User:Torquatus/Suburbium

Suburbium is a Latin term that describes territory that lies outside of an urban center and one that gives rise to the modern concept of suburbs. The suburbium is not fortified and is thus difficult to define, leading to a great deal of scholarly debate. The only occurrence of the term in literary Latin is found in Cicero Philippics 12.24.2. The main archaeological challenge is one of definition and many scholars see the suburbium as a catchment area for he city of Rome, if not a series of catchment areas. R. Witcher has explored the possible extent of Rome's suburbium, discussing the possibility of 50- and 100-km zones, measuring from the city center. Connected to this is the extension of the authority of the praefectus urbanus of ancient Rome, which stretched 100 Roman miles from the city.