2. Roman architecture
The typical Roman city of the later
Republic and empire had a rectangular
plan and resembled a Roman military
camp with two main streetsâthe cardo
(north-south) and the decumanus (east-
west)âa grid of smaller streets
dividing the town into blocks, and a wall
circuit with gates.
Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded
before the adoption of regularized city
planning, could, however, consist of a
maze of crooked streets. The focal point
of the city was its forum, usually
situated at the center of the city at the
intersection of the cardo and the
decumanus.
3. CULTURE
The city of Rome was the largest megalopolis of that time, with a
population that may well have exceeded one million people, with a high
end estimate of 3.5 million and a low end estimate of 450,000. Historical
estimates indicate that around 30 percent of the population under the
city's jurisdiction lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of at
least 10,000 and several military settlements, a very high rate of
urbanization by pre-industrial standards. The most urbanized part of the
Empire was Italy, which had an estimated rate of urbanization of 32%, the
same rate of urbanization of England in 1800. Most Roman towns and
cities had a forum, temples and the same type of buildings, on a smaller
scale, as found in Rome. The large urban population required an endless
supply of food which was a complex logistical task, including
acquiring, transporting, storing and distribution of food for Rome and
other urban
centers. Italian farms supplied vegetables and fruits, but fish andmeat were
luxuries. Aqueducts were built to bring water to urban centers
and wine and oil were imported from Hispania, Gaul and Africa.
4. LIFE STYLE
The Romans encompassed thousands of different cultures and comprised of
diverse social, religious, ethnic and economic classes. The Roman family
consisted of the father of the family, the wife, the children and the slaves of the
household. The Roman family structure was patriarchal, with the oldest father
of the family being the head. They lived in joint family systems where the sons'
families lived with his father under the same roof. The Romans had very short
working days, working at an average for 6 hours a day. The men in the families
went for work whereas the women were housewives. They lived in sophisticated
brick houses. The Romans believed in public display and recognition of status
through one's clothing. The Roman clothing revealed the social status of its
wearer. The more distinguished the wearer, the more distinctively his clothing
was marked; whereas the lowest classes had nearly no markings at all in their
clothing.. Lower class working men wore hitched-up tunics. The dressing was
much simpler in women. The clothing of high-class women did not have any
special markings that could point out the status of their male counterparts.
Instead, they wore the basic tunics, which were fuller and longer, and extended
to their feet, and adorned elaborate jewelry and hairstyles in order to stand out
from the other women..
5. CLIMATE
The weather in Rome during summer is uncomfortably
hot, temperatures often exceeding 95°F (35°C) at midday, and Romans
tend to close up their businesses during August to take holidays in
cooler spots. Mid-winter is mild, with the average temperature in
December hovering around 55°F (13°C). The best time to travel to
Rome is in springtime, when skies are blue and the weather warm.
Rain showers are possible any time of year.
6. Pantheon Architecture
Roman architecture stands today as a testament to the ability and
grandeur of this once great civilization that, at one time, covered three
continents.
The common style of architecture formed a thread that helped keep the
vast Roman empire connected. Their great theaters and amphitheaters
were wonders that could seat thousands of people and are still
impressive, both in size and volume, today.
Their development of the arch and concrete influenced architecture for
centuries to come.
7. The basics of Roman
Architecture
1. Doric Columns
2. Ionic Columns
3. Corinthian
Columns
4. Tuscan Columns
5. Composite Order
8. Roman Columns
The architecture of Classical Greece and Rome did not come about all at
once, but came in different stages of design and style. There were five
different types that the Romans and Greeks used throughout classical
times, from pre 500 BC to the first century AD.
Doric Columns
Doric Style - Columns built in this style usually had no base and
consisted of a massive shaft with 20 flutes. Doric architecture predates
the 5th century BC. It was infrequently used, but examples are seen in
the Parthenon and Coliseum in Rome.
Later Roman columns differ
from the Greek version in
their addition of a base and changes
in the capital profile.
