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Introduction

• Ancient Roman architecture continued the legacy left by the earlier

architects of the Greek world.
• The Romans were also great innovators and they quickly adopted
new construction techniques, used new materials, and uniquely
combined existing techniques with creative design to produce a
whole range of new architectural structures.
• Roman architectural style continued to influence building in the
former empire for many centuries, and the style used in Western
Europe beginning about 1000 is called Romanesque architecture to
reflect this dependence on basic Roman forms.
• After which it becomes reclassified as Byzantine architecture.

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Origins and Evolution

• Roman architects continued to follow the guidelines established by

the classical orders the Greeks had first shaped: Doric, Ionic, and
Corinthian. The Corinthian was particularly favoured.
• The Romans did add their own ideas and their version of the
Corinthian capital became much more decorative, as did the cornice.
• The Tuscan column was another adaptation of a form of Doric
column but with a smaller capital, more slender shaft without flutes,
and a moulded base.
• The Roman Architectural Revolution, also known as the Concrete
Revolution.

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• Evolutions of Columns

4
Architecture Features

1. Columns
• Columns were very important in ancient Roman architecture.
• It was mostly used for structural and decorative purposes.
• They were made in sections and then stack on top of each other.
• They were made from wood, stone and mortal.

5
• Columns continued to be used even when they were no longer
structurally necessary and just was to give buildings a traditional and
familiar look.
• Example: Pantheon

6
• Columns could be detached from the building yet remain attached
to the façade at the base and entablature (free-standing columns)
• Example: Hadrian’s Library in Athens

7
• Finally, columns could become a part of the wall itself (engaged
columns) and function as pure decoration.
• Example, the upper floors of the Colosseum exterior.

8
2. Domes
• The Romans were the first builders in the history of architecture to
realize the potential of domes for the creation of large and well-
defined interior spaces.
• Domes were introduced in a number of Roman building types such
as temples, thermae, palacase, mausolea and later also churches.
• Half-domes also became a favoured architectural element and were
adopted as apses in Christian sacred architecture.
• Along with vaults, they gradually replaced the traditional post and
lintel construction which makes use of the column and architrave.
• The construction of domes was greatly facilitated by the invention of
concrete.
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 10

Dome of the Pantheon, inner view

3. Arches
• The Romans did not invent the arch. Indeed, arches have been used
since prehistoric times.
• The Romans were the first builders in the world, fully to appreciate
the advantages of the arch.
• Throughout the Roman empire, their engineers erected arch
structures such as bridge, aqueducts, and gates. They also
introduced the triumphal arch as a military monument.
• Usually build by stones, brick or concrete. Using a mixture that
included lime and volcanic sand, the Romans created a very strong
and durable type of concrete. Arches made of this substance could
support a lot of weight. As a result, Romans were able to build
massive structures, such as aqueducts, which provided water to
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cities.
• One of the fundamental problems in structural engineering is the
bridging of openings.
• The simple solution is to use a horizontal beam that is supported at
either end by either a wall or a column - the loads travel vertically
downwards from the beam.
• Stone is weak in tension due to the fact that it is brittle.
• Tension results from bending which can occur in beams, especially
where there is a large span. As a result only small spans are possible
using stone.

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• The idea of an arch solved this problem.
• The first arch consisted of two inclined stone beams.
• The thrust is now also inclined and these thrusts must be resisted if
failure is to be avoided.

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• Roman arch contains "voussoirs" (voo/swars'), or bricks.
• The "keystone" is the center voussoir that supports the other bricks.
• The push or thrust of the cemented voussoirs pushes outward and
downward in the arch.
• A row of arches is called an "arcade." As the arch evolved it
changed, firstly by the introduction of a key stone and eventually
into the rounded arch we see today.

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• Romans used the semi-circular arch for spanning openings, relieving
arches and for vaulting.
• The idea of the joggled voussoir was developed by the Romans, it
made the construction of arches by preventing stones from sliding
from their positions.

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• Development of various forms arches

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4. Mosaics
• It is a decoration made of colourful chips of stone inserted into
cement.
• The Roman home joined the mosaics and became the well known
mural in decorating floors, walls, and grottoes with geometric and
pictorial designs.
• Early Roman mosaics contained monochromatic designs. As the art
form developed they used increasingly smaller pieces to create
increasingly more elaborate designs in an increasingly wide variety
of colors.

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5. Roofs
• Truss roofs were fully realized in Roman period.
• Almost all the monumental public buildings with rectangular spaces
were in trussed roods, for example temples, basilicas and later
churches.
• Made of wooden trusses supported by walls then covered by tiles.

