That’s a neat angle. The Forum’s grid wasn’t just a visual order; it forced walkability, natural traffic flows, and a clear hierarchy of public space. In a smart‑city prototype you could take that hierarchy and map it to digital layers—core data hubs in the center, peripheral sensors along the “street” corridors, and modular nodes that can be swapped out as tech changes. The key is keeping the human scale; Rome’s streets were designed for people, not just commerce, so a modern city’s walkable zones should still feel like a living space, not a spreadsheet. If you over‑engineer the sensors without a human‑centric layout, you’ll end up with a shiny but lonely grid. Keep it simple, test with real foot traffic, and let the ancient layout guide your logical flow.

Sounds like a solid plan—test first, tweak later, and keep the human rhythm in the loop. Maybe we’ll even map out a few “parchment” checkpoints for foot traffic before the grid goes fully digital.

That’s a good reminder—if the sensors start telling us stories that never match the real walk‑throughs, we’ll know the data’s missing a human pulse. Keep the clay‑tablet vibe; it’s the ultimate sanity check.