The Romans indicated their streets with the terms Cardo and Decimanus. All streets running from north to south were called 'cardo'. A 'decimanus' was a street running from east to west. In the case of main roads, the term 'maximus' was added. In the Middle Ages people were less regulated. Streets and squares were often named after the work that was most often carried out there, or were simply a description of an important building that stood nearby, or of important people who lived there. From the twelfth century onwards, people increasingly stuck to a fixed street name. However, as these were never officially recorded, there were sometimes several names in circulation for each street.
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