ABSTRACT
In the third of his famous ten books, Vitruvius objected to the close spacing of columns on Roman temples arguing that, “when matrons come up by the steps to give thanks, they cannot approach between the columns arm in arm but in single file” (De arch. 3.3.3). The brief passage reinforces the close interaction between ancient buildings and ritual processions. Throughout the Roman era, festivals and physical environments danced a synergistic pas de deux, with developments in one impacting developments in the other. At Rome, the exchange was especially potent. By the late Republic the capital boasted 132 public festivals a year; to these were added innumerable private celebrations that likewise occupied public spaces (Carcopino 1940: 202-6; Scullard 1981). Processions, games, rites, and other festivities energized the cityscape, and shaped architectural and urban design. As communal undertakings involving a large percentage of the urban population, such events reaffirmed collective religious, political, and social agendas. Occupying diverse and often numerous urban sites festivals also underscored the strong link between all Romans and the physical cityscape of their capital. As a result, buildings and locales acted as important participants in kinetic spectacles (Favro 1999). The symbiotic relationship between city and festivals naturally impacted the structure, nature, and perception of both. Researchers have considered how the Romans designed cities to engage kinetic viewers, choreographing festival routes to exploit the genius loci of various sites and buildings along specific linear routes (MacDonald 1982; Favro 1993). Less deliberation has been given to the experiential filters through which this exchange occurred.
