Abstract/Summary

Although there has been considerable interest in the nature of ancient cities, it has been difficult to identify and explore quantitative patterns in their design and amenities. In this article, we offer a model for the relationship between the size and infrastructure of settlements, before testing it against measures of the urban form of cities in the Roman Empire. This allows us to advocate a more consistent approach to investigating settlements that is capable of not only incorporating sites with divergent experiences into the same model, but also exposing their similarities and differences.