"Rome never had grandiose views such as Antioch and Alexandria, with their long, straight and wide streets, cut at right angles. Furthermore, several peculiarities of Roman domestic architecture must have brought to the architectural effect of the streets. Such were the frequent deviations of several houses from the straight line, the different heights of the various floors of the houses, the irregularity of the windows particularly in the upper floors, and finally the frequency of recesses and projections in the houses, which made the the section of the road surface."