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Athens / Rome Planning and Structure: The history and theories of city form traces how the shapes of cities have been generated by the prevailing contemporary social institutions and technologies of the times. Both ancient Roman cities and ancient Greek cities were similar in that highly symmetrical buildings (based on Platonic geometries -- circle, square, rectangle) were placed onto a complex system of streets. Hence we have the Parthenon, placed on the highest hill in Athens, …

…vaults were used to build the great colisea, where ten of thousands of citizens could attend games and ceremonies. And, high-ceilinged domes and vaults formed huge interior spaces, such as the pantheon, the great baths, and forum buildings to conduct the affairs of government. The typology of the latter, also known as the basilica form, was adopted by the early Christians to accommodate the new liturgy, which included believers coming together to worship in mass.