ParthenonColiseum
9. Ionic Columns
Ionic Style - More visibly complex than
that of the Doric style, being of slender
proportion, and their height being
generally about nine times the column's
lower diameter; the order is always used
with a base and the column shaft usually
has 24 flutings.
The example (at left) is from the Temple
of Portunus.
Corinthian Columns
Corinthian Style - This is the most ornate of the
classical styles and is generally much more slender
than the Ionic style. The Romans used the Corinthian
order in numerous monumental works of imperial
architecture. They gave it a special base, made carved
additions to the cornice, and created numerous
capital variations, utilizing florid leafage and
sometimes human and animal figures.
10. Tuscan Column
Tuscan Column - The Tuscan column
was the next form to be introduced and
it was introduced by the Etruscans. The
Tuscan Column is a very simple, plain
column with a base and non-fluted shaft.
No major examples of this architectural
type survive today.
Composite Order - The final architectural type to
come from the classical world is the Composite order
and it was first seen in 82 AD on the arch of Titus
(above). The Composite form is a combination of
Ionic and Corinthian orders. This form was the most
complex due to the fact that it used the arch.
Due to the advances of the Composite style of
architecture and the skill that the Romans had with
concrete, the Romans were able to develop such
architectural marvels like the arch, the vault and the
dome.
COMPOSITE ORDER
11. Pantheon
The Roman Pantheon is the most
preserved and influential building of
ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple
dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome.
As the brick stamps on the side of the
building reveal it was built and dedicated
between A.D 118 and 125.
The emperor Hadrian (A.D 117-138)
built the Pantheon to replace Augustusâ
friend and Commander Marcus
Agrippaâs Pantheon of 27 B.C. which
burnt to the ground in 80 A.D.
When approaching the front of the
Pantheon one can see the inscription
above still reads in Latin the original
dedication by Marcus Agrippa
12. ⢠Despite all the marvelous building projects that the emperor Hadrian
produced during his reign, he never inscribed his name to any, but one, the
temple of his father Trajan. That is why the Roman Pantheon bears the
inscription of Marcus Agrippa, and not the emperor Hadrian.
⢠The pediment,(the triangle section above the inscription) is blank
today, but there would have been sculpture that acted out the battle of the
Titans. Great bronze doors guard the entrance to the cella and would have
been covered in gold, but it has long since disappeared.
⢠The original use of the Pantheon is somewhat unknown, except that is
was classified as a temple. However, it is unknown as to how the people
worshipped in the building, because the structure of the temple is so
different from other traditional Roman temples such as in the Roman
Forum.
The Pantheon exists today in such amazing form because the Byzantine
emperor Phocas gave it to Pope Boniface the VIII in A.D 608 and it was
used as a church ever since. The Pantheon has been in use since the time it
was built.
14. The Amazing Dome at the Roman Pantheon
Probably one of the most fascinating
features of the Pantheon is the Architecture.
The structure of the Pantheon is comprised
of a series of intersecting arches. The arches
rest on eight piers which support eight
round-headed arches which run through the
drum from its inner to its outer face. The
arches correspond to the eight bays on the
floor level that house statues.
The dome itself is supported by a series of
arches that run horizontally round. Romans
had perfected the use of arches which helped
sustain the weight of their magnanimous
buildings. The Romans were aware of the
heavy nature of their building materials. So
they used lighter materials toward the top of
the dome.
15. This use of lighter materials on top
alleviated the immense weight of the dome.
The Roman Pantheon was probably
constructed by using an elaborate setup of
wooden scaffolding, which in itself would
have been costly. The elegant coffers on the
dome were likely struck with a device that
was exacted from floor level.
The detail of this building is extraordinary.
If the dome of the rotundra were flipped
upside down it would fit perfectly inside the
rotunda. When approaching the Pantheon
from the outside it appears rectangular in
shape. But it is only the first small room
(cella) that has corners. The rotunda is
completely round. The small entry room
would have been entered by climbing a
staircase that is now entirely under modern
ground level.
