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ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

INFLUENCES
Geographical  Most of the rivers around Rome were shallow
 Rome was built on seven hills at the bank of so they easy to cross.
the Tiber river.
 Rome is around the center of the Italian
peninsula.
 Italy had many hills and mountains but were
easier to travel over than the mountains on
Greece.
 Due to this Rome and the rest of Italy turned
inland for trade and communicated more
often giving them a united government
opposed to Greece's city-states.
 Most of the land around Rome was also
fertile allowing the Romans to farm.
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INFLUENCES
Geological Religious
 Natural resources exploited to the fullest  Polytheistic, several cults
 Had stone and marble, like Greeks  Roman mythology slowly derived
attributes from those of Greek gods
 Also had earth for making terra cotta and bricks  Every house, whether palace, villa, or "
domus," had an altar to the Lares or
 Hard limestone from Tivoli family gods
 The building material, however, which led to great Social and Political
structural innovations  The early form of government in Italy
resembled that of Greece, and towns or
 Pozzolana districts were joined together in leagues
Climatic  The government of Rome was at an
early period carried on by chosen kings
 North Italy has the climate of the temperate region (B.C. 750–500) aided by a popular
of Europe, Central Italy is genial and sunny, while assembly, but about B.C. 500 Rome
became a Republic
the south is almost tropical

INFLUENCES

History Influence of Greek Architecture

 Intermediary in spreading art and civilization - Romans considered Greek Architecture
in Europe, West Asia and North Africa as the acme of perfection
 Not a sea-faring people Roman (146 BC to 365 AD)
 Depended on conquest to extend their  developed constitutional republic
power
 farmers & soldiers, concerned with
2 periods: efficiency and justice
Etuscan or Etruscan (750 BC to 146 BC)  succession of military dictatorships, of
which Julius Caesar is most famous
 Archs and Vaults
 Radiating Arch
 Tuscan Column
 Atrium Type of House
 South Orientation of Temples
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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ETRUSCAN

DESCRIPTION  earth for terra cotta and bricks

 great builders  Etruscans introduced the use of concrete
(300 AD to 400 AD):
 large-scale undertakings, like city walls and
sewers  stone or brick rubble and mortar or
pozzolana, a thick volcanic earth material
 draining marshes, controlling rivers,  concrete for walls, vaults, domes
controlling lakes by using channels
COLUMNS
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM
Tuscan order
 earliest use of true or radiating arch
OPENINGS
MATERIALS
 arch
 stone: tufa, peperino, travertine, lava
 radiating/ semi-circular arch
stone, sand and gravel
 imported marble from all parts of the
Empire to river Tiber

ETRUSCAN: EXAMPLES
TOMBS
Necropolis Cerveteri
http://www.travelingintuscany.com/art/art/tarquinianec
ropolises.htm
Etruscan tomb, Corneto-Tarquinia

Tomb of the Leopards, confronted leopards above a

banqueting scene The Tomba della Rilievi, Necropoli della Banditaccia,
near Cerveteri
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ETRUSCAN: EXAMPLES

Drainage
Cloaca Maxima, Rome - the "great
sewer" in Rome.
- one of the world's earliest sewage
systems
- originally was built by the Etruscans as
an open-air canal. Over time, the
Romans covered over the canal and
expanded it into a sewer
Arches
Arch of Augustus, Perugia
Temples
Temple of Juno Sospita, Lanuvium

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

DESCRIPTION
 were able to cover large spaces without the aid of
 complex intermediate support (could bridge spans of 24.38
m)
 of several stories
MATERIALS
 heavily ornamented
 marble, mostly white
 utilitarian
 concrete allowed Romans to build vaults of a
 great constructive ability magnitude never equaled until 19th century steel
construction
 practical, economic use of materials
COLUMNS
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM
TUSCAN ORDER
 orders of architecture, used by Greeks
constructively, were used by Romans as  simplified version of Doric order
decorative features which could be omitted
 about 7 diameters high
 adopted columnar and trabeated style of Greeks
 base, unfluted shaft, moulded capital, plain
 further developed arch and vault system started by entablature
Etruscans
 combined column and arch (arctuated)
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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

COMPOSITE ORDER
Cross Vault:
 evolved in 100 AD
 formed by intersection of two semi-circular
 combines prominent volutes of Ionic with vaults of equal span
acanthus of Corinthian
 used over square apartment or on square
 most decorative bays in long hallways
ROOF and CEILING  Hemispherical Dome/ Cupola:
Types of Vaults:  used over circular structures
Wagon/ Barrel/ Tunnel Vault:  semi-domes for semi-circular recesses
 semi-circular or wagon-headed * concrete was preferred material for vaults:
complicated forms could be executed without
 borne on two parallel walls throughout its laborious stone cutting
length
Wagon Vault with Intersecting Vault:

