ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

PROF. SHAHER RABABEH ARCH. RABAB MUHSEN

 Einführung

The Romans built on what they knew from the previous civilizations
(Greek, Hellenistic, Egyptian, Anatolian, Mesopotamian). Direct contact
was initially with the Greeks (Greco-Roman= Classical Architecture).

1. Preceding Influences.

2. Building Materials.

3. Orders.

4. Structural Systems: The Arch, the Vault and the Domes.

5. Types of Buildings:

a. Public Buildings (Fora, Temples, Basilicas, Baths, Theaters,

Libraries, Amphitheaters and Circuses, Triumphal Arches,
Nymphaeum, Aqueducts, Bridges, Roads, and Urban Blueprints).

b. Domestic Architecture
 1. Preceding Influences.

-It seems that Etruscan capabilities in architecture and other arts were
not so advanced at the time of the rise of Rome.

-The Etruscans were in turn influenced by Greek architecture. Roman

architecture was strongly influenced by Greek models. The Romans used
Greek designs in their own public buildings.

-The Hellenism and Hellenistic influences, coming from Greek colonial

cities in the south of the country, and from the eastern Mediterranean,
rapidly became dominant.

-The Romans borrowed philosophy, education, medicine, arts and

architecture from Greece, usually by importing Greek people with this
knowledge and objects (If not they copied the origin).

-Bringing the previous Greek and Hellenistic standards: “Ten Books on

Architecture” by Vitruvius who was the architect of the Emperors.
 Ten Books on Architecture” by Vitruvius

The subjects of Vitruvius Ten Books, using modern terminology, are:

1.Landscape architecture

2.Construction materials

3.Temples (Part 1)

4.Temples (Part 2)

5.Public places: square, meeting hall, theatre, park, gymnasium, harbour

6.Private dwellings

7.Finishes and colours

8.Water supply

9.Sundials and clocks

10.Mechanical engineering
 2. Building Materials:

a. Naturally Occurring Materials:

-Sandstone, limestone (Travertine), marble, volcanic (Tufa as solidified volcanic mud,
Pozzolana as volcanic silica, Granite, Basalt).
-Timber.

b. Manufactured Materials:
-Brick, Glass,

c. Composite materials:
-Concrete: provided the Romans with a means for producing a variety of structures
with strength, flexibility of design, and in certain formulas, provided unique
capabilities.
-Cement: mixing lime and pozzolana forms hydraulic cement.

d. Finishing Materials:
-plaster for walls and ceilings, and paints.
 3. Orders
-Orders are still the same (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) although the Romans
derived the Tuscan and the Composite.

-Focusing was on Corinthian order in Roman Architecture.

Architectural Features and Proportion
on a Temple Façade
4. Structural Systems: The Arch, the Vault and the Domes

-Greek architecture was with an aesthetic interest while Roman was

structural. (Aesthetic vs. structural)

-A reminder of classical principles Trabeation a beam or entablature is

carried on circular columns.

-The most remarkable technical achievements in Roman Architecture are

the invention of concrete and used it in the development of arches,vaults
and domes construction (Arcuated: Mesopotamian NOT Etruscans).

-This combination(concrete +arches) provides greater value for

expression of empire due to the volume of construction. It gives the ability
to span large spaces as an essential element of Roman architecture.

-There was balance in use between post and lintel and arches derivatives
(Arches,Vaults,Domes). Arcuated was used in amphitheaters, theaters,
bridges, aqueducts, circuses, baths, villas, palaces, and domus.
 Form-
work
Corbel

True Arch Corbel

Lower Gymnasium, Priene, c 100 BC
Was it a way to bent-up or curved
entablature??
 EXTRADOS

INTRADOS
Wooden Formwork
 Meridional stresses in a Hoop stresses in a hemispherical
hemispherical dome due to dome due to constant distributed
constant distributed gravity gravity loading
loading

Dome cracking and slump due to

tensile hoop stresses
 Temple of Minerva Medica
showing lattice ribbing 4th C.
Type of Buildings:
a. Public Buildings
1- Forums (Fora)
 Forum (Plazza=Agora)
The forum was the heart of the Roman city, the focus of political,
commercial, administrative and social activity, the religious and cultural
center, and the seat of justice. Fora were common in all Roman cities.

Roman
Fora
Exedra

Exedra
 Roman Fora
1] Temple of Vesta: 2] Regia, residence of pontifex maximus, formerly home of the
kings: 3] Rostra (speakers’ platform): 4] Curia (senate house): 5] Temple of Julius
Caesar: 6] Temple of Castor and Pollux (rebuilt by Augustus): 7] Basilica Julia (built by
Julius Caesar as an exchange and for judicial tribunals): 8] Temple of Jupiter on the
Capitoline Hill: 9] Temple of Juno Moneta: 10] Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus: 11]
Forum.
 2- Roman Temples:

-Were among the most important buildings in Roman culture.

-Roman temples have been strongly influenced by Greek temples style.

-The Temples had columns and friezes just like the Greek's Temples.

-The frieze was a piece of artwork showing Roman life.

-The Roman temples were
located in important positions
such as at one side of the
forum
or along a major road.

-The temples were rectangle in

plan. There were also circular
plans, generally with columns all
Round:
(monopteros and Peripteros).
• Roman Temples had a gabled roof (pediment).

• A deep porch (portico) with freestanding columns (Prostyle).

• The distance between Temple columns were proportional to the diameter

of the column (Intercolumniation).

• A frontal staircase (Frontality) giving access to a high platform (Podium).

The sides and rear of the building had much less architectural emphasis,
and typically no
entrances.

The Maison Carree Temple at

Nimes, France16 BC.
The Maison Carree Temple at Nimes, France (16 BC).

11<2x6+1…..Proportion
The Temple of Portunus

Plan of a Typical Roman

Temple (pseudo-peripteral,
Trtrastyle of Ionic))
1. Podium (or base).
2. Engaged column.
3. Freestanding column.
4. Entrance steps.
5. Porch.
6. Cella.

7<2x4+1
Temple of Vesta
Pseudo-peripteros
The Temple of Hercules Victor, in the Forum Boarium in Rome; (the
entablature is lost and the roof later). Peripteros
The Roman Temple

The temples had

columns and friezes just
like the Greek's temples.

The frieze was a piece of

artwork showing Roman
life.

However,

Temples were stood on high podium, wide front steps in the midst of front
part of podium and prostylos columns in front of cella. Their design, says
Vitruvius, depends upon symmetry and proportion, each component in exact
relation to the whole.
 The Pantheon (AD 118-128)
-The Pantheon is the first temple to combine concrete construction.
-The use of Greek Corinthian orders (black and red Egyptian granite) .
-The building is circular (Tholos) with a portico of three ranks of huge granite
Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind).
-A pediment opening into the rotunda (Octastyle Prostyle).
-A coffered technique for the concrete dome.
-A central opening (Oculus), the Great Eye, open to the sky
 Le Corbusier
Modular

The Sacred Geometry

-A temple to all the gods.

-The height to the oculus

and the diameter of the
interior circle are the same
(43 m, or 142 feet 6 inches).

-The whole interior would fit

exactly within a cube
(alternatively, the interior
could house a sphere 43 m
in diameter).

-The dome is the largest

surviving from antiquity and
was the largest dome in
western Europe (until
Brunelleschi's dome of the
Duomo of Florence was
completed in 1436).

-It was covered with gilded

bronze plates.
Coffers:
Two way Waffel
oculus
Baalbeck Temple: Jupiter
Baalbeck Temple: Jupiter
Reconstruction
 3- The Roman basilica

- Was a fundamental element of a Roman forum.

- A large roofed rectangular hall.

- It was used as a public building, much like the Greek Stoa.

- It also served as a meeting hall for administration, as a law court, a

marketplace, and for transacting business and disposing of legal matters.

- Usually contained interior colonnades that divided the space(Hypostyle),

giving aisles (Projections) or arcaded spaces at one or both sides.

- An apse at one end (or less often at each end), where the magistrates sat,
often on a slightly raised dais.

- The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles
so that light could penetrate through the clerestory windows.

- Basilical architecture is deeply rooted in the Roman’s aesthetic sense of form,

beauty, and harmony.
 Markets of Trajan
Apollodorus of Damascus
the markets were a commercial center of about 150 shops and offices,
Basilica of Maxentius
and Constantine,
Nova.(308-313 AD)
Buttressing arches
Buttressing arches
 4- Baths
Baths (Thermae) for bathing and relaxing were a common feature of Roman
cities throughout the empire.

