Ancient Greek

and Roman
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp

Topics

Prehistory: The Etruscans

Roman Characteristics
Building Materials
Architectural Ideals
Structural Revolution
Structures
Civic Architecture
Tombs

Roman Architecture:
Prehistory: The Etruscans

Etruscan civilization
Preceded the Roman Empire in Italy
Most of their architecture was destroyed by
the Romans

Only hidden structures, such as tombs, were

spared

Much of their architecture was greatly

influenced by the Greeks
The legacy of Etruscan architecture lives on
through its influence in Roman architecture

Roman Architecture:
Roman Characteristics

April 21, 753 B.C.

Early Romans were militant and very

disciplined

Pinpointed by the Romans as the day Rome

was founded

Lacking in artistic culture

Romans absorbed the Greek culture

Literature, philosophy, science, and painting
New appreciation of the arts

Roman Architecture:
Roman Characteristics

Roman architecture emerged from

Hellenistic and Etruscan influences
It held many original aspects, however
Materials and building techniques
Fulfilled practical purposes

Served commerce, industry, and shipping

Ports
Roads
Aqueducts

Roman Architecture:
Building Materials

Building materials were very important

to the success of Roman architecture

Access to a wide variety of building stone

including:
Volcanic tufa
Limestone
Travertine

Nearly unlimited quantities of white marble

Quarry opened by Augustus north of Pisa
Other varieties were imported from the Far East

Roman Architecture:
Building Materials

Brick

Romans perfected the art of brickmaking

Concrete
Perfected this material
Became the most characteristic
material in Roman structures
Was used to construct massive walls
and great vaults

Roman Architecture:
Architectural Ideals

Space
To the Romans, the space inside a structure
was just as important as the exterior
Interior space was the primary focus of
Roman architecture and was shaped by
vaults, arches, and walls

Romans were fond of extravagance

Architecture for the powerful was gaudy

and colorful, not like the ruins as seen
today

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

The combination of arches, vaults,

and concrete in architecture are a
pure Roman creation

The individual elements had been used

in earlier civilizations
Egyptians and Mesopotamians had used
primitive arch forms
Greeks had experimented with the arch and
concrete with little success
Etruscans had constructed vault-like forms

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Arches
More intricate than a simple post-and-lintel
system
Formed by a multitude of small elements that
curve over space by resting against each
other in a delicate balance
Voussoirs

The elements used to create an arch

The shape of the structure keeps each voussoir in
place
Held together by their own force

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Vault

Created by extending an arch along its

axis

Merely an extended arch

Supports and provides a roof for a given

area
Types of vaults

Barrel/Tunnel vault
Cross/Groin vault
Dome

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Barrel/Tunnel Vaults
The earliest type of vault
Appear in limited form in Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and Hellenistic Greece
Has a few limitations

Exerts a continuous load, therefore needing

constant support
Difficult to illuminate
Increases in length require thicker vault
supports

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Cross/Groin Vaults
Created to overcome the limitations of
barrel vaults
Employed by the Romans very heavily
Formed by intersecting two barrel
vaults at right angles
Limitations

Resistant to square plans

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Dome
The grandest type of vault
Types

Cloister vault

An eight-sided vault, with an octagon-shaped dome

Formed by crossing barrel vaults over an octagonal
plan
Rare in Rome, more prevalent in medieval
architecture

True dome

Perfectly rounded dome, preferred by the Romans

Built up in complete rings wherein each ring forms a
self-supporting component of the final dome

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Concrete
A mixture of mortar-like cement with an
aggregate
Many advantages over traditional stone

Does not need to be quarried, shaped, or

transported
Highly skilled labor was not needed to prepare
the concrete
Can be cast in just about any shape imaginable
Arches and vaults could be economically
fabricated

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Concrete

Surfaces
Romans developed many types of facings that
were weather resistant and pleasant to the
eye
Opus incertum

Opus testaceum

Random shaped stones of concrete

Brick facing; made concrete wall look as if it were
constructed from bricks

Opus mixtum

Decorative patterns of tufa, stone, or brick

Roman Architecture:
Structural Revolution

Opus mixtum; Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Aqueducts
Used to supply the civilization with
water from afar
Utilized an arch to create a continuous
line of decent for water
Aqua Claudia

Brought water over solid masonry some ten

miles into Rome
Some areas were over 100 ft. in height

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Bridges
Were generally lower in height and
broader than aqueducts
Two important Roman Bridges:

Pons Fabricus
Pons Milvius

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Theatres
Adopted the Greek theatre and
transformed it
The Roman theatre was closed, unlike the
Greeks who preferred an open, outside
theatre
Theatre of Marcellus

Integrated Roman style with that of the Greeks

Provided around 10,000 seats arranged in
three tiers

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Arenas

The Colosseum
Built by Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus,
and Doitian
Located on the site of an artificial lake that
had been part of Neros Golden House
Extensive system of tunnels, chambers, and
mechanical devices below the arena floor
Hydraulic provision used to flood the arena
for naval displays and mock battles

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Circuses

Circus Maximus

Oldest and largest

circus stadium
Rebuilt and
destroyed from the
first through third
centuries A.D.

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Baths
Strenuous daily life prompted the
Romans to construct large public baths
Wealthy citizens also constructed
private baths in their domiciles
Featured elaborate heating systems

Furnaces beneath floors

Heat was transmitted to rooms by tile ducts,
warming the floors and the walls

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Temples

Earliest Roman temples were

indistinguishable from those of the
Etruscans
Axial plan
Deep porch
Widely spaced columns
High podiums

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Temples

Temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus

Originally built in
the late sixth
century B.C.
Rebuilt in 69 B.C.

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Temples

Pantheon
Located in Rome
Considered by many to be the greatest
structure of antiquity to have survived in a
state of near completeness
Built by Hadrian between A.D 118 and 128
Three notable parts:

Immense, domed cella

Deep, octastyle Corinthian porch
Block-like intermediate structure

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Basilicas

An important category of Roman

architecture

Most important Roman source for early

Christian architecture

Pure Roman style of architecture

Basilica

Essentially means a roofed hall, rectangular

in plan, sometimes with an apse

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Basilicas

Basilica Ulpia

A.D. 98-117
Finest example of
the columnar
basilica
Built by Trajan
Important model for
later ages

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Roman Structures

Roman Basilicas

Basilica in Trier,
Germany

Early fourth century

A.D.
Built by Constantine
The final Roman
basilica
Served as an
important model for
the Romanesque
period of
architecture

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Civic Architecture

Houses and Villas

Private domiciles reflected their inhabitants

Lower classes lived in meager, cramped apartments
located on the upper floors of shops and other
buildings
Middle classes lived on the lower floors and many
homes had balconies, good ventilation, and running
water
Upper classes usually owned a house, know as a
domus.

Standalone structures
Featured courtyards and gardens
Many had running water

Roman Architecture:
Tombs

Tombs
Romans were great builders of tombs
Different from the Greeks and
Egyptians in scale and religious style
Tomb of M. Vergilius Eurysaces

Citizen who made a fortune selling bread to

Caesar's army
Built a tomb in the shape of an oven

Roman Architecture:
Tombs

Photo: Sullivan

Roman Architecture:
Tombs

Tombs

Roman catacombs

Built by the poor as

place of burial

Photo: Sullivan

References

Sullivan, Mary;
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt
1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From
Prehistory to Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western
Architecture

Ancient Greek
and Roman
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp