Architecture, sculpture and everyday life

1. Roman culture
A reconstruction of the city
of Rome in the times of the
Empire.

2. Architecture

3. The Roman forum. Each city had
a forum. These are the ruins of
the forum of the city of Rome.
The forum was the centre of
the city where the most
important buildings were
located: temples, libraries,
amphitheatre, etc.
On the right you can see the
Palatine, one of the hills that
surrounded Rome.
Triumphal arches were built to
commemorate important
achievements of the Roman
emperors or armies.
The military parades after a
victory took place in the forum.
palatine

4. The forum was situated in
the crossing of the two
most important streets of
a Roman city: the cardo
maximus, and the
decumanus maximus.
This is the plan of the city
of Barcino (Barcelona)

5. These are the ruins
of the city of
Tingad, in the
North of Africa.
You can see the
cardo, the
decumanus and the
forum clearly.

6. The Romans were
splendid
architects. They
built temples,
palaces, bridges,
amphitheatres,
circuses,theatres,
aqueducts...
Temple of Diana in Mérida (Extremadura)

7. There were temples
everywhere in the
Roman dominions!
This one in
particular is in
Armenia, far away
from the capital,
Rome. It is very
well preserved.

8. One of the most important Roman
temples is the Panteon in Rome.
The Panteon is the place were all the
Roman gods would be worshipped.

9. Mérida. Theatre.
Like the Greeks,
Romans enjoyed
going to the
theatre.

10. One of the most famous Roman buildings was
the amphitheatre. It was used for gladiator
fights, naval battles, fights with animals and
the execution of prisoners.
This is the famous Colosseum in Rome, the
largest ampthitheatre.

11. Roman mosaics with
gladiator scenes

12. Aqueducts were used to supply
water to the cities.
These are all Roman aqueducts:
Nimes (France, left), Mérida
(bottom left) and Segovia
(bottom right)

13. This is how an
aqueduct worked
in the past, and
the way water is
supplied to cities
in the present!

14. The Roman circus was used for chariot
races. The ruins at the top are in Mérida
They were very popular, and people bet
for their favourite charioteer.

15. Sewers were
important for big
cities.
This is the famous
Cloaca Massima in the
the city of Rome.
It was built during
the Monarchy, and it
is still in use!

16. Bridges were very
important for trade
and the mobility of
troops.
This bridge is in
Alcántara (Cáceres).

17. As you already know, roads were
very important in Rome. Roads
had four layers of different
materials to make them more
resistant. Below is a map with
the most important Roman roads
in Spain.

18. Roman baths were popular places for relaxing and meeting. This Roman
baths are in the city of Bath, England.

19. Stadiums (like this
one in Turkey) were
used for all type of
sporting events by
the Romans.

20. Rich people lived in comfortable
houses in the cities.
These houses had gardens, kitchens,
living rooms, bedrooms, etc.
They were nicely decorated with
paintings on the walls.

21. One of the important rooms of a
Roman house was the triclinum.
Here the owner of the house and
his guests would have meals and
fun.
Romans did not eat sitting at a
table, but reclining on pillows
Slaves served
the foods to
their masters
and the guests

22. The interior of the
houses was heated with a
heating system called
the hypocaust.
They heated the walls
and the floors

23. The walls and the floors of
many buildings were
decorated with beautiful
mosaics with very different
themes: mythology, animals,
geometric patterns, etc.

24. Some people
(especially at
the end of the
Roman empire)
lived in villas in
the
countryside.
This is the villa
of La Olmeda in
Palencia, Spain.

25. In Rome most people lived in buildings called insulae.
They had no running water or toilets, and they were not
comfortable.
Often several people lived in the same room, and would sleep
on the floor.

26. Sculpture and paintings

27. Romans sculpted the portraits of people, especially emperors, patricians, military leaders, etc.
Also, they made sculptures of gods and goddesses.

29. Paintings
decorated
the walls of
the houses
of the
wealthy, and
palaces.

30. Everyday life

31. Romans used all kind of
objects. The pot at the top
left was made in a refined
way (terra sigillata).
Luxurious items were made of
silver, too. (bottom left)
They also used utensils for
cooking made in bronze,
(bottom right) and glass (top
right).

32. Oil lamps were used for
illuminating the houses at night.
Romans wrote on papyrus, or engraved
stone and bronze tablets with texts.
Children used these wax tablets for
writing.

33. Some
children
used toys
like these
ones

34. Romans also
used sun
clocks.

35. This is what a street could have looked like in Rome. Streets
were mostly paved, and there were shops outside the buildings
where people could buy jewelry, food, clothes, etc.

36. As many Romans did
not have a kitchen at
home, people usually
ate in the taverns
which were very
popular.

37. These vessels
were used to
transport olive
oil and wine on
ships all over
the
Mediterranean

38. This is the fishery of Baelo
Claudia in Cádiz. Here,
Romans elaborated a famous
sauce called garum, that was
exported to other areas of
the empire.
Garum was used to mix with
all types of foods, and it
consisted of fish macerated
with salt.

39. Romans used coins that were accepted
all over the Empire.
Most coins were minted in gold and
silver, but in times of crisis they
minted coins in bronze, but they had
less value.