Introduction to Architecture

Module 3: Roman Architecture

Geographical setting of Roman Civilization:

A civilization which started from Italian mainland and spread all around the
Mediterranean Sea and further extending to Western Asia

Although spread across the Mediterranean sea, Romans were not known as sea faring
people like the Greeks. The Roman empire had certain dissimilarities with their Greek
counterpart – (i) The Romans created provinces unlike the Greeks who created colonies
(ii) Rivalry between cities as observed in Greece (e.g Sparta vs Athens) was not there
Geology Religion
Although terrain is hilly but it did not Religion was controlled by the state
create pockets of settlement like Greece with the Roman empire (in later stages)
Unlike Greece, apart from marble becoming the head of the Pantheon of
Travertine, Tufa and Pepperino rocks were deities
also abundant (which reflected in their use People had to follow the state religion
for building construction) (Heathen) and this intervention in religion
Beside the rocks, lava and pozzolana manifested itself in the temple architecture
(clean sandy earth derived from volcanic (Officialism)
eruptions) were also abundant which with
lime and fine sand gave rise to high
strength concrete

Climate
Mainland Italy had three different
climate, the north had temperate climate.
The central part of the country had a
Mediterranean climate whereas the south
had a tropical climate
Timeline of Roman Civilization

Etruscan Period
750 BC: Foundation of the Roman civilization

(753 -510BC)
500 BC: Rome becomes a republic repealing monarchy
27 BC: It emerges as an empire under Augustus (Octavian) Caesar
500 – 343 BC: Conquest of other cities in Italy
 264 – 241 BC: Conquest of Sicily (1st Punic War)
 149 – 146 BC: Destruction of Carthage and its conversion to a Roman
province in north Africa

Republic Period
(510 – 44 BC)
 146 BC: Conquest of Macedonia and Greece
 59 BC: Roman empire moves to north west conquering the Gauls and
extending its territory to the English channel
 55 BC: England conquered
 27 – 41 AD: Rule of Octavian Caesar and considered to be the most

Imperial Period (44

productive era of Roman civilization
 306 – 337 AD: Rule of Constantine

BC – 476 AD)
Major historical events
 In 750 BC the foundation of Roman civilization was laid by the formation of
monarchic government in different towns/districts. The government was chosen by
the kings and aided by senators and an assembly
 After repealing monarchy Rome was declared as a republic in 500 BC. People
voted to choose their senators and form their assembly. However, during this period
there were innumerable wars with neighboring leagues of towns/districts. Rome
conquered all the Etruscans towns
 By 343 BC Rome had control over Italy and started venturing towards
neighboring territories.
 In 241 BC Sicily was conquered after the first Punic War. The second Punic war
started in 218 BC and continued till 201 BC. It marked the bloody battles between
the Roman army and Carthagian army (led by Hannibal). Rome finally conquered
Carthage in the third Punic War (148 – 146 BC). It was converted into a province of
North Africa
 Roman armies next moved east to conquer Greece in 146 BC and converted it into
their province in 133 BC. Roman territories extended from Syria in the east to Spain
in the west across the Mediterranean sea
 Roman army marched to the north west mountains and conquered the tribal
pockets (Gaul in 59 BC) and moved further to conquer till the river Rhine (at the
boundary of English channel)
Major historical events

