected by a device equipped with sensors, which processes th...

Pietro Griffo was an important Italian scholar and archaeologist. Appointed Superintendent of Antiquities in Agrigento in 1941, he dedicated himself fully to the research and preservation of the important archaeological findings of the Valley of the Temples. He oversaw protection of the temples du...

Giulio Schmiedt. Military topographer and certified aeroplane observer. After the Second World War, he pursued his career at the IGM (Italian Military Geographic Institute). He specialised in aerial photography, first for military then for archaeological purposes. He took on a teaching post in To...

Aerial photogrammetry is a photogrammetry technique. It consists of aerial shots that make it possible to detect characteristics of the ground that are not visible at ground level. In archaeology, this investigative tool is fundamental for identifying traces of underground remains that are not vis...

From the Greek πλατεῖα (platêia), the plateies were main roads running east to west. In the Hippodamus urban plan, they intersected the minor streets perpendicularly to create regular quadrangular blocks....

From the Greek στενωποί (stenōpói), the stenopoi were minor roads running north to south. In the Hippodamus urban plan, they intersected the main streets perpendicularly to create regular quadrangular blocks....

In the 5th century BC Hippodamus of Miletus, a famous Greek urban planner and architect, was the first to theorise the rational arrangement of road axes with orthogonal crossings in the urban planning of Greek cities. His canons were inspired by mathematical and physical criteria, but also by soci...

Hiero II, king of Syracuse from 270 to 216 BC, was born in Syracuse around 300 BC to a family of humble origins. In the battles against the Carthaginians he came to be recognised for his honour and courage, so much so that he was appointed strategist in 275. During his reign he adopted a policy ...