History of Architecture 01

Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization

to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE Historical and Social

• Rome on its legendary foundation was
Influences under Etruscan domination and ruled by
Etruscan Kings
Geographical • When Etruscan supremacy began to decline
• Italy is in the central position in the and fall by the end of 6th century BC, a
Mediterranean Sea which enables Rome to constitutional republic and civil service
act as an intermediary in spreading art and Rome was declared and developed
civilization over Europe, Western Asia and • The Romans began to conquer peoples
North Africa outside Italy. The prolonged and often
• Romans extended their powers not in desperate wars had a deleterious effect on
colonization but on conquest the Roman personality and on
constitutional government
• The social life of the Romans is clearly
revealed in their architecture
• Romans developed their capacity as
lawmakers
• Women were held in high respect

Religious
• Since Romans were originally a mixed
people, their polytheistic religion was the
fusion of several cults, but owed most to
the Etruscans who involved a scrupulous
attention to ritual, to conformity, and to the
will of the gods in a fatalistic acceptance to
Geological their domination
• Stone and marble • Since Romans were originally a mixed
– the chief and almost the only building people, their polytheistic religion was the
material fusion of several cults, but owed most to
• White and colored marbles the Etruscans who involved a scrupulous
– imported from all parts of the Empire to attention to ritual, to conformity, and to the
special wharves on the Tiber will of the gods in a fatalistic acceptance to
• Concrete their domination
– the building material which led to great
structural innovations Architectural Character
– Formed of stone or brick rubble and a
mortar (Etruscan Architecture)
– Pozzolana – the most important Etruscans
ingredient; a volcanic earth found in thick • were the early inhabitants of west-central
strata in and around Rome and in the Italy
region of Naples • great builders and their methods were
taken over by the Romans
Climatic • made regular advances in the organization
• Central Italy: genial and sunny of large scale undertakings, such as the
• South : almost tropical construction of city walls and sewers, the
draining of marshes and the control of
* These variety of climatic conditions is rivers, and the cutting of channels to
sufficient to account for diversity of regulate the water level of lakes
architectural features and treatment in the • Credited with the earliest use of the true
peninsula itself while the differing climates of and radiating arch and with the invention of
the various roman provinces produced local a new order of architecture called the
modifications in details Tuscan (a simplified version of the Doric
Order, about 7 diameters high)

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 History of Architecture 01
Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• With base, unfluted shaft, and simply, which admitted light through a vertical
moulded capital, and with a plain shaft, a doorway leads to a smaller, inner
entablature chamber at a lower level.

Etruscan Sarcophagi
• both ordinary burial, and cremation were
practiced in Etruria.
• The
receptacles
grew
increasingly
large, until in
the 4th
century B.C.
• large numbers of sarcophagi were made
of stone, alabaster end terracotta
Building Examples:
Necropolis Cerveteri
• one of the most remarkable burial sites
1. Tombs
• tombs are laid out systematically along
• existed in great numbers and were
paved streets, like a town for the living.
located outside the city walls
• taken the form of great conical tumuli,
with stone burial chambers concealed
within their earthen mounds.
• the majority were underground, cut in the
soft tufa rock and stimulating of interior
of the contemporary house.

Example:

Etruscan Tomb - rock-cut tombs at Etruscan

Tarquinia, near the present Corneto, Italy.

2. Dwelling
• "Atrium“ - type of Etruscan house
• were of sun-dried brick, covered with
terra-cotta-tiled wooden roofs
• with columns sheathed with terra-cotta
walls and of stone throughout

• Some twenty three are especially

renowned for their vivid wall-paintings,
which retain a remarkable freshness.
• the entrance leads to an outer chamber,
with a rock roof carved in imitation of
rafters sloping up to a central opening

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 History of Architecture 01
Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

Arch of Augustus, Perugia

• built of large blocks of travertine stones,
without mortar
• Also called as Augustus Gate; is one of eight
gates in the Etruscan wall of Perusia, known
today as Perugia. It was constructed in the
second half of the 3rd century BC and was
restored by Augustus in 40 BC after his
victory in the Perusine War.

