WEEK 11

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

1
Week 11 Outline
o Lecture 11.1
o Historical Background
o Location and period
o Social characteristics and beliefs
o Lecture 11.2
o Architecture of the Civilization
o Early Influences- The Etruscans
o Engineering Innovation and achievements
o Roman Buildings
o Lecture 11.3
o Roman Buildings
o Lecture 11.4
o Other architectural elements
o Roman city Planning and Design
o Architectural Characteristics
o Buildings and other architectural elements
o Building materials, construction and technologies
o Architectural Organizing principles

2
Learning Outcomes

▪ We should expect to learn the following about the

civilization
Structural revolution and invention of new materials
Innovative use of structural solutions in engineering
and buildings structures
The invention of new building types for different
purposes
The invention of functional space in architecture
The use of the orders as decorative elements in design

3
Roman Architecture

4
Outline of Lecture

▪ Lecture 11.1
Historical Background
■ Location and period
■ Social characteristics and beliefs

5
Historical Background

6
 Historical Background
Location
▪ Roman architecture refers to the
architecture of Rome and of the Roman
Empire
▪ The Roman Empire was one of the largest
early empires in history, stretching from
England in Northern Europe to the
Ancient Near East and Africa
▪ The pink area of the Map shows the
greatest extent of the Roman Empire
▪ Rome, located on the Italian peninsula
was the capital of the empire
▪ From the capital, an infrastructure of
roads and communication systems was
established to connect the whole empire
▪ Rome is today the capital of Italy

7
Historical Background
Location

8
9
Historical Background
Period

▪ The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC

▪ By Romulus and Remos [acc. To the legend.
▪ Roman civilization with Rome as capital lasted for more than
a thousand years.
▪ The history of the civilization can be divided into three
periods;
753- 510 BC Etruscan Period
510 – 44 BC Republican Period
44 BC – 476 A.D. Imperial Period

10
Historical Background
Period

11
 Historical Background
Period- Etruscan Period
o During the first millenium BCE, while Greek civilization
flourished on the mainland and around the eastern
Mediterranean

o an enigmatic people th Etruscans were settling and

develping their own culture, in the area of north-central
Italy now known as Tuscany.

o They are thought to have emmigrated onto the Italian

Peninsula from Asia Minor ca. 1200 BCE after the collapse
of Hittite power.

12
 Historical Background
Period- Etruscan Period

▪ Romans fix the date of the founding Rome at 753 B. C.

▪ Prior to this date, the Etruscans established an urban culture in the
Italian peninsula, which reached the height of its development
around 600 B.C. 13
Historical Background
Period- Etruscan Period

o They had conquered

and established
their authority over
a loose federation of
cities
o Rome at its
foundation was a
minor city and
became a colony of
the Etruscans

14
 Historical Background
Period- Etruscan Period

Etruscan Arch in Perugia, Italy

15
 Historical Background
Period- Etruscan Period
o Rome was ruled by Etruscan
Royal House, “The Tarquins”
aided by a popular assembly
o Towards the end of the 6th
century B.C., Etruscan power
began to decline
o In around 500 B.C. Latins
overthrew The Tarquins and
established the Roman
Republic
o Further decline in the power of
the Etruscans was
accompanied by the rising
influence and increasing
significance of Rome
16
 Historical Background
Period – Republican Period
o After the
expulsion of
its Etruscans,
Rome
gradually
assumed
leadership of
a number of
settlements
for mutual
defense
o This gradually
led to the
expanding
influence and
dominance of
Rome
17
Historical Background
Period – Republican Period

o By 273 B. C.
Rome became
the established
dominant force
in the region
o It conquered its
rivals,
defeating
Carthage in
146 B.C.,
Macedonia in
168 B. C.,
Greece in 146
B.C., and Syria
in 64 B. C.
18
Historical Background
Period – Republican Period
o Rome was government by a body of
elected male representatives of the
population known as the Senate
o This is why the period is referred to as
republican or in other word
democratic
o Towards the end of the last
millennium B.C. Rome entered into a
series of civil wars which brought
about the rise of some military
dictators, of which Julius Caesar was
the most successful.
o This brought about the end of the
republican period
19
 Historical Background
Period – Republican Period

"Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", commonly rendered as "You too, Brutus?")
20
Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period

o Following a series of
civil wars that ended in
27 B.C.
o Caius Octavius, who
later took the name
Caesar Augustus
assumed the title of
emperor
o This ushered in the
Imperial period of
Roman history building
works

21
 Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period
▪ Emperor Augustus
undertook a significant
reorganization of the
Roman Empire
▪ The golden age of
architectural
development was
witnessed during this
period
▪ He revitalized national
life and created new
building works

22
 Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period

o Augustus was
credited with
saying that he
met Rome a city
of brick and left
it a city of
marble
o Later it was to
transform to a
city of concrete

Forum of Augustus, 42 BCE, Rome

23
 Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period
o The 3rd century A.D.
was a period of
political confusion in
the Roman Empire
o The Barbarian people
living in the north of
Europe started
attacking the Empire
o In 286 A.D. Roman
Empire was split into
two; a western
empire and an
Eastern empire

24
Historical Background
The Barbarian Attacks

25
 Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period
o Emperor Constantine was able to
reunite the Empire again in 324 A.D.
and established a new capital for the
empire at the city of Byzantium,
which he renamed Constantinople
o After his death, the Empire was split
again and each had a different destiny
o In 476 A.D. the western empire with its
capital at Rome fell after century of
attacks by Vandals and Visigoths
ending the history of that part
o The Eastern Empire with its capital at
Constantinople survived and became
the focus of a civilization that lasted
until 1453 A.D. when it was sacked by
the Ottoman Turks
26
Historical Background
Period – Imperial Period

27
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

o Introduction
o The Roman Empire consisted of Rome and all its
conquered provinces
o Rome was the capital and focus of the Roman Civilization
o Roman society was made of the Latinized people living on
the Italian peninsula and other foreign people belonging
to the conquered provinces
o The society was not homogenous as its puts together
people of different origins
o Latin was the widely spoken language, particularly in
Rome and its environment
o The Roman people were classified into citizens and non
citizens; citizenship can be conferred on non citizens

28
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

29
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

o Introduction
o Citizenship confers the right to vote, make contracts and
have a legal marriage
o Citizens are divided into two classes:
o members of the Roman Senate belonging to the highest
social class
o other citizens
o The Roman people were essentially farmers and traders
o Many also aspired to became solders and warriors
o being a warrior provided one of the best means of
advancing in the society

30
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ The Roman Senate

31
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

o Social Life

o Roman society had an active social life

o The FORUM was the center of social life; it is very
similar to the Greek Agora
o The forum was the place for social, political,
recreational and religious activities
o Romans participated in a lot of entertainment
activities

32
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ Roman Forum
33
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ Social Life
These activities include spectator sports such as
drama, chariot racing, and gladiatorial contest
They also had new unique social activities such as
recreational bathing
The practice saw Romans going to a public bath at
luxurious bathing through chambers of different
temperature
In the process they engaged in both intellectual and
physical interaction

34
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Roman Baths and Abbey, Circular Bath, England

35
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
Religious Beliefs
o Roman people were not deeply
religious, particularly during the
early part of their development
o They did not have religious beliefs
and mythologies of their own, but
borrowed from societies they come
into contact with.
o Contact with other people always
resulted in changes to their culture,
art and way of life
o Most of their religious beliefs were
borrowed from the Greeks, and like
the Greeks, they also believed in a
number of Gods
36
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ Religious Beliefs
The Romans believed that the faith of their empire lies
in the hands of their various Gods
The state spent money to built temples to the various
gods
Public assemblies, such as senate meetings, war
victories and most state functions were always started
with sacrifices to a particular god in his temple
The religious well being of the individual Roman was
his own concern

