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Chapter Five: The Roman World
Roman buildings developed from Greek and Etruscan precedents and were found across the Roman Empire. Distinctive public building types included amphitheaters, baths, theaters, and basilicas which served urban culture. Houses ranged from apartments to palaces and villas. Roman engineering created dramatic interior spaces through arched vaults and domes, and used durable concrete. Cities followed an orthogonal grid plan with civic buildings like forums and temples.
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Chapter Five: The Roman World
- 1. Buildings across Time,4th Edition Chapter Five: The Roman World Introduction Roman buildings, developed from Greek and Etruscan precedent, are found over the wide geographic range of the Roman empire. Distinctive public building types, including amphitheaters, baths, theaters, stadia, basilicas, and temples, were created to serve a complex urban culture. Houses ranged from multi-story apartments to elegant palaces and rural villas. Roman engineering was exceptional. Public works, from water supply to sewers, roads and bridges, supported cities across the empire. Roman builders exploited the arch, vault, and dome to create dramatic interior spaces, and they used concrete (known in Ancient Rome as pozzolana) as an economical, durable, and versatile construction material.
- 2. Etruscan Architecture Marzabotta Plan ofthe Etruscan town of Marzabotta, showing an orthogonal grid of blocks. The primary north- south avenue was known as the cardo and the primary east-west route was the decumanus.
- 3. Etruscan Architecture Etruscan Temple Drawingof an Etruscan temple based on descriptions of Vitruvius. Compare this to the plans of Greek temples. Note that the colonnades extend only across the front to create a portico, while the cella (sanctuary room) has been expanded to consist of several chambers, set the full width of the temple. The freestanding buildings of the Greeks, meant to be viewed on all sides, has been transformed into a design meant to be viewed from one direction, as part of a city setting.
- 4. Etruscan Architecture Perugia Gate TheArch of Augustus at Perugia was constructed by the Etruscans. Note the use of the true arch, as well as Greek architectural components (triglyphs and metopes), used in an atypical way. The later Romans exploited the structural possibilities of the arch in their architecture.
- 5. Etruscan Architecture Perugia Gate TheTrue Arch: • Supports Openings • Comprised of a series of identical voussoirs, or wedge-shaped stone pieces • Held in compression – each voussoir tightly presses against its neighbors • Channels gravity load from above down either side of the opening • An extruded arch is a vault or barrel vault True Arch
- 6. Roman Construction Arch andVault The semicircular or Roman arch and barrel vault. Notice the wedge- shaped voussiors that form the arch.
- 7. Roman Construction Arch andVault Pont du Gard, Nimes, France. Arched Roman aqueducts spanned valleys and brought water from the surrounding mountains to Ancient Rome.
- 8. Roman Construction Arch andVault Water from the Tiber River in Rome was unsuitable for drinking, so aqueducts were constructed to supply the city.
- 9. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman Construction Concrete construction Opus incertum construction, in which a cavity wall made from uncoursed rubble is filled with concrete.
- 10. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman Construction Concrete construction Opus reticulatum construction, in which a cavity wall made from pyramid-shaped stones is filled with concrete.
- 11. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman Construction Concrete construction Opus testaceum construction, in which a cavity wall made from pie- shaped tiles that appear as elongated brick is filled with concrete.
- 12. Roman City Planning Pompeii Planof the city of Pompeii (6th century B.C.E.) During the Roman period, Pompeii was greatly enlarged to the outlines seen here. The forum is the major civic center in the original settlement (comparable to the Greek agora). An amphitheater (the Roman combination of two half theaters), and a palestra (large exercise facility) are all included. The city is comprised of large rectangular blocks, which contrast with the checkerboard-like form of later Roman colonial cities. FORUM AMPI- THEATER PALESTRA
- 13. Roman City Planning Pompeii Enlargedplan of the Forum (Roman civic center place) at Pompeii. The various buildings flanking the open space were unified with colonnades. The Basilica, a public assembly building used for legal, commercial, and social purposes, can be seen in the lower left. BASILICA
- 14. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman City Planning Pompeii https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDCVcuVR5w8
- 15. Roman City Planning Timgad Planof Timgad, Algeria, founded ca. 100 C.E. This is generally cited as the textbook example of a Roman city because of the great regularity of its plan. Laid-out like a checkerboard, it is orthogonal to a degree seldom found in other Roman colonial cities. While Roman colonial cities were planned according to an orthogonal grid system, the city of Rome, itself, was not laid-out this way and appears much more chaotic.
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- 17. Roman City Planning Rome Mapof ancient Rome showing the fabled seven hills: Quirinal Hill Esquiline Hill Capitoline Hill Palatine Hill Caelian Hill Aventine Hill Viminal Hill
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- 19. Roman City Planning Forumof Trajan Plan of the imperial fora at Rome, showing the great Forum of Trajan. Of this vast project, only the markets and Trajan’s columns (located between the two library buildings) have survived.
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- 21. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman City Planning Forum of Trajan 1. Temple of Trajan 2. Trajan's Column 3. Libraries 4. Basilica Ulpia 5. Forum 6. Trajan's Markets
- 22. Roman City Planning Trajan’sMarket Axonometric drawing of Trajan’s markets, Rome 100-114 CE. The markets are built into the hillside in a series of shops that form a semicircle. Further up the hill is the vaulted market hall.
- 23. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman City Planning Trajan’s Column Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars.
- 24. Roman Temples Pantheon Elevation andplan of the Pantheon. The concrete walls are up to 20 feet thick in places, but as the plan shows, they are not a solid mass; instead, they’re broken up by shallow chambers, thus reducing the mass of concrete that needed to cure without diminishing the effective strength of the wall.
- 25. Roman Temples Pantheon Axonometric sectionof the Pantheon, looking up from the floor level. It shows part of the plan and the arched construction behind the internal marble veneers. The 27-foot diameter opening at the top is known as the oculus.
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- 27. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Roman Temples Pantheon
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- 29. Public Buildings Basilica Nova Planof the Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine) in Rome, C.E. 307-315. This large vaulted building had barrel vaults over the aisles and groin vaults (intersecting barrel vaults) over the central space. The curved end sections are known as apses. Illumination was provided by large clerestory windows above the aisles.
- 30. Public Buildings Basilica Nova Planof the Basilica Nova (Basilica of Constantine) in Rome, C.E. 307-315. This large vaulted building had barrel vaults over the aisles and groin vaults (intersecting barrel vaults) over the central space. The curved end sections are known as apses. Illumination was provided by large clerestory windows above the aisles.Groin Vault
- 31. Public Buildings Basilica Nova Basilicaswere buildings that housed legal activities, as well as serving as a place for social and commercial functions. Unlike the exterior colonnade of a Greek stoa, the colonnade in a basilica defined the building’s long central space.
- 32. Public Buildings Caracalla Plan ofthe Baths of Caracalla in Rome, 212- 216 C.E. The large bath building was set in extensive grounds that afforded bathers the opportunity to exercise and relax in the outdoors. Water supplying the baths and flushing the latrines came from an aqueduct indicated at the top of the plan.
- 33. Public Buildings Caracalla Reconstruction viewof the frigidarium of the Baths of Caracalla. The central hall was groin- vaulted and lit by clerestory windows. Its brick-faced concrete structure was finished with elegant marble veneers.
- 34. Public Buildings Diocletian Plan ofthe Baths of Diocletian in Rome, 298-306 C.E. A worthy companion to the Baths of Caracalla, this building has the same elements in a slightly different arrangement.
- 35. ©2014 McGraw-Hill HigherEducation. All rights reserved. Public Buildings Diocletian The Baths of Diocletian in Rome, 298- 306 C.E. The central section of the frigidarium was converted into the Santa Maria degli Angeli church, by Michelangelo.
- 36. Public Buildings Forum Baths Theforum baths at Pompeii. This is a small facility with separate but unequal sections for men and women sharing a common service area (dark shading) for heating water. Shops occupy most of the street frontage, since there was no need for an impressive street presence. Ordinary Roman baths were closer in appearance to this building than to the grand complexes of Caracalla or Diocletian.
- 37. Public Buildings Theater ofMarcellus Plan of the Theater of Marcellus in Rome, 11-13 B.C.E. Roman theaters were based on designs already perfected by the Greeks, a hemicycle (half- circular layout) of seats focused on the orchestra, backed by a proscenium building. The difference here is that support for the seats depends not on a convenient hillside but rather on a supporting vaulted structure of cut stone and concrete. The capacity of this theater is roughly the same as in the Theater at Epidauros.
- 38. Public Buildings Theater ofMarcellus Perspective section cut through the Theater of Marcellus, showing the ramps and stairs needed to allow patrons to reach their seats. The lower two stories have survived, reworked as housing. The upper tier, constructed on a wooden structure, has vanished.
- 39. Public Buildings Theater ofMarcellus
- 40. Public Buildings Pompeii Amphitheater TheAmphitheater at Pompeii, ca. 80 B.C.E. This oval- shaped arena was used for gladiatorial contests, of which, the Romans were exceedingly fond. Part of its seating is supported on arched construction and part is built into the rising slope of the ground.
- 41. Public Buildings Colosseum The Colosseum(Flavian Amphitheater) in Rome, 80 C.E. The grandest of the Roman arenas, the Colosseum was built to provide seating for 50,000 spectators.
- 42. Public Buildings Colosseum The stackingof the orders, Doric on the bottom with Ionic and Corinthian above, was to prove influential to later architects looking for classical precedents.
- 43. Public Buildings Colosseum Perspective sectionsof the Colosseum, showing its internal circulation and construction. On the topmost wall section were supports for a canopy, or velarium, to provide sun shading for portions of the arena, a feature that provided relief from the intense Italian sun. The upper deck had standing room for those who could not afford seats.
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- 45. Roman Residences House ofthe Surgeon Plan of the House of the Surgeon at Pompeii, second century B.C.E. This is an example of an atrium plan: this house is organized around a central open space or atrium that admitted fresh air and light to surrounding rooms. A portico or porch at the rear opened into a small garden. Positioned between these two elements was the tablinium, the main reception room, which was reserved for the reception of guests and dining in pleasant weather. ATRIUM TABLINIUM PORTICO
- 46. Roman Residences House ofPansa Plan of the House of Pansa. Whereas most blocks contain multiple houses, the House of Pansa is so extensive that it occupies virtually an entire block by itself and includes a spacious walled garden at the rear. The atrium, peristyle (colonnade around a courtyard), and rear garden provided this elegant dwelling with multiple public rooms suitable for dining. The impluvium is the sunken part of the atrium in a Roman house, designed to collect and carry away rainwater coming through the roof opening. IMPLUVIUM PERISTYLE ATRIUM WALLED GARDEN
- 47. Roman Residences Hadrian’s Villa Hadrian’sVilla at Tivoli, 117-138 CE. The complexity of this sprawling collection of buildings covers twice as much area as the city of Pompeii. Emperor Hadrian’s architects exploited the structural possibilities of concrete to build unprecedented forms and compositions around water features.
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- 50. Roman Residences Hadrian’s Villa PalladianWindow: an arched opening, flanked on either side by smaller, rectangular openings.
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