The truss roof of the 4th-century church Old St. Peter’s 18

Basilica, Rome. The triangular frame of beams of the main
nave is largely self-supporting, since the forces are carried
along the beams rather than acting vertically on them.
6. Spiral Staircases
• The spiral stair is a type of stairway which, due to its complex
helical structure.
• In the imperial cities of Rome temples, thermae, basilicas and tombs
were also fitted with spiral stairways.

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Building Materials

• The Romans used many materials to create everything from

masonry pastes to walls and floorings.
• Tile covered concrete quickly supplanted marble as the primary
building material, and more daring buildings soon followed with
great pillars supporting broad arches and domes rather than dense
lines of columns suspending flat architraves.
• Romans were the first ones who created the first brick and used
concrete at such large scale.

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• The materials they used:
• Bricks
• Pozzolanic concrete
• Marble
• Granite
• Lime
• Tin
• Iron
• Wood
• Ceramics
• Sandstone
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Building Techniques

Opus incertum Opus testaceum Opus reticulatum

Mortar in the
Opus spicatum Barrel Vault 22
foundations
• Walls were made in one of these ways:

Ashlar Masonry Brick

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• Material combinations in walls:

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Town Planning

• Cities were the centre of Roman life

Need for infrastructures:
• Water and sewer system
• Transport and defence
• Public spaces and markets
Psychological effect: power and control

• There was a need of linking them through paved roads.

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• The plan of the city was based
on the camp.
• It had two main axes:
Cardus E-W
Decumanus N-S
• Where the two converged
was the forum.
• The rest of the space was
divided into squares in which
insulae or blocks of flats were
built.

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• The most important part of the city was the forum, where political,
economic, administrative, social and religious activity were centred.
• In big cities there were theatres, circuses, stadiums, odeons.

Caesaraugusta in terms of the current city

of Zaragoza.
1 and 2: the cardo and decumanus
3. Forum Caesaraugusta
4. River port 27
5. Public Baths
6. Theatre
7. Wall
Architecture Elements

1. Paved Road
• Paved roads were needed to reach to any point of the empire.
• They facilitated both communication and political control.

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• The roads were made with strong foundations.
• Different materials were put into different layers.
• To measure the distance they created the Milliarium or stones
located in the sides.

Section of a Roman paved road

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• The roads were not completely flat.
• They consisted of several parts:
The central and highest was the most important, it was convex to
conduct the water to the
Ditches that were built in the sides

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2. Bridge
• Roman engineers were true masters building team, since
constructions were essential elements for reaching places and cities
often situated at the bank of rivers.
• This location was due to defensive and infrastructural reasons -
supply and drainage.
• They are characterised by:
Not pointed arches.
Constructions of ashlars masonry often with pad shape.
Route of more than 5 m wide.
Route of horizontal or slightly combed surface "few curved".
Rectangular pillars from their basis with lateral triangular or
circular cutwaters that end before the railings.

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 32
The Alcantara Bridge, Spain
a masterpiece of ancient bridge building
 3. Aqueducts
• Aqueducts were built in order to avoid geographic irregularities
between fountains or rivers and towns.
• Not only valleys were crossed by superposed cannels, but also
mountains were excavated by long tunnels, pits and levels of
maintenance.
• They were used to bring water to cities.

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The water conduit of the Tarragona Aqueduct, Spain.

 Aqueducts must have a slight
incline (angle) in order that the
water flows down hill, by the
force of gravity.
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The construction of Aqueduct
35
 36
Part elevation of aqueduct
Part elevation of aqueduct
 37
The arches of an elevated section of the Roman provincial
Aqueduct of Segovia, in modern Spain.
Pont du Gard, in Vers-Pont-du-Gard, Gard department,
South France.

Stonework on the
Pont du Gard
38
The road bridge adjacent to
the aqueduct. Pedestrians are
shown for scale.
 Except where closed pipes were used, the channel in which the water flowed
was just over three feet wide and about six feet high, to allow workers to walk
throughout its length - when the water supply had been cut off - for inspection
and maintenance.
39
Aqueduct today: A canal boat traverses the Pontcysyllte 40
Aqueduct
4. Ports and Lighthouses
• Roman ships and those for commercial
trade should travel from port to port with
the speed and security adequate to the life
of a great Empire.
• In these ports every necessity for the
execution of the usual works in a port
ensemble should be found:
gateways with stores and bureaux,
shipyards for stationing ships,
roads for taking ships to earthly ground,
drinkable water fountains and
machinery for loading and downloading
merchandises.
• Indeed, a system of indication was
necessary in order to mark the right access 41
and exit to the port.
42
5. Walls
• Defence of cities has been one of the capital problems that
civilizations had to solve in order to project the future of their
citizens, goods, culture and ways of life.
• Romans were the first in the technique of improving different kinds
of defence, using walls.

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6. Forums
• Forums were cultural centres in cities.
• They were often placed at the crossroads of important urban ways:
cardo maximus and decumanus.
• A great porticated square was the centre of a group of buildings
around it.
• They were communicated through it.
• Temples for Imperial worship, schools, basilicae, markets or even
termae had a direct access through forum.
• In many cases even buildings for spectacles -circus, theatres and
amphitheatres- were communicated so.
• Forums were a way in for important persons to tribunals.

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45
Architectonic Typology

Roman Architecture has a rich typology that includes:

• Religious building: temple
• Civil buildings:
Public: basilicas, baths
Spectacles: theatre, amphitheatre, circus
Commemorative: Triumph arch, column
Domestic: house, village, palace
Funerary: tombs
• Engineering works:
Bridges
Aqueducts

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Religious Building: Temple

• The Romans built temples to worship their Gods

and Goddesses.
• Ancient Roman temples are among the most
visible archaeological remains of Roman culture,
and are a significant source for Roman
architecture.
• It copied the Greek model.
• It has only one portico and a main façade.
• It tends to be pseudoperiptero.
• The cella is totally closed.
• It is built on a podium.
• Instead of having stairs all around, it only has
them in the main façade. 47
• Roman temples featured some, or all, of the following:
Roman Temples had a gabled roof
A deep porch with free-standing columns
A frontal staircase giving access to a high platform
New materials were used in the construction of Roman
Temples such as concrete with brick and stone facing
and marble veneers
• Walls of Roman Temples were painted in fresco - the frieze often
depicted Roman life.
• Sculptures of Roman Gods and Goddesses were used as decoration
in the form of free standing statues.
• There were other kind of temples: Circular (similar to the Greek
tholos) 48
The Temple of Hercules Victor The Temple ofJupiter
The original Temple measured almost 60 x 60 m
(197 feet square) and was considered the most
important religious temple of the whole state of
Rome.
49
Temple-of-Venus-and-Roma
50
The Pantheon

• The Pantheon is a building in Rome, Italy, which was originally built

as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the Roman
state religion, but which has been a Christian church since the 7th
century.
• It is the best-preserved of all Roman buildings and the oldest
important building in the world with its original roof intact.
• It has been in continuous use throughout its history.

51
 52

The dome of the Pantheon seen from the hill of Janiculum

• The building is circular with a portico of
large granite Corinthian columns (eight in
the first rank and two groups of four
behind) under a pediment.
• A rectangular vestibule links the porch to
the rotunda, which is under a coffered
concrete dome, with a central opening
(the Great Eye) to the sky.
• In the walls at the back of the portico
were niches, probably for statues of
Caesar, Augustus and Agrippa, or for the
Capitoline Triad, or another set of gods.
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 Oculus (opening above) for light &
air
Niches for their gods
Thick masonry walling

Colonnade
Gigantic dome structure

Greek style portico with

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Corinthian columns

Floor plan of the Pantheon

Cross-section of the Pantheon showing how a 43.3 m 55
diameter sphere fits under its dome.
• Almost two thousand years after it was
built, the Pantheon's dome is still the
world's largest unreinforced concrete
dome.
• The Great Eye at the dome's apex is the
source of all light in the interior.
• The oculus also serves as a cooling and
ventilation method.
• During storms, a drainage system below
the floor handles the rain that falls
through the oculus.

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• The pediment was decorated with relief sculpture, probably of
gilded bronze.

57
Civil Buildings: Basilica

• The Basilica was a large, ornate, public building used for meetings
and other official business. It housed the civil law courts and
tabernae (shops), and provided space for government offices and
banking.
• It is a large structure in ancient Roman or early Christian times,
usually built on a rectangular plan and has different naves.
• The central nave is higher and receives light from the sides.
• The building ends in an apse.
• It is covered with vaults
Barrel over the central nave
Edged over the lateral naves

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 59
19th-century drawing of St. Peter's Basilica as it is thought to
have looked around 1450.
60
 61
Fresco showing cutaway view of Constantine's St. Peter's
Basilica as it looked in the 4th century
Civil Buildings: Baths

• There were spaces for public life.