Were often located near the forum, wealthy citizens often had their own private
baths constructed as a part of their villa.

Many Romans visit the or the public baths.

They went to the baths for entertainment, healing in the case of some baths,
or just to get clean.

The bath house had many different rooms each with it's own special use
these included:

Tepidarium: this was a warm room with a warm pool.

Caladarium: this was a very hot room and would not only be hot but it would be
steamy as well, like a modern day Turkish bath.

Frigidarium: the main function of this was to close the pores after you where
sweating in the hot rooms.
Hypocaust system
was used for heating the building and the
pools. This underfloor heating system had
hot air heated from the basement fires
(prafurniae) flowing between the brick or
concrete columns which support the ground
floor.
Baths of Trajan, 104 AD

-The architect of the

complex is Apollodorus
of Damascus.
Baths of Trajan104 AD
- Was the second
largest Roman public
baths, built between
AD 212.

The floor plan of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome

Completed in c. 212 AD.
Buttressing arches
 5- Theaters, Amphitheaters and Circus
Theaters:
-Theater was very important in the lives of the Romans.

-Prior to 55 BCE, we have no evidence for a permanent theater in Rome.

-Derived from of earlier Greek theatres. However, Roman theaters have

specific differences:
1-Were typically constructed in large, open, public areas.
2-Were built upon their own foundations instead of earthen works or a hillside and being
completely enclosed on all sides.
3-The orchestra was half circle in plan.

-The problems of sound and light, which the Greeks had solved by
performing outdoors, and building a place with semi-circular tiered seating
today in Rome.

-Theatres were semicircular in form. However, while the Greek built their
theatres in natural amphitheaters, Romans tended to construct artificial
walls and terraces.
Interior view of the Roman theatre of Bosra, Syria:
1)Scaenae frons: front wall of the scaena

2) Columnatio: Portico

3) Proscaenium

4) Pulpitum:The actual stage.

5) Orchestra

6) Cavea

7) Aditus maximus

8) Vomitoria

9) Praecinctio

10) Tribunal

11) Basilica
Amphitheaters:

-Wooden amphitheaters built in the Forum Romanum for gladiatorial

games from the 2nd c. BC onwards(the origin of the architectural form later
expressed in stone).

- Amphitheaters are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with

raised seating "theatre all around".

-They were used for events such as gladiator combats, wild animal fights
and executions.

-Consist of three main parts: the cavea, the arena and the vomitorium.

-They featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were elaborately

decorated with marble and stucco cladding, statues and reliefs, or even
partially made of marble.
 The Flavian Amphitheater: The Colosseum (80 AD)
-Facade was limestone, brick and concrete with marble facing; 3 orders
superimposed (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian).

-Structure: barrel vaults radiate from elliptical center, weight carried on

travertine piers and vaults, marble only lower tiers, wood higher up.

-The Colosseum measures 48 m high, 188 m long, and 156 m wide ( an

iconic symbol of Rome).

-Capable of seating 50,000 spectators with 80 entrances at ground level.

Cross vault system
was used.
The Circus (Hippodrome)
-was a large U-shaped structure with a closed end. The same type of
structure in Greece.
-Was a stadium-like structure used for horse racing and chariot racing.
-One end of the hippodrome was semicircular, and the other end square.
-An extensive portico, in front of which, at a lower level, were the stalls for
the horses and chariots.
-At both ends of the hippodrome there were posts (termai) that the chariots
turned around. This was the most dangerous part of the track.
The Circus Maximus was the largest stadium in Rome. Accommodated at least 150,000-
250,000 spectators
 Trajan did the stone construction, three
stories high.
an obelisk to commemorate
his conquest of Egypt

an arch celebrating the triumph

over Judaea by Vespasian and Titus.
 6-The Aqueducts, Bridges, and Roads

The Romans knew the remarkable civil engineering works: impressive

Aqueducts, Bridges and Roads.

Aqueducts: were the channels by which water was brought to towns and cities.

Pont du Gard in France, Nimes; (late B.C.1c. about B.C.20) is one of the
famous one which preserve original style of Augustus era. Now the bridge
exists about 300m long, 49m above of the river. The bottom arches, which
spans are 15.75m to 21.5m,
Are about 155m long, 20m high.
 EXTRADOS

INTRADOS
Bridges:

-The Romans built large and magnificent stone bridges.

-The first stone bridges used stone blocks held together with iron clamps.

-It connected or spanned two parts. The Romans developed materials and
techniques that revolutionized bridge and aqueducts’ construction.

-By the mid-2nd century BCE, Romans made extensive use of concrete:
bridges were often constructed with a concrete core and a stone-block facing.

The Roman bridge Pont Julien in

southern France is a three arched
bridge built in 3 BCE over the
Calavon river on the Via Domitia, an
important Roman road that
connected Italy and Spain through
the Roman province of Gallia
Narbonensis.
Roads:
The Romans had an extended road
network stretching from northern
England to southern Egypt, with a
total length of no less than 120,000
km (74,565 miles) during the Empire.

Roman roads were made for travel,

trade, and to maintain control over
the Empire’s vast territories.

The Via Appia near the Villa dei

Quintili at mile V (Rome).
 Road Specifications

Roman roads were built by first setting the curb stones, digging a long pit
between them that was the entire width of the road, and then covering it with
rocks or gravel.

The layer of gravel was compacted and a layer of finer gravel was added.

The road was then paved with large polygonal rock slabs. Because of the
layer of gravel below, Roman roads were able to resist freezing and floods and
required relatively little maintenance.

Furthermore, the road surface had slight inclinations, so that rainwater could
flow to the curbs on either side.

Milestones were also placed along the road at intervals of one mile. They were
1.5 m high heavy columns which indicated the number of the mile, the distance
to Rome, and names of the officials who built the road.
Roman road consists of three
layers:
•A bottom foundation layer, often of
stone
•A middle layer of softer material such
as sand or gravel
•A surface, or "metalling," usually a
gravel, but sometimes paving stones.
The upper layers of the road are
always laid carefully, "of finer material
well-rammed down" possibly in
several, successive layers.
The road surface itself consists of
layers of finer material with a total
thickness of between 2-3in (5-7.5cm)
and 1-2ft (30-60cm). Additional layers
are added by re-surfacings.

•The total depth of a road, from

surface to the bottom of the base,
could reach 1 to 1.5 meters steeply
sloped to each side from the center.
•Most roads were defined by curb
stones on each side.
 6- 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.

In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists

of two massive piers connected by an arch,
crowned with a flat entablature or attic on
which a statue might be mounted or which
bears commemorative inscriptions.

The main structure is often decorated

with carvings, sculpted reliefs, and
dedications. More elaborate triumphal
arches may have multiple archways.

Triumphal arches are one of the most

influential and distinctive types of
architecture associated with ancient
Rome. The Arch of Titus,
Rome 81 AD ( Rabirius the Architect)
The Arch of Titus,
Rome 81 AD
A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental archway, usually
built to celebrate a victory in war. (Extroverted vs Introverted architecture).

The Arch of Constantine, Rome, to The Arch of Septimius Severus,

commemorate victory over Maxentius in AD 312. northwest end of the Roman Forum dedicated
in 203 AD to commemorate victories over the
Parthians.
The Arch of
Constantine
7- Urban Planning
 Roman city plan

-Contrary to the way of orchestrating large spaces with grids, Rome Plan as
a capital has no primary focal point, different central gathering place, and no
organizing streets. Sprawling

-The 'Hippodamian' gridded cities remained a widespread feature of the

Greco-Roman world.

-The two primary streets were the Cardo maximus (usually orientated North-
South) and the Decumanus maximus (usually orientated East-West) which
would intersect in the center of the town and form the principal road system.

-Public Buildings in the city are: (Fora, Temples, Basilicas, Baths, Theaters,
Amphitheaters and Circuses, Triumphal Arches, Nymphaeum,Libraries,
Aqueducts, Bridges, Roads, City Wall).
 Nymphaeum
a building or room containing a fountain, adorned with
plants and sculpture, and serving as a place of rest.
 astrological interpretation to represent an empire of astral
divinity and performative interpretation to represent an
empire of imperial power.