Parts:
1 – fauces (entrance passage)
2 – tabernae (shops)
3 – atrium (hall)
4 – impluvium (rainwater basin) Temple of Juno Sospita, Lanuvium
5 – tablinum (passage room) • the plan has three cells for three deities
6 – hortus (garden) and a front portico with two rows of four
7 – triclinium (dining room) columns, widely spaced and approached
8 – alae (side rooms) by walled-in steps.
9 – cubiculum (bedroom)

3. Temples
• usually stood on podiums or high platforms
• were invariably frontal, and usually faced
south

Architectural Character
*Podium - a continuous pedestal, also the
(Roman Architecture)
enclosing platform of the arena of an
Romans
amphitheater.
• adopted the columnar and trabeated style
of the Greeks
4. Others:
• developed also the arch and the vault from
the beginnings made by the Etruscans
Cloaca Maxima, Rome
• this combined use of column, beam and
• Constructed as an open drain for the valleys
arch is the keynote of the Roman style in its
between the hills of Rome
earliest stages
• In the colosseum, piers strengthen and
faced by attached half columns support
arches, which in their turn carry the
entablature.

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 History of Architecture 01
Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• The practical mind of the Romans hit

upon greater economy of materials by the
use of concrete, a hard composition
which consists of small fragments of
stone, such as tufa of its various kinds,
peperino or travertine, or broken bricks,
laid in an excellent mortar of lime and
well-selected sand or pozzolana. These
concreting was done by skilled craftsman
with the help of slaves or soldiers of the
• In the aqueducts, the arch was supported Roman legions.
on piers without the facing column
• the orders of architecture were used by * Roman walls, both of Stone and concrete,
Romans as decorative features which are of special character.
could be omitted (Greeks used it
constructively) Opus Quadratum
• is an ancient Roman construction
technique, in which squared blocks of
stone of the same height were set in
parallel courses, most often without the
use of mortar
• rectangular blocks of stone with or
without mortar joints but frequently
secured with dowels or cramps
• used stones 2 x 2 x 4 Roman feet in
dimensions
• Romans added the fifth order of
Architecture: Composite order
• evolved during the first Century A.D.
• combines the prominent volutes of the
Ionic with the acanthus of the Corinthian
on its capital and is thus the most
decorative order
• the shaft may be fluted or plain

Opus incertum
• Ancient
Roman
masonry
using
irregular
stones in a
core of concrete
• The complex civilization and varied needs • stones became quite small, and on the
of the Romans introduced other types of wall faces appeared in a loose pattern
buidings and necessitated the use of roughly resembling the polygonal work
several storeys, which were frequently
ornamented, as in the Colosseum, by Opus reticulatum
attached half columns superimposed one • Roman
above the other. masonry in
• The architectural aims of the Romans diamond-
were essentially Utilitarian, and Thermae, shaped bricks
amphitheatres basilicas, aqueducts and of tuff,
bridges all testify to the great covering a
constructive ability they possessed. core of opus caementicium

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Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• at the time of Augustus it had assumed to complicated plan forms without involving
the net-like effect, with fine joints runnin difficult and laborious stone cutting.
diagonally, so that each stone unit was • The vaults were supported on "Centering"
precisely square though set in lozenge or temporary wooden framework until the
fashion concrete has set. In important cases, such
vaults were constructed of brick ribs, with
Opus Latericium concrete filling, the object being to lighten
• also called the load imposed on the centering and to
opus guard against cracks.
testaceum
• was a
construction
technique using bricks, first used in the
first century BCE
• was the dominant construction technique
throughout the imperial period.
• Many of the large imperial structures,
such as the imperial baths of Rome, were
built in opus latericium.

Opus mixtum
• an application of a mixture of opus
reticulatum and opus latericium, using • Concrete - a composite material which
alternating horizontal bands of opus consists essentially of binding medium
reticulatum and opus latericium. within which are embedded particles or
Sometimes vertical bands of opus fragments of aggregate.
latericium would be inserted as well, so • Vault - an arch covering in stone or brick
the wall had isolated squares of opus over any building.
reticulatum.
• The purpose of opus mixtum was to avoid The various vaults used in Roman buildings
cracks. Walls in opus reticulatum had a were as follows:
tendency to make cracks diagonally, but • ROMAN
by inserting horizontal bands of opus WAGGON VAULT
latericium the structural damage caused – semi-circular or
by cracks was much reduced. The use waggon-headed
of opus mixtum made huge structures vault
more earthquake resistant. – Otherwise
known as the
BARREL or
TUNNEL vault
– borne
throughout its
length on the
two parallel
walls of a
rectangular apartment.
• The Romans developed the stone arch of
the Etruscans and already before the end of • ROMAN WAGGON VAULT WITH
the Republic could bridge a span of 24.38 m INTERSECTING VAULT
(80 ft.) but it was, above all, the use of Groins - are line of
concrete which allowed the Romans to intersection of cross
build vaults of a magnitude never equaled vaults
till the introduction of steel for buildings in
the nineteenth century. • CROSS VAULT
• Concrete vaults had the advantage over – formed by the
stone in that they could be accommodated intersection of

