Roman Arches 2 Essay Research Paper Roman

Roman Arches 2 Essay, Research Paper

Roman Architecture

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome’s buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in about 753 BC, by a group of shepherds. It sat at an ideal location, along 7 hills on the Tiber River 15 miles from the Mediterranean Sea in present day Italy. Situated in an ideal defensive location it grew. Roman rule spread throughout the Italian peninsula due to its military strength and diplomacy (Cornell and Matthews 17).

The first settlements discovered in Rome were on Tiber Island, later the sire of a temple to Aesculapius god of healing. Little is known of early Roman history because its first historical literature was recorded in 200 BC (Cornell and Matthews 14).

The earliest structures that were inhabited by the ancient Romans were crude huts. At the end of the seventh century BC these huts were demolished. This made way for a decidedly more urban aspect of construction with permanent stone temples, houses, and various other public buildings. Building was encouraged by the leader Tarquin I who lived from 116 to 579 BC. He made grants of land to be used as building sites. Tarquin promoted the development of shops and porticoes. Servius Tullius, his successor, expanded the city greatly. He surrounded it with a wall. The city of Rome further developed into a large power (Cornell and Matthews 52).

The ancient Romans created and borrowed fundamental types of concepts that made up buildings. The ideas that the Romans borrowed were basic ideas such as the column. A column is a vertical shaped pillar with the chief design concern of supporting a building. Most columns consist of three parts, the base, the shaft, and the capital. The shaft is usually cylindrical in shape. The Greeks had three basic types of columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. All three types have narrow fillets on them. These were small vertical slits that ran the length of the column. The Romans modified the column and added two types, Truscan and Composile. The columns became widely used in homes and temples in Greece and later in Rome (”Architecture”).

The Romans also borrowed from the Greeks other major structural designs. On the top of a column on most temples and public buildings rested an Entablature. This is a classic triangular shaped fa ade, or front of a building. The Entablature consists of four parts. The lowest part is the Architrave, which sits on top of the capital or upper part of a column. On top of that, the frieze was typically decorated with horizontal bands. The Cornice forms the upper part of the Entablature and extols beyond the frieze on the sides. On the very top sits a Pediment, a triangular segment between the lower Entablature and the roof (”Architecture”).

The Romans borrowed the concept of the arch but utilized it fully. An arch is a curved structure used to support the weight above it. At the top of an arch, there is located a keystone, which is a stone that holds the other parts in place. To construct an arch, the Romans supported the blocks with wood, until the keystone was inserted into the arch. A series of arches is called an arcade. Roman leaders built arches to honor their leaders, called triumphal arches. Arches were used more functionally to support aqueducts (”Architecture”).

The Romans also developed the vault. A vault is an arched ceiling or roof. Most common was the Barrel Vault but there were two other types. These two other types were the Groined Vault and the Ribbed Vault (”Architecture”).

A later type of vault that developed was the dome. A dome is a curved roof situated on a circular base. Perhaps the most famous building in Rome with a dome is the Pantheon. Columns were sometimes used in domes, but only as a decoration (”Architecture”).

The Roman wealthy lived in fairly large houses. A courtyard called an atrium served as a reception room. An opening in the atrium roof allowed light in. Water collected in a pool in the floor of the atrium. The dining room and bedrooms surrounded the atrium. The atriums were decorated by Mosaic walls and floors. A second courtyard called a peristyle included a garden, fountains, statues, and often a pool. Some houses had an enclosure at the rear of the house with fruit trees and vegetables.

Roman walls stretched great lengths and fortified the extreme boundaries of the great Roman Empire. By the year AD 100 the Romans had built a wall that extended into present-day Germany and Romania. Another wall built by the Romans was Hadrian’s Wall. It was built starting in AD 120 and stretched 13 miles. Parts of this wall still stand. Roman walls were build by Roman soldiers primarily when was did not grip the Empire. Hadrian’s Wall was 10 feet wide and 20 meters tall. It was made of stone and turf. Hadrian’s Wall was rebuilt three times an