PART A

1. ROMAN
ARCHIECTURE
300 B.C- A.D. 365

2. Coliseum/ Colosseum•The coliseum was originally called
the Flavian, amphitheatre, named
after its two builders. It then became
known as the coliseum due to a
colossal statue standing near by.
Construction began around 70 AD in
a low-lying area in Rome. It was
completed in 80 AD and seated
more than 50,000 people. The
coliseum was used to host games
between man and beast.
Occasionally, the coliseum was
flooded in order to reenact small
naval battles. The floor of the arena
was wood covered with sand.
Beneath the floor was a maze of
passageways, and temporary
holding pens for the animals that
were used in the games. A hand-
operated elevator was used to raise
the animals up from the basement.

3. The Coliseum was built during the reign of
Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD
(Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus (9-79) :Emperor of Rome and
founder of the Flavian dynasty who consolidated Roman rule in
Germany and Britain and reformed the army and brought prosperity
to the empire; began the construction of the Colosseum)
It stood 160ft tall holding a large amount of
50,000 spectators. Making it one of the biggest
monuments in Rome.
In the upper class sections of the coliseum
spectators sat on marble, while in the lower
class section they sat on wood.
A wall 15 feet high separated the spectators
from the bloody events in the arena.
The main events that took place in the Coliseum
were gladiatorial fights, and wild animal hunts.
During gladiator matches as many as 10,000
participants would die, along with many animals.
The coliseum to date is one of the most famous
tourist attractions and is one of the finest
examples of Roman architecture.

5. The building's core is constructed of
brick and a relatively soft, porous rock
called tufa. The exterior is clothed in
travertine marble. Originally, the
coliseum had three stories, but
Alexander Severus added a fourth
when he refurbished the building
around 230 AD. The bottom three
stories have 80 arches each. The
fourth story is a solid wall with thin
Corinthian pilasters (A rectangular column
that usually projects about a third of its width
from the wall to which it is attached).

6. The amphitheater was mastered by the Greeks
and was usually built into a hillside(s) thereby
taking advantage of the natural slope of the
banks to create seating which overlooked the
lower arena - as was done with the Circus
Maximus which sits in the valley between the
Aventine and Palatine hills. The ancient Roman
Coliseum was the first free-standing
amphitheater.
It has an elliptical (oval) plan with a length of
189m (620 feet), height 48m (158 feet) and
width 156m (512 feet). The central area of the
arena is 88m (287 ft) long and 55m (180 ft) wide.
The wall surrounding the Arena and protecting
the spectators was 5m (15 ft) high.
The ancient Roman Colosseum was designed
(as with so many other ancient Roman buildings)
using the principle of the Arch. There are 80
entrance arches that run along the perimeter of
the external and internal walls and many more
also run to the center (like spokes from a bicycle
wheel) creating the internal corridors and tunnels
that run around the structure.

7. The large perimeter wall structure is made up
of 3 sets of columns, Doric (at the bottom)
then Ionic and then Corinthian. The
uppermost section of the perimeter wall is
referred to as the attic and was constructed
with Corinthian pilasters, every second span
receiving a window.
Running the circumference of the top
perimeter wall were 240 wooden beams which
supported the Valerium (awning), this was
used to shield the crowds from from the rain
and heat. The Valerium was anchored to
bollards on the ground and supported by
corbels built into the upper perimeter wall.
The canvas, ropes and netting which made up
the Valerium were operated by hundreds of
sailors employed from the Roman naval
headquarters. When fully deployed the
Valerium could cover most of the seating,
leaving just the arena exposed to the
elements.

8. Estimates put seating capacity at
anywhere between 60.000 and 85.000
people, but around 65.000 seems to be
the generally accepted figure. With a
crowd this enormous the ancient Roman
Colosseum experienced similar logistics
to modern stadiums, one of them was
how quickly people could be seated or
evacuated. The Romans had a similar
system of numbered entrances and
staircases to modern stadiums (or is it
rather the other way around) this
ensured rapid entry and exit.
Seating was strictly according to social
class, the closer to the central arena, the
higher your rank in society. The emperor
and Vestal Virgins occupied boxes at the
central narrowest points of the stadium,
while the senators would sit at the same
level at the ends of the stadium. Next up
were the nobel men and knights, then
the wealthy citizens and then the poorer
plebeians (citizens).

10.  The Pantheon is a circular temple which
was originally built to honour the seven
deities in 27-25BC but changed to a
Christian church in the 7th century.
 Is over 1350 years old and still stands to
this date.
 The first temple was built by Augustus
general Agrippa, then in 126-128 CE it was
totally rebuilt by Hadrian due to a fire in 80
AD
 Whatever the reasons, the Pantheon is the
only structure of its age, size and span that
has successfully survived the scourge of
time
The Pantheon:
ROME
A.D. 118-125, Rome.
The domed rotunda of the
Pantheon illustrates the Roman
architect’s ability to enclose
space.= =

11.  The magnificent interior space of the
Pantheon was achieved by:
 Employing a dome over a drum.
 Coffering the dome to reduce weight.
 Placing an oculus to allow light to
enter.

12.  Roman temples were erected not only in the forum, but throughout the
city and in the countryside as well; many other types are known. One of
the most influential in later times was the type used for the Pantheon
(ad 118-28) in Rome, consisting of a standard gable-roofed columnar
porch with a domed cylindrical drum behind it replacing the traditional
rectangular main room, or cella.

14. Roman engineers completed the Pantheon, a temple to
all the gods, in ad 128. Its interior was conceived as a
single immense space illuminated by a single round
opening, called an oculus, at the highest point in the
dome. The interior is decorated with colored marble,
and lined with pairs of columns and carved figures set
into niches in the wall.

15. Roman Architecture : Brief summary or overview
 Roman architecture was a combination of
Greek and Roman culture
 The Greek temples with columns all around
was fused with the Roman front-facing
temple built on a high podium
 Ancient Rome emphasized the use of
columns in their architecture
 The columns were utilized as a support and
decoration. The Romans came up with five
different types of columns, which are the
Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and
Composite. Most of these, however, were
adopted from Greek columns
 The architectural technique of the arch and
column is a trademark of Ancient Rome.

16.  One of the main uses of the arch was to build aqueducts which carried water
from the hills to big tanks or cisterns in the cities
 Aqueducts contained pipes lined with cement, on the top of the arches, which
carried the water
 The pipes were covered to stop the water evaporating and to prevent
contamination in the water
 The Romans applied the arch to many of their buildings
 Two of the first structures to carry arches are bridges and aqueducts.
Triumphal arches were later constructed to honor their leaders, and
vaults came into practice, which are arched roofs.

17. References:
Sir Banister Fletcher- A History of Architecture. (Twentieth Edition)
Emily Cole- The Grammar of Architecture
Louis Hellman- Architecture for beginners
THANK YOU.
This is just a track line to the subject matter. students are requested to study the recommended books & also go after .