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Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

two semi-circular vaults of equal span, Hemicycle or Niche

was used over a square apartment and – the best of all buttresses for retaining
the pressure was taken by the four angles earth.
– was used on an enormous scale in the
*when cross-vaults were used over long halls or forum of Trajan, on the North East side
corridors, the hall was divided by piers into – not very suitable for buildings where large
square bays, each of which was covered with a openings for windows and doors were
cross-vault, which allowed of the insertion of needed
windows in the upper part of the walls, as in the
central hall of the Thermae of Caracalla

Ordinary or Gothic type of Spur buttress - used

for convenience in normal buildings
Pinnacle
• were placed on the tops of spur
buttresses to help by their weight to drive
the oblique thrusts more steeply down to
earth.
 HEMISPHERICAL DOMES or CUPOLAS
• their mundane purpose is disguised by
– were used over circular structures, and
architectural ornament in this instance by
semi-domes for exedrae or semicircular
canopied sculptures. In buildings of which
recesses
the walls were not too much broken up
– in these vaulting forms, concrete was the
by window or other openings, the same
important factor for it was economical of
principle was applied, but the extra load
skilled labor and had much greater
then ran continuously long the top of the
cohesion than .vaults made up of
wall outside the base of the vault, as an
separate stone units.
abutment, to reduce the danger of it
collapsing outwards.

– Yet it remained necessary to buttress the

oblique sideways thrusts exerted against
the walls by the enormously heavy
concrete vaults which at the crown were
either 4 to 8 ft. thick. • Concrete vaults often were lightened by
– In complex buildings, the thrusts of one recesses or coffers on the underside, but
vault were balanced against those of concrete does not lend itself to carved
another. The Romans concealed their enrichment, like stonework, and walls and
buttresses with a masking wall vaults normally received a decorative
sheathing of plaster, stucco, marble or
* Buttress - a mass of masonry built against a mosaic.
wall to resist the· pressure of an arch or vault. • Various plasters of lime and sand were
used outside, and plaster or stucco
Principal types of buttresses used: within. The latter was of marble dust and
1. The hemicycle or niche, lime, and frequently was modeled into
2. The ordinary or Gothic type of Spur shallow, geometrical patterns, the panels
buttress thus created being ornamented with low
3. Pinnacle relief figures and foliage, and painted in

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Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

attractive colors. In such cases, the stucco irregular in shape, but when towns were
was as much as 7.6 cm (3") thickness. newly founded or for some reason partially
• Marble was rarely used solidly throughout rebuilt, the forums were laid out
a wall; and only the white was so systematically on formal lines.
employed, never the coloured.
• Normally it was just a facing, up to 30.5 Examples:
cm (1 foot) or so thick when the marble
was the native Luna from carrara, but in Forum Romanum
mere veneers down 1.21 cm (1/2") thick
in the case of coloured marbles.
• Porphyry, marble, jasper organized
veneers were laid against a stucco
backing and secured to the walls by iron
or bronze cramps.

Coffering – a ceiling with deeply recessed

panels often highly ornamented.
– arranged in geometrical patterns of Imperial Forums
different varieties and were used in this
manner too for floors.

Forum of Trajan

Mosaics - Made up of
marble
– were employed
to some extent
for walls and
vaults,
– for floors, it was
used in an infinite 2. RECTANGULAR TEMPLES
variety of geometrical and pictorial • Roman temples are an amalgamation of
patterns. Etruscan and Greek types
• the typical prostyle portico and podium
were derived from Etruscan Temples.
• The most characteristic is pseudo-
peripteral, which, instead of side
colonnades, has half columns attached to
the walls with a prostyle portico in front.
The steps to the principal entrance were
flanked by massive, low walls which were
BUILDING EXAMPLES an extension of the lateral podium and they
frequently supported groups of statuary.
1. FORUMS • Most rectangular temples were simple
 corresponding to the agora in a Greek city structures compared with buildings erected
 was a central open space used as meeting- for public relaxation.
place, market, or rendezvous for political • Temples were quite clearly an evidence of
demonstrations. Roman ability to cover large spaces without
 in towns which had grown from small the aid of intermediate supports.
beginnings, forums were often somewhat

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Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

– Spans of 15.2 m or 18.3 m (50-00 ft.) Maison Carree Nimes-best preserved

were common. Normally, the roofs
were of trussed timbers, like the
Basilicas, and probably were elaborately
coffered with wooden paneling on the
underside.
• Some few temples were vaulted.
• Roman Temples sometimes were partially
or wholly isolated in precincts.
• Most were intended to be seen from the
Roman Temple- corinthian order
forum which they faced and the entrance
were emphasized by the deep portico and
steps.
• There was no attempt at orientation, as in
the Greek Temples which regularly faced
east or the Etruscan-south.

