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Hist12797 Architectural History
Ancient Rome
The Authority of Competence
“The Shaping of Space was the
essence of Roman Architecture”
Leland Roth, Understanding Architecture
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=9056
Founding of Rome
Cities in north and central Italy were settled
by various tribes including the Etruscans,
who gave the Romans their engineering ability
and their religious practices
 In 753 BC, Rome was
founded by Romulus,
who was one of 7 kings.
 In 509, the Republic was
declared in the names of
the people and the senate
“SPQR”

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The Hills of Rome


Rome was a
small city on
the Tiber River
which flooded
often. Various
tribes claimed
the hills until a
way was found
to drain the
swamps
between them.
Roman engineering built defensive walls, bridges, sewers and
roads so that the city could grow regionally. Aqueducts brought
water from the Appenine Mountains
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Timeline – Rome
Rule of the early kings
Three stages
The Republic The Empire
100 BC-350 AD
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The Romans 1
Inherently pragmatic and realistic
(unlike the speculative and idealistic Greeks),
the Romans produced an abundance of
engineers and builders
 They had sharp logical minds that excelled in
making laws, engineering feats and
administering territories
(after they conquered them,
usually by war)

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The Good Roman

They practiced a rigid morality, served the
state, had unimpeachable honor, and strived
for a physical and spiritual asceticism.
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The Good Roman

A driving compulsion to spread the benefits
of Roman law and republican governance to
the rest of the world and spreading
Romanitas = the sum of Roman values and
culture
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Senatus PopulusQue Romanus
"The Senate and the People of Rome"
The Romans
They had a sense of ingrained discipline, “gravitas” - patriotic responsibility and serious
purpose
 A sense of the importance of matters at hand,
a propensity for austerity, conservatism and a
deep respect for tradition
 Endeavored to achieve universality and a
clearly perceivable order in all of life

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Roman Religion



Religion was centered in the home, the domus.
Originally animistic – trees, rocks, water and the fire
of the hearth, they adopted the Etruscan pantheon
of Greek-like gods
Developed detailed rituals in worship carried out by
priests who had little contact with the public
Ordinary Romans made offerings to the numina, the
spirits of the home shrines
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Roman Architecture
They borrowed many of the external
trappings of Greek architecture but theirs
was an architecture of space, enclosed
internal space and outdoor space, on a
grand scale
 Much of the best Roman architecture was
built during the reigns of Augustus, the
Flavians, and the Five Good Emperors
 The city is the basic constituent element

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Imperial Forum
like a Greek Stoa
Not sited in response to
the natural environment
but as a planned space
enclosed by architecture
Fig
112
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Forum
Romanum
A colonnaded stoa
along both sides of
a great rectangular
square, closing the
vista with a Temple
to Mars: a series of
geometric shapes
with contrived
views and vistas
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Roman Engineering

A network of roads that spanned the empire
and a water supply/aqueducts and drainage
for the cities
Aqueduct, Segovia, Spain
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Pont du Gard Aqueduct,
Nimes, France 14 AD
1.8m x 1.2m Water conduit @ gradient 0.4%
Roadway
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Roman Engineering

Aqueducts supplied running water to homes,
public lavatories and baths with hot and cold
pools
Latrines in the
Baths of Ephesus
Fig113
Public Lavatories
in Dougga, Tunisia
3rd century AD
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Baths of
Caracalla
Rome
212–216 AD
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Frigidarium
Baths of
Caracalla
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Roman Theatre,
Orange, France
Unusual, in that it is
built into the hillside
like a Greek theatre
Romans wanted
more than just
drama; they needed
a new form for their
circuses and
amphitheatres
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Flavian Amphitheatre: Colosseum
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Flavian Amphitheatre
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Colosseum:
280 arches on three levels
Greek orders on the facade:
Doric on the Ground floor
Ionic on the Second floor
Corinthian on the Third floor and
on the top storey pilasters
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Colosseum
Sectional Views
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Roman Colosseum construction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO1NQy4oyJs
Shea Stadium, New York
 Colosseum, Rome

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Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek
Bigger than the Parthenon
 Composite Order: Corinthian and Ionic
 Engaged Columns

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Arch of Constantine
Rome
Roman crane
- Erected to commemorate victories
- Often site at the
entrance to a forum
- structure not based on
columns so could use
forms decoratively
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Arch of
Constantine
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El-Deir (Monastery) Temple, Petra Jordan

A most attractive architectural whimsy:
a miniature round temple between the
sides of two broken pediments
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Building an Arch
The Romans had no inhibitions
about putting other’s knowledge to work
... to improving everyday life
 From arch to vault to groin vault to dome

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Roman use of “Caementum”
Pozzolana – best substance for
concrete-making from red volcanic
soil near Naples
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The Pantheon: Plan and Aerial View
pan = All
theism = religions
31
The Pantheon by
Emperor Hadrian
Temple to all gods
- built 120 – 124 AD
- 143 ft / 43.5 m
diameter dome
 Walls 23 ft / 7 m
 Varying weight
Concrete
 Coffered ceilings
 Bronze doors

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Pantheon:
Portico
Reconstruction
Classic Greek
temple pediment
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The Pantheon
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Insulae
(Apartment Blocks)
& Offices in Ostia
[Rome’s harbour City]
35
Insulae

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3-4 storeys
Shop fronts
Collapsed
easily
Subject to fire
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Pompeii
forum
Networks of streets forming
irregular rectangles, becoming
more regular as the cities expanded


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Street Views
Pompeii
38
Street View & Residential District Overview
Pompeii,
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House of Pansa, Pompeii
Plan and Section
40
House of Vetti,
Pompeii
Plan, Garden
View and Interior
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Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy

Opulent apartments +
gardens
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Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy

Seven miles of gardens, pavilions,
palaces, baths, theatres and temples
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Diocletian’s
Palace
Split, Yugoslavia
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Basilica
Maxentius,
306-325 AD
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Basilica of
Maxentius
Ruins
Reconstruction
46
Basilica Ulpia:
Plan
47
Basilica
Ulpia
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In Conclusion:
Roman Architecture
Roman buildings addressed the problems of
the present, not the mysteries of the hereafter.
 They were visually and intellectually
comprehensible, composed of parts that had
recognizable proportional relationships and
clear connections.
 They combined the elegance of detail and
refinement of form of Greece with the
pragmatic functionalism, civic scale and sense
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of power of Rome.