37
SANTA MARIA SOPRA MINERVA 38
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ Roman Temple in Nimes

39
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

o System of Government
o The System of government in ancient Rome was democratic
o During the Republican period, Government consisted of two
elected consuls, a senate and judiciary
o The consuls acted as the executive arm of government
overseeing the activities of the senate, army and other
executive institutions such as tax collectors and police

o The senate was an assembly of selected land owners, the

upper class of Roman society, who approve budgets and
suggest laws

40
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
▪ System of Government
Members of the senate are elected from a series of
lower assemblies who are responsible for enacting
the laws suggesting by the senate and also
implementing them;
The judicial branch consist of 6 judges who were
elected every two years, who decide punishment for
criminals
During the imperial period, the Consuls were
replaced by Emperors who wielded a lot of power

41
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

▪ Roman Architecture
The Environment around Rome was not as rich as the
Greek mainland in construction material especially
marble
Romans construction material consists of Stone,
principally local travertine and timber
Roman also invented a system of firing brick and used
brick widely in construction
Romans were also the first people to discover concrete;
Roman concrete is different from our present day
concrete
Romans made significant improvements to the arch to
address its shortcoming

42
Historical Background
Roman Achievements

▪ Roman Architecture
They also developed new construction systems based on
the arch and dome
The combination of arch and vault construction with brick
as formwork and concrete as bonding material enabled
the Romans to construct great buildings with very large
interior spaces
Roman construction also developed the system of
wooden truss construction
The architecture of Rome has its origin in Hellenistic
Greek Architecture and the architecture of the Etruscans

43
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
▪ Roman Architecture
The Romans adopted the external language of classical
Greek architecture
In Roman architecture, the orders survived simply as
ornaments applied to great concrete buildings.
But the Romans also made unique additions to the orders
that are very important.
New orders evolved and were added to the Greek orders to
form the classical language of architecture
Romans also made additions in the entablature of temples,
in the scale of buildings and the proportion of the entire
design.
While the Greeks are said to be the inventors of form,
Roman architecture concentrated on the creation of space

44
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
o Roman Architecture

o The Greek and Roman

architecture are referred to
as classical architecture
o The first book on
architecture was produced
by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in
100 A.D.
o The ten books of
architecture written sets
down rules and procedures
for creating architecture of
value
45
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
o Roman Architecture
o The genius of Roman architecture was expressed not in the
design of a particular building, but in the production of a
vast number of various building types:

o bathhouses for bathing,

o circuses for racing,
o amphitheatres for gladiatorial contest,
o temples for religion,
o domus for family life
o forum as the center of public life and national commerce

46
 Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs

o Other Achievements
o Other contributions of the Romans include the Roman
alphabets which is widely used in Western and Central
European languages and the Roman numerals
o The Roman also introduced the calendar which even thought
it has changed several times before assuming its current
form has endured to the present day
o The influence of the Roman Empire's is visible in the
government, law, and monumental architecture, as well as
many other aspects of Western life
o The various contributions of the Roman civilization to
modern life has resulted in its classification along with the
Greek civilization as Classical civilizations
47
Lecture 11.2
Roman Architecture

48
Outline of Lecture

▪ Lecture 11.2
Architecture of the Civilization
■ Early Influences- The Etruscans
■ Engineering Innovation and achievements
■ Roman Buildings
Theaters
Amphitheater- Coloseum

49
Architecture of the
Civilization

50
 Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The
o
Etruscans
The Earliest civilization in the region around Rome were the
Etruscans
o The Etruscan civilization existed in the northern part of what
is now known as Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman
Republic.
o During the 700s BC, the Etruscans developed into a series of
autonomous city-states: Rome was a part of these city states
o Knowledge about the Etruscans is fragmentary, and usually
filtered through Roman eyes;
o The Etruscans created the first visible civilization in Italy.
o They brought sophisticated Eastern and Greek culture to the
region.

