No part of it, so far as we know, was laid out on a rectangular or indeed on any plan.[67] It grew as it could.

Its builders, above all its imperial builders, cared much for spectacular effects and architectural pomp.

Even in late Republican times the gloomy mass of the Tabularium and the temples of the Capitol must have towered above the Forum in no mere accidental stateliness, and imperial Rome contained many buildings in many quarters to show that it was the capital of an Empire.

But for town-planning we must go elsewhere.
[67] The traces of prehistoric planning detected by some writers in Rome are very dubious.
The sources of our knowledge are twofold.

In a few cases archaeological excavation has laid bare the paving of Roman streets or the foundation of Roman house-blocks.