Hippodamus
Hippodamus
- Richard Allan Tomlinson
- and Antony Spawforth
Extract
Hippodamus of *Miletus, was the most famous Greek town-planner. He was born probably about 500 bce. Ancient authorities speak of his nemēsis or allocation of sites. Towards the middle of the 5th cent. he planned *Piraeus for the Athenians, and boundary stones found there are probably evidence of his work (cf. R. Garland, The Piraeus (1987)). The agora there was known as the Hippodamian. In 443 he went with the colony to *Thurii and he may well have been responsible for its rectangular plan. *Strabo (14. 2. 9) records a tradition that the ‘architect of Piraeus’ planned Rhodes which was founded in 408 bce. Most modern authorities reject this on the ground that the date is too late for Hippodamus. Aristotle (Pol. 2. 5) speaks of Hippodamus' foppish appearance, and his political theories, and notes that he thought that the ideal size for a city was 10,000 (i.e. probably citizens).
Subjects
- Ancient Geography
- Greek Material Culture