51
Roman Architecture
Steele of Lemnos

52
 Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

▪ Not much has survived of

Etruscan buildings to the
present however.
▪ The temple shown in the image
is a reconstruction of a typical
Etruscan temple
▪ The Etruscans introduced
another order of architecture
▪ This order, known as the Tuscan
order became popular with the
Romans

53
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

▪ The Tuscan order had a simpler

base and the shaft was without
flutes
▪ The capital and entablature
were also without decoration
▪ In proportion it is similar to the
Doric order with a column that
is seven diameters high
▪ Compared with the other
orders, the Tuscan order looks
the most solid

54
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

55
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

56
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans
▪ Temple of Fortuna Virilis
c. 100 B.C.E.
In this temple is represented a
merging of both Etruscan and
Greek temple styles.
Like Greek temples, it has a
porch (pronaos) with free-standing
columns but has only slender
engaged Ionic columns on the
sides
and back since the cella wall is
moved toward the outside
57
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

58
Roman Architecture
Early Influences- The Etruscans

▪ Temple at Nimes c.19 BC

59
Engineering Achievement
Introduction
▪ Romans created what can be referred to as a structural
revolution
▪ This revolution centers on their understanding and use of the
arch and vault
▪ They also discovered the groin vault
▪ Because of this structural revolution, they were able to span
large openings in buildings and other structures with
economy and strength
▪ They were also able to design and construct buildings with
large interior spaces
▪ The revolution also allowed the Romans to construct large
engineering structures such as bridges to connect all parts of
their empire, and aqueduct to supply water to their cities
60
Engineering Achievement
Introduction

61
Engineering Achievement
Structural Innovation- Arches
▪ The arch was not a new building
form, as it had been known by
other civilizations including the
Egyptians and the Greeks
▪ But the Romans used it to its
fullest potential
▪ The arch is an organic structure
with the elements of the arch
resting on each other and
transferring load to the column
▪ It was particularly useful over
doors and openings

62
Engineering Achievement
Structural Innovation- Arches
▪ With an arch, there are no
tensile stresses as all the forces
are in compression and building
stone has enormous
compressive strength
▪ Up to a certain point also, the
more an arch is loaded the
stronger it becomes
▪ Arches were used over doors and
openings and sometimes, they
are built over a lintel to deflect
the load to the surrounding
walls.
63
 Engineering Achievement
Vaults
▪ Vaults are used to cover an area as a
roof
▪ The simplest of the vaults is the
Barrel vault, which is just made up of
an arch extended over a certain
distance
▪ It can be adapted to suit different
types of plans by making simple
modifications to it
▪ The disadvantage of the vault is that
it exerts a continuous load and
therefore needs some form of
continuous support
▪ It is also difficult to light the space
under a vault except from the ends
▪ The Romans invented unique ways
of overcoming these difficulties
64
Engineering Achievement
Vaults
▪ The cross vault was created from
the barrel vault to overcome
some of the problems of the
ordinary vault
▪ This is formed by intersecting two
barrel-vaults at right angle and is
called a “groin vault”
▪ The weight of the groin vault is
concentrated at the corners
eliminating the need for
continuous support
▪ The opening of the space in 4
directions means that ample light
can be provided to the area below
it
65
Engineering Achievement
Vaults
▪ The image shows an example
of the use of arches, vaults
and groin vaults in a Roman
building
▪ The major limitation of the
groin vault is that it is limited
to a square plan
▪ The dome was another
structure that was used in
roman architecture.
▪ The Romans used the true
dome with its fully rounded
perfection
66
Engineering Achievement
Concrete

▪ The Romans were the first to

develop concrete
▪ The concrete developed by
the Romans is different from
modern concrete and is
made up of lime, sand and
water

67
 Engineering Achievement
Concrete

▪ Around the 2nd century

BC, Pozzolana or volcanic
ash was also added
▪ Concrete did away with
the need for stone
quarries
▪ It also did away with the
need for the shaping and
transportation of stone
and for high skilled labor
for stonemasonry

