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Roman Architecture

Ancient and Classical Architecture

The architecture of the Roman world, which took the Greek orders and joined them to the arch, the vault, the dome and concrete, making possible interior spaces and engineering works Greece never attempted: the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the great baths, aqueducts and basilicas. Roman building set the structural vocabulary Europe drew on for the next fifteen centuries. Its own tradition begins with the founding of the Roman Republic in 509 BC and runs to about the 4th century AD, after which building in the former Roman world is reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture.

Facts
Disputed
Period
to 400 3
Century-level approximation only, no exact year is given: sources place the close around the 4th century AD, after which building in the former Roman world is reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture. The tradition's own beginning, 509 BC, the founding of the Roman Republic, is carried in the entity's prose description rather than forced into a start-year column.
Period
from 509 BCE 1
Origin Region
Italy and the Roman Empire 2
Roman Architecture
Filter Results17 entries
Connections

Associated With

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Roman builders were the first to exploit concrete structurally at scale, which is what let them span and vault spaces the trabeated Greek system could not.

Source Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of ArchitectureBanister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition)
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Source Wikipedia
Additional Source Groin Vault (Wikipedia)

Influenced

Byzantine building practice grew directly out of late Roman construction, keeping Roman concrete and brick technique while developing the dome-on-pendentive system further.

Source Wikipedia

The Carolingian Renaissance consciously revived Roman basilica and centralized-plan forms.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

A deliberate revival, guided by surviving monuments and the text of Vitruvius.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Influenced By

Rome took the Greek orders and joined them to its own structural inventions.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

The arch, the raised temple podium and hydraulic engineering passed from Etruscan to Roman builders.

Notable Examples

Trajans court architect, working on the Pantheon, Trajans Forum, Trajans Column and Trajans Bridge, squarely within the Roman architectural tradition.

