In Brief

Modern Control Crowd Lessons (from Ancient Pompeii) - slideshow

Images that teach us what the ancient Romans already knew about crowd control

By Scott Berinato

Page 2

Build a Big Road: In addition to the actual stadium, the infrastructure supporting it must also be designed for managing the masses. Notice the ultra-wide Via Dell'Abbondanza leading up to the stadium, which doesn't narrow until several different side roads are available. Roads that widen on approach prevent congestion and crushing toward the entrance. Many ancient stadia repeat this feature.

Point Them Toward Home: In addition to the stadium and infrastructure being designed for crowd management, the actual siting helped to decrease crowd risks. Pompeii's stadium was built in the corner of the city, tucked against a city wall so that all exiting traffic moved in one general direction back toward the city. This choice for site was likely no accident.

Open Open Open! : Notice that walking spaces don't narrow down into bottlenecks. No open spaces close in on a single doorway or stairway, and no large roads force crowds onto a single narrower road. The key design element here is openness everyhwere. This design choice was no accident, and because it, Pompeii's Anfiteatro could be emptied of 30,000 fans in under ten minutes.

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