 In 55 BC Roman army entered England and captured it under the dictatorship of

Julius Caesar. However, Caesar was murdered in 44 BC and chaos started in the
Roman republic. Octavian Caesar declared the beginning of the Roman empire and
was declared the as the first emperor by the Senate
 Octavian Caesar named Augustus ruled from 27 BC to 41 AD and this period is
considered to be the pinnacle of Roman civilization with all round development in
science, arts, philosophy, mathematics, architecture, etc
 After Augustus several other emperors had ruled Rome e.g. Nero, Vespasian,
Tito, Trajan (under whom Roman empire extended to its largest physical extent),
Septimius Severus. However, with internal strife, a number of murders of emperors
and a hostile population the Roman empire was destabilized
 Constantine was the next most successful emperor of the empire and ruled from
306 – 337 AD. He gave formal recognition to Christianity as a religion. He also
moved the capital of Roman empire to Constantinople (Byzantium) in 324 AD.
Architectural character
 The Romans adopted the trabeated form of architecture from the Greeks
 They invented the arch, domes and modified the vaults (believed to be taken
from the Etruscans). These features were used in tandem with the trabeated
structural system in earlier examples of Roman architecture
 Unlike Greek buildings, Roman built multi-storied buildings which had the
classical orders as embellishment and not structural members
 Till the republican era the Greek method of building with large stone blocks
joined without mortar was used. However, with the discovery of binding
capability of pozzolana and lime, construction methods were modified
 Concrete was invented by the Romans by mixing lime with debris from stone
quarries. These materials were available in abundance across the territory and did
not require specialized craftsmanship (as in stone masonry). Thus, concrete was
used to build extensively and slaves and even common soldiers in the Roman
army were also utilized for construction
 Concrete was used extensively to build walls and depending on the importance
of building cladded with bricks, stones, paints, etc
Architectural contribution: Concrete and Pozzolana
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
 Around the 2nd century BC, Pozzolana or volcanic ash was also added.
Pozzolana is a siliceous and aluminous material which reacts with lime (calcium
hydroxide) in presence of water to form calcium silicate hydrate or calcium
aluminate hydrate which have good binding properties. Thus pozzolana is a pozzolan
of volcanic origin having cementitious properties.
 Concrete did away with the need for stone quarries. It also did away with the
need for the shaping (ashlar masonry) and transportation of stone and for high skilled
labour for stonemasonry
 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
Architectural contribution: Stone Block and Stone Masonry
 Romans used concrete rampantly across all building types and particularly to
build the walls. The major classification of walls are as follows –
 opus quadratum – rectangular blocks of stone joined together with or
without mortar and secured in place using dowels
 concrete faced/unfaced – mixture formed of lime, tufa, peperino, marble,
pumice stone or other stone/brick fragments. Unfaced concrete was particularly
used for foundation of buildings. Faced concrete walls were sub-divided into
four categories.
  opus incertum – oldest variant
of concrete wall, the concrete
fascia of these walls were
studded with irregular pieces of
stone (used mainly in 1st and 2nd
century BC)

 opus reticulatum – named so

because of its resemblance to nets
with joining along diagonal lines
 concrete faced with brick walls
having triangular plan and a
thickness of 1.5”. It was used
extensively from the 1st century to
the end of western empire
 opus mixtum – concrete faced with
bricks and having bands of tufa at
regular interval
Architectural contribution: Arches and vaults
With the invention of concrete Romans
modified the arches used by Egyptians or
Greeks (which were primarily corbelled arch).
These arches were compressive members
having no tensile properties

The arches were made with concrete which

further enabled the builders to construct across
large spans without the intrinsic constraints of
building materials like stone or brick

