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Roman Architecture High Resolution version
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Roman Architecture (in 10 minutes or less)
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.
Doric Ionic Corinthian Tuscan Composite
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AqueductsBathsArches, Amphitheatres Monuments
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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 Colosseum
in Rome (see below). Later Roman columns differ
from the Greek version in their addition of a
base and changes in the capital profile.
Colosseum
Parthenon
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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.
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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. The prevailing form of Roman Corinthian
is seen in the Maison Carrée in Nimes, France
(below left). This style originated after the 5th
century BC.
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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 (historical) examples of this
architectural type survive today.
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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. 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. One of the most famous domed
buildings to come from the ancient Romans was the
Pantheon built in the last century BC by Marcus
Agrippa and later refurbished by Hadrian. This
building was originally built as a temple to all
the Roman gods but was later converted into a
Christian temple. This building has the honor of
being the oldest ,and largest, free standing dome
in history.
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Aqueducts The Roman development of the arch
also led to the building of the great aqueducts
for which were used to transport great amounts of
water over vast miles of land. The need for
aqueducts occurred in Rome during the mid
republic due to the fact that the Tiber river had
gotten too muddy and polluted from waste dumping
and other deeds. As time went on, numerous
aqueducts were built in Rome and throughout the
empire in general. The early Roman aqueducts
consisted of plain stone slabs and earth lime
mixtures. The style and sophistication of
aqueducts evolved as time went on. Because of the
Roman Aqueduct, the public baths and water
fountains were kept operational due to the
abundant access to fresh water. The result of
this was the easy access to people of all classes
to fresh water and bath facilities which set a
sanitary standard that would not be met until
the19th century.
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Aqueducts (2)
To transport the water over great distances,
the Roman Aqueduct worked with the principals of
gravity and they also had special basins between
the source and the destination that would help
purify the water. Once the water had reached the
destination, it was kept into a storage tank
where it would be distributed by pipes to
different locations at the city. Some lucky upper
class people had water piped directly to their
residence ,the earliest known form of a
sophisticated pipe system. By the end of the
Western Roman empire, the city of Rome had many
prominent aqueducts within her boundaries. The
most notable of these aqueducts are the Aqua
Appia ,the first Roman aqueduct, and the Aqua
Claudia, built by the emperor Claudius and would
remain one of the largest in the city.In the
empire,when times were strained,some emperors
chose to simply improve on existing aqueducts
rather than construct new ones.
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Though the Romans were not the first to have
a mass water system, the Greeks had water pumps
in the cities, their system is important because
it was the first time water was available to
everyone on such a mass scale. When the western
empire did fall, so fell her complex and
ingenious water system. With no engineers or
funds to maintain them, the aqueducts ,like
everything else Roman fell prey to the barbarians
of the middle ages. Perhaps the most well
preserved aqueduct is Pont du Gard near Nimes,
France (pictured).
Aqueducts (3)
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Baths With the water system that the
Aqueduct allowed, the Roman public baths got more
sophisticated and grew in size as time went on.
By the second century AD, public baths had grown
in size and variety. In these new facilities, the
pampered could do everything from eat to exercise
and even read. Under such famous emperors as
Titus, Caracalla and Diocletion, magnificent
baths were constructed that could house thousands
of people at a single time. These later baths
were constructed in different sections. Upon
entrance into the bath house, the patron would
first enter a changing room in which they would
undress themselves before continuing into the
exercise room. After a period of exercise, the
patron would then go to the warm baths,in the
tepidarium, then to the cold baths, in the
frigidarium. After their bath, the patron could
have a massage if he/she wished so.
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What makes the Roman bath houses such an
architectural and engineering wonder, other than
their great size, is the system that the Romans
had for maintaining them. In the cold and hot
areas of the bath, the water temperature was
actually regulated by the use of underground fire
furnaces. Also, the dirty water in the baths was
actually drained and replaced regularly. The bath
house also had a hookup to the complex Roman
water system and so always had an ample source of
water, for both bathing in and for drinking. The
great sanitary conditions of the bath house were
major factors that helped to make the Roman
empire the cleanest society up until the 19th
century. Some of the most famous Roman
Bath's that still exist are in Bath, England
(pictured) and Baden-Baden, Germany.

Baths (2)
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Arches, Ampitheaters and Monuments The grand
public structures that the Romans left are the
greatest legacy to their once great empire. Their
great amphitheaters and monuments, such as the
triumphal arch, were great structures that were a
marvel to the Romans and are still a marvel to us
today. The Roman Amphitheater, like most
styles of buildings, was influenced greatly by
the Greek civilization. These structures were
generally circular and used the arch as their
style of building but some were known to be built
into a mountain or hillside. The theaters and
amphitheaters were quite big in size and could
hold upwards of 50,000 spectators.
The biggest, and most famous, Roman
amphitheater was the Coliseum (see picture to
right) which was built by the Flavian emperors
Vespasian and Titus. This building was used for
everything from mock sea battles to to
gladiatorial fights. A special fact about the
Coliseum is that it was originally built with a
huge removable canopy to protect the spectators
from the elements.
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End . . .
The great monuments that the Romans leave behind
show a great skill and an admiration for the
accomplishments of their leaders and the grandeur
of their empire. Most Roman monuments were
constructed using the arch and had the details
carved into them. The arch was usually very big
and was a prominent feature of the skyline of the
town in which it was located.
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Web Resources
http//harpy.uccs.edu/roman/html/romarch.html
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/roman_
arch.html
http//web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/roma
.html
http//www.greatbuildings.com/types/styles/roman.h
tml
http//www.crystalinks.com/romearchitecture.html
http//www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/9013/
http//www.pitt.edu/tokerism/0040/syl/src0918.htm
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Source text for this Powerpoint
http//www.msu.edu/fosterm8/RomanArchitectureCont
ent.doc
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