The colonnaded streets as appeared

in the Roman East cities of
Antioch, Palmyra, Gerasa, and
Petra,
Assos agora with its double-storey Doric order and a temple built in the 2nd century (left)
compared with the first Forum Romanum that formed similar architectural forms and
spatial alignment but with different functions (right).
Colonial Cities and Arabian Provinces
Timgad- Algeria: Basic Plan of a Roman City (Trajan Colony) .

1- Decumanus
2- Cardo
3- Forum
4- Basilica
5- Theater
Insulae
6- Library
7- East Bath
8- South Baths
Colonnaded streets within the Roman cityscape:
a “spatial” perspective

colonial cities and Arabian provinces

 Gerasa is a case in a point
It is the best Well-preserved city in the world

Also all the Decapolis Cities

Philadelphia, Pella, Gadara, Capitolias, Abila, Schythopolis,

Hippos,, Damascuss, Canatha, Petra, Palmyra, Bosra,
Baalbek.
GERASA
From Temple of Zeus and South Theater: Looking North
Hadrian Gate
Shops under Circus Seatings
Stepped Arches
South Gate
Forum: Plazza
Wrong Reconstruction
South Tetrapylon (Tetrakenyon)
South Tetrabylon
Cardo: Looking North
Nymphaeum
Nymphaeum
Nymphaeum
North Tetrapylon
 Gerasa:
North Tetrapylon
North Theatre (Odeion) North Theatre (Odeion)
North Decumanus

North
Tetrapylon

North Decumanus
Gerasa: North Gate
Gerasa Capitals
 Arcuate
Architecture in
Gerasa:

-Arches
-Flat Arches
-Vaults
-Domes
(Pendetive
Domes)
Pendetive Dome
Circle on Square

Finite structural model of Nuweijis Dome and Jerash

Dome showing the three structural elements: vaults,
pendentives and domes.
b.Domestic Architecture
Atruim and Peristyle House:
The peristyle of house had different-
purposed small windowless rooms
surrounding a large reception room
called an atrium. The atrium would
be brilliantly colored with wall
hangings, paintings, and floor tiles
Atrium (Hall), cubiculum (Bed room), culina (Kitchen), exedra (Garden Room), peristylium
(Colonnaded garden), taberna (Shop), tablinum (Office), triclinium (Dinning room),
vestibulum (Entrance Hall).
 Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli

The footings (and plans) of the Villa’s walls show:

-endless iterations of circles and squares.

-Hadrian celebrated the geometries of Classical Greek Form.

-He gave special attention to domed ceilings.

- Contrary to the Roman way of orchestrating large spaces with grids,

Hadrian’s Villa – in essence his imperial City — has no primary focal point,
no central gathering place, and no organizing streets.

-The Villa’s chains of structures sprawl every which way across Tivoli’s
rolling lowlands; the buildings all positioned in deference to the lay of the
land, and subservient to the angles of the sun, and to the paths of
prevailing winds.
Hadrian's Villa Master Plan
Hadrian's Villa: Reconstructed Model
DHVP
Hadrian's Villa Master Plan
 Hadrian's Villa:
Reconstructed Views
Recreation of
PECILE
Long
covered
walkways
(daily walk)
and
chambers
(100)
3D Rendering of the Triple
Exedra Complex.
3D Rendering of the Small
Baths
Small Baths, Cutaway Drawing.
3D Rendering of the Vestibule.
3D Rendering of the Canopus.
3D Rendering of the front of
the Serapeum.
Large Baths
3D Rendering of the Stadium
Garden
3D Rendering of Building with
Fish Pond
Recreation of
the Building
With Doric
Pillars
Recreation of
the Piazzo
D’Oro
3D Rendering of the Maritime Theater.
the Maritime Theater.
Recreation of the
Maritime Theater
Basilica of Maxentius
and Constantine,
Nova.(308-313 AD)
Buttressing arches
 Greco-Roman (classical)
Architecture has continued
to inspire
architectural design and styles
throughout the ages.
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Abraham Lincoln Memorial
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
California State Capitol, Sacramento
British Museum, London
Pantheon, Paris
Arc De Triomphe, Paris
Altare della Patria, Rome
Old Penn Station- New York
1910-1963
JUST Master Plan
Kenzo Tang