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

WALL
Opus Quadratum - rectangular blocks, with or
without mortar joints
Opus Incertum - small stones, loose pattern
resembling polygonal walling
Opus Reticulatum - net-like effect, with fine
joints running diagonally
Opus Testaceum - brick facing
Opus Mixtum - alternation of brickwork and
small squared stone blocks

Opus Incertum Opus Quadratum Opus Reticulatum Opus Quasi-Reticulatum

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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: ROMAN

ORNAMENTS
 Mural Painting
 Mosaic - Used on walls, floors, etc. with the following patterns:

Opus Sectile or
Opus-Tesselatum or Opus Spicatum – Used
Sculatum - usually cut in specially on floors and is
Verniculatum - made often in Chevron or
various shapes and
up of square Tesserae Herringbone pattern
used on walls
cut in square shapes

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: TEMPLES

Rectangular Temples  Temple of Venus and Rome - The
largest of Rome's temples, this was a
 Maison Caree, Nimes – square house” is double temple, with back-to-back halls
an ancient Roman temple located in where each of the two goddesses was
Nîmes in southern France worshipped: Venus in the eastern hall,
Roma in the western
– Served as a model for the Capitol in the
USA by Thomas Jefferson
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: TEMPLES

Circular Temples  The Pantheon - the best-preserved building from
ancient Rome and was completed in 125 CE in the
Temple of Vesta – containing the sacred fire of reign of Hadrian.
Vesta – sacred eternal flame in Ancient Rome
- The world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.
- It served as a temple, church, and tomb for the past
centuries
- The building was sited in an area north of the old city
center known as Campus Martius

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: TEMPLES

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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Forums – the public square or market place of  Imperial Forum – no streets and no axial
an ancient Roman city, the center of judicial connections between the spaces; the elements
and business affairs, and a place of assembly are simply bonded to each other to create a
for the people, usually including a basilica and sequence of open, colonnaded, and enclosed
a temple spaces.

Roman Forum, Italy

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Forum Romanum – oldest forum in Rome; open
space, rectangular in shape, enclosed by different
institutional and public buildings, serving as the
city’s marketplace and center of public business.
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Basilica – a Roman building-type,
rectangular in shape with an apse at either
end, used as a meeting place, courthouse,
marketplace, and lecture hall

Basilica of Maxentius, Rome

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Basilica of Septimius Severus, Lepcis Magna

Basilica in the forum, Pompeii

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Thermae - Establishments that were
built for washing, as well as exercising,
entertaining, and conducting business.

Thermae of Caracalla
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Gymnasium – center for sports, with buildings,
playing areas and baths.

Gymnasium of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Amphitheater – a classical arena for gladiatorial
contests and spectacles consisting of an oval
or round space surrounded by tiered seating for
spectators.

Coloseum, Rome / Flavian Amphitheater

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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Theatrum – a Roman theater building or structure; a
building or arena with a stage and auditorium for the
production and performance of theatrical works
Pompeii, Italy
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Triumphal Arch – a large arched monument constructed
Curia – senate house; Greek prytaneion in a public urban place to commemorate a great event,
usually a victory in war.
Curia Julia
The Arch of Constantine, Rome
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Circus – a long U-shaped or enclosed arena
for chariot and horse racing; Greek
hippodrome

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: CIVIC BUILDINGS

Aqueduct – a bridge or other structure designed to
convey fresh water, usually a canal or river Drainage – main storm drainage system; one of the
supported by piers and arches, or a tunnel; from world’s earliest sewage system.
Latin, aquae ductus “conveyance of water”
Cloaca Maxima
Pont du Gard
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: RESIDENTIAL

Residential Buildings
Domus – the patrician townhouse; has party
walls on its flanks and an enclosed back area,
its principal opening to the exterior is located
on the street front.

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: RESIDENTIAL

Insula – a Roman masonry and concrete tenement

block for the laboring classes, often a multistorey
structure with commercial premises and workshops
(tabernae) at street level; originally the plot of land
bounded by urban streets, on which one was built
Casa di Diana, Italy
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: RESIDENTIAL

Villa – a large classical Roman country house

with an estate; originally divided into two parts,
the pars urbana, or living area and pars rustica
or working area.
Villa dei Misteri

ROMAN: EXAMPLES: RESIDENTIAL

Palace
Palace of Diocletian, Split, Croatia
A part fortified camp, part city, and part villa. It is in the
form of slightly irregular rectangle (175 by 216 meters)
protected by walls and gates, with towers projecting
from the western, northers, and eastern facades
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ROMAN: EXAMPLES: RESIDENTIAL

Atrium House – A Roman dwelling type in

which the building mass surrounds a main
central space, the atrium open to the sky.
Casa di Trebius Valens