68
 Engineering Achievement
Concrete
▪ Concrete has the advantage that it can be cast in any shape
and in far larger sizes than the megalithic blocks of stone
used in buildings
▪ With concrete, it was possible to construct monolithic vaults
and arches
▪ Concrete buildings were normally faced with other materials
to hide the ugly look of the concrete.
▪ Fired brick used as formwork was the most popular covering
material

69
Engineering Achievement
Concrete

70
 Engineering Structures
Introduction

▪ The structural revolution introduced by the Romans

enabled them to introduce a variety of new civil structures
and building programs never seen before their time
▪ The ability of the Romans to create large structures enabled
them to build significant civil structures including
aqueducts, bridges and sewers
▪ The Romans lived principally in cities and generally cities
need a steady supply of fresh water
▪ Rome itself was projected to have a population of more
than a million at the peak of its power

71
 Engineering Structures
Introduction
▪ Arcuated structures or Structures built with arches played a
major role in bringing this water to the city
▪ The technique of arcuated construction was also applied to
the construction of bridges
▪ Rome also had a sanitary system to take away waste water
from the city and large warehouses to service the needs of
its port

72
Engineering Structures
Introduction

73
 Engineering Structures
Road and Bridges
o The Trajan’s Bridge Alexandria is an
example of ancient Roman structural
achievement
o It is also amongst the most impressive
of the surviving Roman bridges
o The bridge consist of tall piers and wide
spanning arches
o The central arches are slightly above 27
meters in length
o The roadway is carried 48 meters
above the River
o A commemorative arch stands at the
center of the Bridge; the
commemorative arch bears the name
of the architect of the bridge

74
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts

▪ Aqueducts were used to

supply water to Roman cities
▪ The first was constructed
Aqua Appia in 312 BCE, than
three more aqueducts in the
second half of the second
century BCE to provide water
for the growing population of
Rome

75
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts

▪ The Aqua Appia 312 BCE

76
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts
▪ The Aqua Claudia is also
another example of
Roman aqueduct
▪ The Aqua Claudia was
one of the eleven
aqueducts that supplied
Rome with water
▪ The aqueduct supplies
water to Rome from
Tivoli over a distance of
66 kilometers

77
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts

78
 Engineering Structures
Aqueducts
▪ Aqua Appia (312 BCE) by Appius
Claudius
Anios Vetus (272 à 269 BCE)
Aqua Marcia (144 à 140 BCE)
Aqua Tepula (125 BCE)
Aqua Iula (33 BCE) by Agrippa
Aqua Virgo (19 BCE) by Agrippa
Aqua Alsietina (2 BCE) by August
Aqua Claudia (38-52) by Caligula
Anios Novius(38-52) by Caligula
Aqua Traina (109) by Trajan
Aqua Alexandrina (226) by
Alexander Sévèrus

79
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts
▪ The Pont Du Gard is
probably the most
magnificent of the Roman
aqueducts
▪ It was constructed around
50 A.D. to supply water to
the city of Nimes
▪ The Aqueduct in some
places is almost 50 meters
above the deep valley of
the River Gard

80
Engineering Structures
Aqueducts

▪ It was constructed of 3
tiers of arches

81
 Roman Buildings
Introduction
▪ The focus of Roman building design was on functional
spaces
▪ The Roman people demanded buildings of various
functions from the Roman architect
▪ The architects were able to respond, creating buildings that
answer to their functional requirement by providing
appropriate interior spaces
▪ The buildings types include theaters, amphitheaters,
basilicas, circuses, basilicas, temples and baths
▪ All of these buildings were erected within the dense fabric
of the city
▪ We will examine each of these building types