16. Renaissance Art
Known as the Renaissance, the period
immediately following the Middle Ages in
Europe saw a great revival of interest in the
classical learning and values of ancient Greece
and Rome. Against a backdrop of political
stability and growing prosperity, the
development of new technologiesâincluding
the printing press, a new system of astronomy
and the discovery and exploration of new
continentsâwas accompanied by a flowering of
philosophy, literature and especially art.
17. pantheonâs Dome
The building was originally approached by a
flight of steps, although later construction
has raised the level of the ground leading to
the portico, eliminating the steps.
The pediment was decorated with relief
sculpture, probably of gilded bronze. Holes
marking the location of clamps that held the
sculpture suggest that its design was likely
an eagle within a wreath; ribbons extended
from the wreath into the corners of the
pediment.
It took 732 construction workers over 3
years to construct the Pantheon because of
its many features.[The Pantheonâs porch was
originally designed for monolithic granite
columns with shafts 50 Roman feet tall
(weighing about 100 tons) and capitals 10
Roman feet tall in the Corinthian style. the
taller porch would have hidden the second
pediment visible on the intermediate block.
18. Portico
The building was originally approached by a flight of steps, although later
construction has raised the level of the ground leading to the portico, eliminating
the steps.
The pediment was decorated with relief sculpture, probably of gilded bronze.
Holes marking the location of clamps that held the sculpture suggest that its
design was likely an eagle within a wreath; ribbons extended from the wreath into
the corners of the pediment.
It took 732 construction workers over 3 years to construct the Pantheon because
of its many features.[The Pantheonâs porch was originally designed for monolithic
granite columns with shafts 50 Roman feet tall (weighing about 100 tons) and
capitals 10 Roman feet tall in the Corinthian style. The taller porch would have
hidden the second pediment visible on the intermediate block. Instead, the builders
made many awkward adjustments in order to use shafts 40 Roman feet tall and
capitals eight Roman feet tall.
This substitution was probably a result of logistical difficulties at some stage in
the construction. The grey granite columns that were actually used in the
Pantheon's pronaos were quarried in Egypt at Mons Claudianus in the eastern
mountains. Each was 39 feet (12 m) tall, five feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 60 tons
in weight
19. Pantheon Interior
The Oculus was also to let the smoke
from sacred fires out. The belief that
the Oculus was built so that rain could
not get in is not true. When it rains, it
also rains in the Pantheon; the floor is
slightly convex so the water flows away
thanks to an effective drainage system.
Everything you see has not changed
much in two thousand years. The
columns, the marble, the inner
decorations have not changed; even the
floor is the same, built with precious
marble from all over the Mediterranean
Sea. Here walked emperors like
Hadrian and Charles V.
20. As the Romans had no reinforced concrete
they found another solution. This dome
was built with a single casting of concrete
in subsequent layers. The concrete was
lightened by mixing it with lighter stones
as it neared the highest point. Initially
mixing the concrete with heavy travertine
stone, going upwards using progressively
lighter materials; like tuff stone. The top
layer was made with the light-weight
pumice stone.
At the centre of the dome, there is a 9
meter diameter hole, the Oculus. A
brilliant idea. The Pantheon has no
windows and the only light penetrates
from above streaming down like a river of
inner light; towards midday, the rays
coming through the Oculus are
particularly intense.
Pantheon Interior
21. .
Circles and squares form the unifying theme of the interior design.
The checkerboard floor pattern contrasts with the concentric circles
of square coffers in the dome. Each zone of the interior, from floor to
ceiling, is subdivided according to a different scheme. As a result, the
interior decorative zones do not line up. The overall effect is
immediate viewer orientation according to the major axis of the
building, even though the cylindrical space topped by a hemispherical
dome is inherently ambiguous. This discordance has not always been
appreciated, and the attic level was redone according to Neoclassical
taste in the 18th century.