Architecture

From Rome

One of the Roman Empire's greatest accomplishments was their architecture. From inventing concrete to inventing the arch, they were able to build some of the most amazing structures the world has ever seen. Their architecture was a fusion of the Etruscan's and the Greeks, but they were able to go beyond both, because of the invention of concrete. To see buildings being built, click here.

1 The Etruscans
2 The Colosseum
3 The Arch
4 Pantheon
5 Houses
6 The Golden House
7 The Roman Forum
8 References

The Etruscans

The Colosseum By: Jessica Wright

The Etruscans had many influences on Roman architecture. The Etruscans actually came up with the idea of the arch, but the Romans put the idea to use. The Etruscans used clay, which the Romans also used for many purposes. The Etruscans migrated in the 12th century B.C.E from Asia Minor to Italy. Their architecture was thought to have been similar to Greek architecture, and they found many buildings in Greek colonies similar to Etruscan buildings.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum was one of greatest architectural achievements in the history of ancient Rome. Built with concrete and then faced with stone, the great amphitheater held many gladiator battles. It was built with many arcades, which are rows of arches next to each other. The Colosseum was built up and around, forming a circular arena in the center, with seats on all sides. The Colosseum had four floors (161 feet high, 600 feet long, and 500 feet wide), three of them held by arches, and the top was pecked with windows. The entrances were vaults, which are arches that have been expanded and become a tunnel. The Colosseum was decorated with stone statues within the second and third floor arches, and the fourth had many stone designs. There was a large wall that protected the viewers from the games. The games consisted of prisoners being fed to animals, gladiators killing the animals, and then gladiators killing each other. The seats were arranged by rank where the rich men were in the front and the poor (and women) were in the back. There were good acoustics though, so people in the back could hear. "Our architecture reflects truly as a mirror," said Louis Henri Sullivan. When I read that quote, I see what he means. You can tell so much about ancient history from their architecture because you know what they thought was beautiful and interesting to them.

The Arch

The arch was used in almost every Roman structure. Not only did they use single arches that stood alone, they came up with many arch structures, like the arcade, which was used in aqueducts (see technology.) Along with a vault, there were groin vaults, which are arches, but one of the legs has been turned 360 degrees, turned into a dome.

An arch was made up of voussoirs, the main stones in the arch, and the keystone, which was the center stone of the arch. The keystone balanced out the weight of the arch. With the arch made, and the invention of concrete, the Romans used all of these, plus columns to form their great architecture. They used vaults and columns to make their churches, and then domes to make the roofs of them.

Pantheon

The Pantheon was built in 10 BC. It was a temple that worshiped all the Roman gods (see Religion.) The Pantheon was built three times and burned down twice. The first time it was built by Agrippa and burned down in 80 AD. Then it was reconstructed by Domitian. The second time it burned down was in 120 AD, but it did not burn down again. Hadrian left a message above the entrance to the Pantheon that says, "Agrippa built this temple." It is still there to this day. The Pantheon is not flashy on the outside, but on the inside, it is filled with beautiful architecture and very attention capturing pictures. It has the largest dome ever built in the ancient world. The material they used to build the Pantheon is large cement bricks that were 20 feet thick. They gave it to the Popes in 609 AD., so the Christians would not burn it down. The Romans used two of their three most important architectural ideas which are arches, baked bricks and cement and concrete. They used cement or concrete and arches. Grace McGarvie said, "An architect is the drawer of dreams," which I can see very clearly when I read or look at the Pantheon.

see a video of the pantheon

Houses

Etruscan houses were the earliest Roman houses. Every house had a portion that was devoted to the god or spirit that the family worshiped. The earliest homes of the Romans were very simple. They were made of wood with a pointed roof and covered with straw or shingles. The house looked like square apartments, but there was no upstairs. About 184 B.C. they added a kitchen and a bedroom, record-chamber, chapel, a court garden and garden colonnade columns. Even though the comforts and the colonnades were upgraded, everything remained simple. A wealthy man's or a noble man's house was called a 'domus' which means a mansion. A poor man's house was called an 'insulce' or an island.

The Golden House

The Golden house was a palace that was built by Nero (one of the emperors). After the big fire, he built a big beautiful palace for himself and called it 'the Golden House'. The Golden House had many statues and fine art work. It had a huge statue at the front of the building of Nero, which was covered in gold. The statue was called the Colossus, because it was so big. That's also how the Colosseum got its name. There was an eight sided dining room with a ceiling painted with the moon and stars. On nice evenings, they would open up the roof so that the actual night sky shown through.

The Roman Forum

The Forum was an area, surrounded by important buildings to the city. At the Forum people did business, trade, and socialized. The buildings that surrounded it were the basilica, and the Senate building, which was a brick building.