82
 Roman Buildings
Theaters
o The Romans adopted the Greek
theater transforming it into
something Roman
o There was an expansion of the
stage and the whole theater was
contained within a
high-unbroken wall
o The Greek Theater was blended
into the landscape
o In contrast, the Roman Theater
was an urban form located in a
flat city
o The structure of the theater
consists of massive structural
arcades on piers
83
 Roman Buildings
Theaters
o A purely cosmetic layer of
trabeation was added to the
front
o The trabeation was of the
Greek orders and gave scale to
the building
o It also creates a rhythm of
solids and voids on the
elevation
o The three orders of Greek
architecture were used on the
theater elevation
o Theaters were built in every
Roman City
84
Roman Buildings
Theaters
o The Theater was used for
acting and drama
o The Theater Marcellus
constructed between 23 to 13
B.C. was the first theater
constructed in the capital
Rome
o It is a good example of a
Roman theater
o Access to its banked seat is
from the rear, providing
access circumferentially
o A stage runs from end to end
in front
o The stage is enclosed by a tall
wall
85
Roman Buildings
Amphitheater-Introduction
o The amphitheater is a
roman structure with no
Greek equivalent
o Amphitheatre is a public
building used for spectator
sports, games and displays
o Apart from function, the
important outward
distinction between an
amphitheatre and a theatre
is that amphitheatre is
round or oval in shape
o An amphitheater was first
built in Pompeii in 80 BC,
but the best example of the
Roman amphitheater is the
Colosseum

86
Roman Buildings

87
Roman Buildings

88
 Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome
o The Colosseum is an amphitheater
in Rome
o Its construction began under the
Emperor Vespasian in 72 A.D. and
was completed in A. D. 80
o It was used for spectator sports
including gladiatorial combat
o It is said that 9,000 wild animals
were killed in the one hundred
inaugural days celebrating its
opening
o The Colosseum hosted large-scale
spectacular games that included;
fights between animals, the killing
of prisoners by animals and other
executions, naval battles via
flooding the arena, and combats
between gladiators
89
Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome
o It has been estimated that
about 500,000 people died
in the Colosseum games
o The colosseum is elliptical
in shape
o It measured 48 metres
high, 188 metres long, and
156 metres wide
o The wooden arena floor
was 86 metres by 54
metres, and covered by
sand
o The colosseum had a
seating capacity for 50,000
spectators

90
Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome
o The Colosseum was ingeniously
designed; most spectacle venues
have been influenced by the
Colosseum's structure into
modern times
o The seating formed a uniform
elliptical ring capable of
supporting the 50,000 spectator
capacity of the facility
o The substructure of the
amphitheater is very much like
that of the theater
o Vaulting was used both radially
and concentrically to support the
structure

91
 Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome

o The Colosseum also

had a passageway that
opens into a tier of
seats from below or
behind
o Each entrance and exit
was numbered, as was
each staircase
o The passages quickly
dispersed people into
their seats and upon
conclusion of the event
disgorged them with
abruptness into the
surrounding streets
o Seating was divided
into different sections

92
 Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome

o Above the podium was

the maenianum primum,
for the other Roman
aristocrats who were not
in the senate
o The third level, the
maenianum secundum,
was divided into three
sections
o The lower part, the was
for wealthy citizens,
while the upper part was
for poor citizens
o A third, wooden section
was a wooden structure
at the very top of the
building, added by
Domitian

93
 Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome
o The most ingenious part of
the Colosseum was its
cooling system
o It was roofed using a canvas
covered net-like structure
made of ropes, with a hole
in the center
o The Arena where the action
takes place is located at the
center of the ellipse
o Underneath the arena was
the "underground", a
network of tunnels and
cages where gladiators and
animals were held before
contests began

94
Roman Buildings

95
Roman Buildings

96
Amphitheater
Colosseum, Rome
o The arena floor no longer
exists, and the hypogeum
walls and corridors are clearly
visible in the ruins of the
building
o The orders were used in the
elevation in the same manner
as on the theater
o The Colosseum was in
continuous use until 217,
when it was damaged by fire
from lightning
o It was restored in 238 and
gladiatorial games continued
until Christianity gradually
put an end to some sports
97