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Modern Crowd Control Lessons (from Ancient Pompeii)

What computer models are telling us about how to manage a crowd, the ancient Romans already seemed to know

Build a Big Road. Still suggests that designs for roads and walkways leading to a stadium consider the facility’s capacity. Ancient stadiums, notably Pompeii’s and an earlier great theater, Ephesus, met this criterion. It might seem an overly generous sidewalk until you realize that the capacity at Pompeii’s stadium roughly equaled the 30,000 population. Still says: “I imagine an entire city descending on the site,” then a generously broad thoroughfare starts to make sense. Still says newer facilities do this better than older ones, but urban facilities still struggle because of space limitations.

Limit Corners. Modern stadiums often maintain the oval seating but then put blocky concourses around it. They also use switchback walkways and stairs. All of that creates corners. Corners force people to slow down and encourage congestion. Pompeii’s concourses were elliptical; few corners exist to slow people down. Still says this also evened out flow to the vomitories as people could, like liquid, choose the path of least resistance easily without interrupting their pace. Ironically, says Still, it could have been the limitations of their materials that caused Romans to adhere to this principle. They simply couldn’t build stone staircases into tight switchback configurations as we do with forged steel today. Still says architects should spend more time studying crowd dynamics to inform their design choices.

Limit Options. In crowd management, the maxim called Braess’ paradox states that more options equals decreased performance. That is, if you give people many routes to choose from, crowd traffic will slow down because of indecisiveness and selfish behavior when choosing one of the paths. Pompeii provides a stark example of avoiding Braess’ paradox. The entire stadium is serviced by just six stairways, all of which point in the same general direction—northwest. By the time a Roman would have to make a decision which way to go, the space has already opened wide.

Anxiety Control. A commitment to openness at ancient stadiums reflects an understanding of hard sciences like engineering and geometry, but Still believes it also reflects the ancient Romans’ understanding of human behavior. Openness reduces anxiety, and controlling anxiety is a cornerstone of crowd management. This combination of hard and soft sciences is what Still believes is lacking with many projects today. Still says facility managers “can shift the behavior of a crowd. Good signage and lighting, for example, will reduce anxiety. People need information before they approach the crowd. If one person has to ask where their seat is, then 140 people have to ask. Now there’s a backup and people are frustrated. Now those frustrated people sense disorganization and start acting out. Others take that cue and the anxiety feeds on itself. People say it’s the crowd’s fault. No. As the facility managers, you shape the behavior. Your failure to provide certain information or anticipate what creates problems, or to react properly when something does happen is what turns the crowd ugly.” In Pompeii, Still believes, Romans calmed crowds through design, even if they didn’t think of it that way. After all, a bad call by an official can spark a melee today. In ancient Pompeii, gladiatorial spectacles fed violence and death to a crowd full of men with swords.