Cardo

The cardo was the main north–south-oriented street in Ancient Roman cities, military camps, and coloniae.

Description

The cardo, an integral component of city planning, was lined with shops and vendors, and served as a hub of economic life. The main cardo was called cardo maximus.

Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus Maximus, an east-west street that served as a secondary main street. Due to varying geography, in some cities the decumanus is the main street and the cardo is secondary, but in general the cardo maximus served as the primary road. The Forum was normally located at the intersection of the Decumanus and the Cardo. The cardo was the "hinge" or axis of the city, derived from the same root as cardinal.

Examples

Apamea, Syria

The Cardo Maximus of Apamea, Syria ran through the centre of the city directly from North to South, linked the principal gates of the city, and was originally surrounded by 1200 columns with unique spiral fluting, each subsequent column spiralling in the opposite direction. The thoroughfare was about 1.85 kilometres long and 37 metres wide, as it was used for wheeled transport. The great colonnade was erected in the 2nd century and it was still standing until the 12th. The earthquakes of 1157 and 1170 demolished the colonnade. The cardo was lined on both sides with civic and religious buildings.

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Bembo

Bembo is a 1929 old-style serif typeface most commonly used for body text. It is based on a design cut by Francesco Griffo for printer Aldus Manutius around 1495, and named for his first publication with it, a small 1496 book of writing by the poet and cleric Pietro Bembo.

The revival was designed by the Monotype Corporation around 1928-9, as part of a revival of interest in the types used in renaissance printing. It has held lasting popularity since as an attractive, legible book typeface. Prominent users of Bembo have included the Everyman's Library series, Penguin Books, both Oxford and Cambridge University Press, the National Gallery and Edward Tufte.

History

The roman, or regular style of Bembo was designed by Griffo, sometimes called 'Francesco da Bologna' (of Bologna). He cut punches for the Venetian press of the humanist printer Aldus Manutius. Manutius at first printed only works in Greek. His first printing in the Latin alphabet in February 1496 (1495 by the Venetian calendar) was a book entitled Petri Bembi de Aetna Angelum Chabrielem liber, normally just called De Aetna by modern writers. This was a 60-page text about a journey to Mount Aetna written by the young Italian humanist poet Pietro Bembo, later a Cardinal and secretary to Pope Leo X. Six years later Griffo was responsible for the first italic types.