• They consisted of different rooms:
• Rooms:
Dressing rooms
Bathing chambers:
i. Frigidarium (cold)
ii. Tepidarium (warm)
iii. Caldarium (hot)
Swimming pool
Gymnasium
• Later, baths became progressively grander, incorporating libraries,
lecture halls, and vast vaulted public spaces elaborately decorated
with statues, mosaics, and paintings.
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• The Public Baths were extremely popular.
• Most Roman cities had at least one, sometimes many which were
centers of public bathing and socialization.
• Roman women and men tried to visit the baths at least once every
day.
• The baths had hot and cold pools, towels, slaves to wait on you,
steam rooms, saunas, exercise rooms, and hair cutting salons.
• They had reading rooms and libraries, as among the freeborn, who
had the right to frequent baths, the majority could read.
• They even had stores, selling all kinds of things, and people who sold
fast food.
• The baths were arranged rather like a very large mall, with bathing
63
pools.
 64
Example of floor plan
65
A Bath Complex
Of all the leisure activities, bathing was surely
66
the most important for the greatest number of
Romans
Spectacles: Theatre

• It is similar to the Greek but it is

not located in a mountain but it is
completely built.
• It has a semi-circular scenery.
• The doors to facilitate peoples’
movement are called vomitoria.
• It does not have the orchestra
because in Roman plays was not a
chorus.
• The rest of the parts are similar to
those of the Greek theatre.

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Spectacles: Amphitheatre

• It comes from the fusion

of two theatres.
• It was the place for
spectacles with animals
and fights (gladiators).
• There could be filled
with water for naval
battles.

68
 The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is
an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy.
Built of concrete and stone, it is the 69
largest amphitheatre ever built and is considered one of the
greatest works of architecture and engineering.
 The three orders of
the Colosseum

The corridors and stairs

were planned in order to
allow the public, calculated
between 50.000 and
75.000, swift access and
exit and to keep the
different classes of
spectators separated.
Passageways led the other
spectators to their
assigned places.

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 71
A map of central Rome during the Roman Empire, with the
Colosseum at the upper right corner
Spectacles: Circus

• It was a building for horse races and cuadriga competitions.

• It has the cavea, the area and a central element to turn around, the
spina.

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73
Commemorative monuments: Triumphal Arches

• A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of

an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed
to span a road.
• They were usually placed at the main entrance of cities in order to
remember travellers and inhabitants the Greatness and strength of
Roman world.
• At the beginning they were wooden arches where trophies and
richness from wars were shown.
• This habitude changed: Romans built commemorative arches with
inscriptions.
• They were a Roman creation and they succeeded: many of them
have been constructed until the present days.
• Arches were used not only for commemorating Roman victories or
military generals: they also marked limits between provincial
borders.
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 75
The Arch of Constantine, Rome
 76
The Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Commemorative monuments: Columns

• They were columns decorated

with relieves.
• In them some important facts
were related.
• They were built in the honour of a
person.
• The best instance of these works
is the famous Trajan Column at
Rome. It is decorated with a spiral
of relieves dealing with scenes of
his campaigns in Danube and with
inscriptions.

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78
Houses: Insulae

• There are urban houses.

• In order to take advantage from the room in cities, buildings up to
four floors were constructed.
• The ground floor was for shops -tabernae- and the others for
apartments of different sizes.
• Every room was communicated through a central communitarian
patio decorated with flowers or gardens.

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80
81
Houses: Domus

• It was the usual housing for important people in each city.

• It was endowed with a structure based on distribution through porticated
patios:
the entry -fauces- gives access to
a small corridor -vestibulum-.
It leads to a porticated patio -atrium-.
Its center, the impluvium, is a bank for the water falling from the
compluvium.
At both sides -alae- there are many chambers used as rooms for service
slaves, kitchens and latrines.
At the bottom, the tablinum or living-room can be found, and close to it,
the triclinium or dining-room.
This atrium gave also light enough to next rooms.
At both sides of the tablinum, little corridors led to the noble part of the
domus.
Second porticated patio peristylium, was bigger and endowed with a
central garden. 82
It was surrounded by rooms -cubiculum- and marked by an exedra used
as a chamber for banquets or social meetings.
 83

Housing in Pompeii
84
85
Houses: Villa

• Houses far from cities, were

thought for realizing
agricultural exploitations -
villae rustica-, or else as
places for the rest of
important persons -villae
urbana-.
• Entertaining villa was
endowed with every
comfortable element in its
age as well as gardens and
splendid views.
• Country villae got stables,
cellars, stores and orchards
apart from the noble rooms. 86
 87
Villas Floorplan, Romans Villas
88
Palace

• There were the residence of the emperor.

• They consisted of a numerous series of rooms.
• Their plan tended to be regular.

89
• A

A Roman Palace in Dalmatia

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Conclusion

• Roman architecture, then, has provided us with magnificent

structures that have, quite literally, stood the test of time. By
combining a wide range of materials with daring designs, the
Romans were able to push the boundaries of physics and turn
architecture into an art form
• The result was that architecture became an imperial tool to
demonstrate to the word that Rome was culturally superior because
only she had the wealth, skills, and audacity to produce such
edifices. Even more significantly, the Roman use of concrete, brick,
and arches twinned with building designs like the amphitheater and
basilica would immeasurable influences all following western
architecture right up to the present day.

91