The Washington times., 1926-08-28

tee Will encounter pr0Dtet1a C6Ms
turies old. Tor many % the modern
evils Of large cities existed II Hell
lenistic centerg of culture, Nils
Hammarstrand, New York architect
ana researcher, asserts IN 9 sym.
postum on "Cities Old and New, !"
of the American Instituts Of Archa.
tects.
Sums, cosmopolitanisni, instabil-
ity and speculative building were
features OF these ancient Cttiess
Mr.. Hammarstrand finds.
The Greeks and the Macedonians
occupied the luxurious dwellings
and sumptuous gardens Of the high.
class Alexandrjan suburbs, a. oE the
rich suburbs OF Antioch and ok
Eeleucia, he says. The walled-in
area Of those cities was ever more
deserted, az place OF residence.
BY the wealthy burgessess just 90
the central quarters Of Paris were
abandoned In the seventeenth ana
eighteenth centuries BY the nobu-
ity and the nouveatx riches.
All Had SIums
s'The Taubourg Saint GERMAN
ana the Faubonrg Saint Hcnore had
their counterparts in the exclusive
suburbs OF the great Hellenistic
cities whose congested centers. ns in
the case OF seventeenth and eigh-
tesnth century Paris. developed into
condemnation of workshops,
manufactures and slums, relieved
by the presence of a number Of
stately and costly representative
buildings. many OF which adjOined
the principal thoroughfares.
''In this connection Paris can he
mentioned both for b contrast and
4 parallel: as to its CONFEDERATION
ghteenth.century Paris was as dif.
fereflt from the Hellenistic ceu.ers
as well could be, for the street
plans Of the latter, according 70 all
Indications, left little to be desired
Is regards regularity.
Thus, the more or less iilapi-
dated, well-crowded tenements Of
Alexandria or OF Antioch, unlike
those OF Paris, were lined up along
straight, extensive streets that, how
ever, seem to have been. very mar.
row, as q rule. IL the extensive
congestion Of these cities evidenced
in & more conclusive way than by
inference from the conditions o9
Rome, OF which we are better In.
formed?
Ovcrcrowding Common
''The East siders OF Alexandria,
Antioch, seleucia and other Hell.
lenistIc centers were perhaps bet.
ter off than those Of the Roman
capital, OF the old and the new
Carthage. and Of Constantinople in
later times?
"A slight difference In favor OF
the Eastern cities may have ex.
listed, but a. regards Alexandra, In
particular, we seem rather justified
In assuming that It equalled Rome
in regard to population density and
over-crowding. That 1t did, SO we
may conclude with some measure Of
certainty from the housing condi-
| tons that obtained in the smaller
Egyptian cities during this period.
"Our knowledge OF many OF them
il better, because their remains OF
/ papyri are more abundant, those Of
Alexandria having persisted to
greater extent owing to it's damp
climate and to the many changes
and distinctions OF its long, event.
full history. The provincial papyri,
however, speak q language that
| cannot be misunderstood.
"For instance, from a papyrue
Of Arsinoe we gather that 81 peo'
pie inhabited one-tenth OF q house
In that city, obviously an apart
ment house Of several stories, such
as were frequent In the provincial
cities Of Egypt. And 1t goes without
saying that Alexandra must have
by far surpassed the smaller towns
When even they built many apart,
mont houses, the aggregation OF
hundreds of thousands, the rapid
increase of the land values and the
undoubted extensive land specula
ton must have concurred in making
great parts of, AlexAndria's con
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