The form work and centering were done using

wood panels

Arches were particularly used as opening for

doors and windows or as structural system for
large structures. Romans have widely used
arches in all types of buildings
Architectural contribution: Arches and vaults
Vaults were also used by Assyrians, Greeks and Etruscans
but Romans invented concrete, which allowed its widespread
usage across different buildings
The major types of vaults seen in Roman buildings are as
follows:
a. Semi-circular vaults – A vault spanning across a
rectangular space. This were particularly used for residential
buildings
b. Cross vaults – A vault used to cover square shaped
building where the pressure is dissipated by four corner
support. When used over rectangular spaces, the space was
distributed into square grids and covered with groined vaults
c. Domes – It was used for covering circular space and were
constructed of concrete forming a monolith mass putting no
lateral thrusts on the walls (thus having the form of arch but
not its principle with the dome in Pantheon being an
exception)
End of class 1…
Salient building types: Pantheon, Rome
 The Pantheon is the best
example of classical architecture
surviving the test of time
 It is also represents the
highest achievement of Roman
architecture
 It was built between AD 118
and 128 by the Emperor Hadrian
on the site of an earlier temple
by Agrippa
 It was built as a temple
dedicated to all the Roman
Gods, hence the name Pantheon
 The Pantheon essentially
consist of two parts; an entrance
portico and a circular part or
rotunda
Salient building types: Pantheon, Rome
The portico is 8 columns wide and 3 columns deep is crowned with a pediment and
leads to the entrance of the temple. The columns are of un-fluted Corinthian order
The wall of the rotunda is 3 storey high on the outside; they are made up of brick faced
concrete (opus incertum) and support the dome roof of the temple
The interior has eight large niches with one serving as the entrance and the remaining
seven used dedicated to the seven major Roman Gods
The Dome roof forms a perfect sphere with a diameter of 142 feet in the interior
At the head of the dome is a 30ft wide oculus, that opens up the great dome to the
outside and illuminates the space with light
The interior was built of Egyptian granites, African colored marbles and pure white
marbles from the Aegean
Salient building types: Roman Amphitheatres - Colosseum
The amphitheater is a Roman
structure with no Greek equivalent
Amphitheatre is a public building
used for spectator sports, games and
displays
Apart from function, the important
outward distinction between an
amphitheatre and a theatre is that
amphitheatre is round or oval in shape
An amphitheater was first built in
Pompeii in 80 BC, but the best
example of the Roman amphitheater
is the colosseum
The Colosseum is an amphitheater in
Rome
Its construction began under the
Emperor Vespasian in 72 A.D. and
was completed in A. D. 80
It was used for spectator sports
including gladiatorial combat
Salient building types: Colosseum
The colosseum is elliptical in shape. It
measured 48 metres high, 188 metres
long, and 156 metres wide. The wooden
arena floor was 86 metres by 54 metres,
and covered by sand. The colosseum had
a seating capacity for 50,000 spectators
Vaulting was used both radially and
concentrically to support the structure
Seating was divided into different
sections. The lower part was for wealthy
citizens, while the upper part was for poor
citizens
It was roofed using a canvas covered
net-like structure made of ropes, with a
hole in the center
The Arena where the action takes place
is located at the center of the ellipse.
Underneath the arena was the
"underground“ – a network of tunnels and
cages where gladiators and animals were
held before contests began
The orders were used in the elevation as
Salient building types: Basilica of Trajan
•Basilicas are among the most
important categories of roman
architecture. There were no basilicas
before the Roman era
•The basilica are rectangular and
usually contained interior colonnades
that divided the space into aisles at
one or both sides, with an apse at one
end
•The central aisle tended to be wide
and had higher elevation than the
flanking aisles, so that light could
penetrate through the clerestory
windows
•The function of the basilica is close
to that of the Greek stoa
•It is also the place where
magistrates held court to dispose of
legal matters.
The Basilica Ulpia was built by Emperor Trajan in the period A.D 98-
117 for his imperial forum. Basilica Ulpia stretches for 120 meters in
length over the width of the Trajan forum
The Basilica consists of a central hall, 25 meters wide surrounded on all
sides by double colonnades. The Basilica had two semi-circular apses at
it’s two ends
The walls of the Basilica were finished with multi-colored marble; also
referred to as polychromatic marble
The whole structure was covered with a truss roof. Basilica Ulpia
represent the generic form of the Roman Basilica. It is this form that was
later adopted by the Christians for their church
Salient building types: Bath of Caracalla
The Romans had a unique need for
exercise, bathing and relaxation and they
devised a unique architectural element,
the public Baths to address that need.
The roman bath was more that just
merely swimming or washing.
The core program of the bath consist of
a dressing room (the apodyterium) a
series of at least two heated rooms (the
tepidarium) and a hot room or
caldarium
Salient building types: Bath of Caracalla
Besides the heated rooms, the
bath may also have a
swimming pool, or notatio for
cold plunges on hot summer
days or a cool unheated room
called the frigidarium
The Bath of Caracalla is a
good example of a Roman
bath and among the best
preserved ones. This bath is
part of a square precinct
enclosed by walls.
The precinct has a water reservoir to the south, supplied by an aqueduct to service its
water need. The reservoir is located beneath a stadium used for athletic contest.
The east and west walls have a curved exedra that defines space for cultural activities
such as library, music performance, philosophical lectures, etc. The front wall has a
series of shops with the entrance at the center
The main bath building is rectangular, 225 meters by 115 meters and is situated
within the walled precinct. It has a perfect bilateral symmetry along its north-south
axis. The bath has a large dressing hall, apodyterium at the center of the building
A swimming pool or notatio is located to the north of it, while a tepidarium and a
domed circular caldarium is located to the south of it
A series of supplementary rooms, including Gymnasium and bathroom suits are
arranged symmetrically on two sides of the building.
The structure of the bath of Carracalla is made up of vaults, arches, groin vaults and
domes
Public buildings and squares: Forums of Rome
•The forum was the descendant of the Greek
Agora for the Romans. It began as a market
place. It rapidly became the commercial,
political and ceremonial center of the
civilization
•In the process it developed into an elaborate
architectural space that became a part of all
roman cities.
•Unlike the Greek agora which is informal in
plan, and whose buildings are subordinate to
the space, in the Roman forum, the
organization is more formal. The buildings
surrounding it are normally large and dominate
the space.
•Buildings commonly found in the forum
include temples, basilicas, and bath
•Each individual major building in the forum
was given a central inside space.
Public buildings and squares: Forums of Rome
•Governmental function were usually arranged on the west, religious ceremonies were
celebrated at the east. The inside space of buildings was connected to one or more
exterior space of the city
•Free standing columns, statues and triumphal arches were erected as a memorial to the
conquering rulers and to the glories of the empire.
•No two Roman forums are really alike, as there are always differences between the
forums in different cities. The most famous being the forums in Rome e.g. Republican
and Imperial Forum
Salient building types: Aqueduct
Aqueducts were used to supply
water to Roman cities
Pont du Gard was constructed
around 50 A.D. to supply water to
the city of Nimes
This Aqueduct in some places is
almost 50 meters above the deep
valley of the River Gard
It was constructed of 3 tiers of
arches
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 over a distance of 66
kilometers
Thank You…