Source Apollodorus of Damascus (Wikipedia)
Source Arch of Constantine, Wikipedia
Source Arena of Nimes (Wikipedia)
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Baalbek
Source Wikipedia: Castel Sant'Angelo
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Ephesus
Source Hadrian's Wall - Wikipedia
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Hatra
Source Herculaneum, Wikipedia
Source Horace's Villa (Wikipedia)
Source Jerash - Wikipedia
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna
Source Ostia Antica (Wikipedia)
Source Pliny's Comedy and Tragedy Villas (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Pompeii
Source Pompejanum (Wikipedia)
Source Pont du Gard (Wikipedia)
Source Pula Arena (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Pompeii
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Source Timgad - Wikipedia
Source Trajan's Column, Wikipedia
Source Vitruvius (Wikipedia)
Source Volubilis - Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Sources
1. Ancient Roman architecture (Wikipedia)
  • Lead
    Roman architecture covers the period from the establishment of the Roman Republic in 509 BC to about the 4th century AD, after which it becomes reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture.
  • In Group: Ancient and Classical Styles of Europe, Lead paragraph
    Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style.
View the Source
2. Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
  • britannica.com/art/Western-architecture/Roman-and-early-Christian, Republic and empire passage
    Modern knowledge of Roman architecture derives primarily from extant remains scattered throughout the area of the empire.
  • Notable Examples: Colosseum
  • Notable Examples: The Pantheon
  • Influenced By: Classical Greek Architecture
  • Influenced: Renaissance Architecture
  • Influenced: Neoclassical Architecture
  • Associated With: Arch
  • Associated With: Concrete
View the Source
3. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_architecture, lead paragraph
    Roman architecture covers the period from the establishment of the Roman Republic in 509 BC to about the 4th century AD, after which it becomes reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture.
  • Influenced: Byzantine Architecture
View the Source
Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture
Banister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition), Architectural Press, 1996Associated With: Concrete, General history, Roman construction chapter, on concrete
Wikipedia: Pompeii
Wikipedia
  • Notable Examples: Pompeii, History section, opening sentence
    Although best known for its Roman remains visible today, dating from AD 79, it was built upon a substantial city dating from much earlier times.
  • Notable Examples: Ruins of Pompeii, Article body
    Pompeii is of great interest for the study of Ancient Roman architecture
View the Source
Pompejanum (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Pompejanum, infobox architectural_style field: RomanView the Source
Jerash - Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Jerash, Article body
Quote, Notable Examples: Jerash, Article body
one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Greek and Roman architecture in the world outside Italy
View the Source
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna
UNESCO World Heritage CentreNotable Examples: Leptis Magna, Justification for inscription
Quote, Notable Examples: Leptis Magna, Justification for inscription
The city of Leptis Magna provides a vivid and full picture of life in a Roman provincial city during the early and middle periods of the Roman Empire
View the Source
Pliny's Comedy and Tragedy Villas (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Pliny's Comedy and Tragedy Villas, Lead section
Quote, Notable Examples: Pliny's Comedy and Tragedy Villas, Lead section
In his letter, Pliny wrote that the Tragedy villa was atop a ridge above the lake, but the Comedy villa was right on the water's edge and that "each of them has particular beauties; a diversity which renders them to their master as still more agreeable." According to the letter, Pliny had derived the villas' names from their geographical positions and the conventions of Roman theatre.
View the Source
Horace's Villa (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Horace's Villa, Wikipedia categories
Quote, Notable Examples: Horace's Villa, Wikipedia categories
Category:Roman villas in Italy
View the Source
Groin Vault (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Groin VaultView the Source
Arch of Constantine, Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Arch of Constantine, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Arch of Constantine, Lead
Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch, with overall dimensions of 21 m (69 ft) high, 25.9 m (85 ft) wide and 7.4 m (24 ft) deep.
View the Source
Trajan's Column, Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Trajan's Column, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Trajan's Column, Lead
Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traiana, Latin: Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars.
View the Source
Ostia Antica (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Ostia Antica, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Ostia Antica, Lead
'Ancient Ostia') is the modern name given to the ancient Roman city of Ostia.
View the Source
Herculaneum, Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Herculaneum, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Herculaneum, Lead
Herculaneum is an ancient Roman town located in the modern-day comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy.
View the Source
Timgad - Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Timgad, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Timgad, Lead
Timgad or Thamugadi (colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi in latin, Arabic: تيمقاد, romanized: Tīmqād,) , nicknamed the «Pompeii of north africa» was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria.
View the Source
Volubilis - Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Volubilis, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Volubilis, Lead
Volubilis (Latin pronunciation: [wɔˈɫuːbɪlɪs]; Arabic: وليلي, romanized: walīlī; Berber languages: ⵡⵍⵉⵍⵉ, romanized: wlili) is a partly excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco, situated near the city of Meknes, that may have been the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of King Juba II.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Castel Sant'Angelo
Notable Examples: Castel Sant'Angelo, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Castel Sant'Angelo, Lead
It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family.
View the Source
Arena of Nimes (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationNotable Examples: Arena of Nimes, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Arena of Nimes, Lead
The Arena of Nîmes (French: Arènes de Nîmes; Occitan: Arena de Nimes) is a Roman amphitheatre in Nîmes, Southern France.
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Pula Arena (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationNotable Examples: Pula Arena, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Pula Arena, Lead
The Amphitheatre in Pula (Croatian: Amfiteatar u Puli; Italian: Anfiteatro di Pola), better known as the Pula Arena (Croatian: Pulska Arena; Italian: Arena di Pola), is a Roman amphitheatre located in Pula, Istria, Croatia.
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Hadrian's Wall - Wikipedia
Notable Examples: Hadrian's Wall, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Hadrian's Wall, Lead
Hadrian's Wall is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.
View the Source
Pont du Gard (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationNotable Examples: Pont du Gard, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Pont du Gard, Lead
The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over 50 km (31 mi) to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes).
View the Source
Vitruvius (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Vitruvius, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Vitruvius, Lead
Vitruvius ( vi-TROO-vee-əs; Latin: [wɪˈtruːwi.ʊs]; c.
View the Source
Apollodorus of Damascus (Wikipedia)
Notable Examples: Apollodorus of Damascus, Lead
Quote, Notable Examples: Apollodorus of Damascus, Lead
He is one of the few architects whose name survives from antiquity, and is credited with introducing several Eastern innovations to the Roman Imperial style, such as making the dome a standard.
View the Source
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Baalbek
UNESCO World Heritage CentreNotable Examples: Baalbek, short_description_en
Quote, Notable Examples: Baalbek, short_description_en
Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.
View the Source
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Hatra
UNESCO World Heritage CentreNotable Examples: Hatra, short_description_en
Quote, Notable Examples: Hatra, short_description_en
The remains of the city, especially the temples where Hellenistic and Roman architecture blend with Eastern decorative features, attest to the greatness of its civilization.
View the Source
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Ephesus
UNESCO World Heritage CentreNotable Examples: Ephesus, description_en
Quote, Notable Examples: Ephesus, description_en
The cultural traditions of the Roman Imperial period are reflected in the outstanding representative buildings of the city centre including the Celsus Library, Hadrian’s Temple, the Serapeion and Terrace House 2, with its wall paintings, mosaics and marble panelling showing the style of living of the upper levels of society at that time.
View the Source
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