Examples of Temple

Temple of Fortuna, Virilis, Rome Temple of Diana, Nimes

Temple of Mars, Ultor, Rome

Temple of Vespasian, Rome

Temple of Concord, Rome

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

Temple of Castor and Pollux, Rome

Temple of Saturn, Rome

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Temple of Jupiter Baalbek (Heliopolis)

Temple of Vesta, Rome

– was the most sacred shrine in the Forum
(remaining 6 columns) Romanum,
Temple of Bacchus – In here, under the custody of the vestal
virgins the sacred fire was kept, this light
signified the home hearth as the centre
and source of Roman life and power.

4. Basilicas
• were halls of Justice and Commercial
exchanges
• indicate clearly, by their central position the
3. Circular and Polygonal Temples importance of law and business in old Rome
• these buildings, which are of a pronounced
Examples: type, are a link between classic and
Christian architecture.
Temple of Vesta, Rome • The usual plan of a basilica was a rectangle
twice as long as its width
• Either two or four rows of columns forming
a Nave and two or four aisles ran the whole
length, and there were sometimes galleries
over the aisles.
• So that the windows might be placed in the
upper walls between the two levels.

Temple of Vesta, Tivoli

• The entrance was either at the side or at

one end.
Temple of Portunus, Rome • The Tribunal, opposite the entrance, was on
a raised dais generally in a semi-circular
apse, and sometimes separated from the
main building by a screen of columns or by
a low balustrade.
• Ranged round the apse where seats for the
assessors with a raised seat in the centre for
the praetor and in front was the altar where
Pantheon, Rome
the sacrifice was offered before transacting
business.
• The roof was generally of wood, which the
Roman knowledge of the principles of the
roof truss permitted them to use over large
spaces, when required.

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Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• Basilicas usually presented a simple and • were not only designed for luxurious
unadorned exterior; they were sometimes bathing, but were resorted to for news and
without walls at the side. gossip, and served like a modem club as
rendezvous of social life besides being used
Dais – a raised platform. for lectures and athletic sports, and indeed
entered largely into the daily life of the
Imperial city.
• a small entrance fee was charged.
• Were under the management of the
aediles.
• There were also Balneatores to take the
entrance money, and janitors to guard the
doors, with a staff of attendants, including
anointers, manicurists, barbers,
Nave – central aisle as opposed to side aisles of shampooers, besides stokers, lamplighters,
a church. and hundred of slaves to make the process
of bathing a luxurious relaxation.

Apse – the circular or multi-angular termination

of a church sanctuary. • The thermae were generally raised on a
high platform within an enclosing wall and
underneath were the furnaces and rooms
connected with the service of the
establishment, which usually consisted of
three main parts.
a. a main building
b. large open space
c. outer ring of apartments

main building
– Has a dominant central hall, about which
all other rooms were symmetrically
arranged. Having on its cross axis the
5. THERMAE three chief apartments of the whole
• Palatial public baths of Imperial Rome Thermae:
• portray even in their ruin, the manners and – a. The Tepidarium-or warm room.
customs of the pleasure-loving populace, – b. Frigidarium-containing an unheated
and are as characteristic of Roman swimming bath.
civilization as are the amphitheaters.

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to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

– c. Laconicum (Sudatorium) or dry 6. THEATRES

sweating room with apodyteria or • often adapted from the Greek to suit the
dressing room and unctuaria or for oils. Roman drama, and for this the auditorium,
large open space with its tiers of seats one above the other,
– this was a park-like enclosure surrounding was restricted to a semi-circle.
the central structure, planted with trees • The central area at the ground level,
and ornamented with statues and became part of the auditorium and was
fountains. assigned to senators and other dignitaries.
– part of it was used as a stadium, for foot
racing with raised seats at the side for
spectators.
an outer ring of apartments
– these included lecture rooms and exedrae
for philosophers, poets, statesman
– with colonnades, a feature of all open
spaces in Rome served as protection from
the sun
– a large reservoir fed by a special aqueduct • The stage increased in importance and was
supplied all the water needed for the bath raised and brought into immediate
apartments, fountain and miscellaneous connection with the auditorium.
purposes. • Roman theatres were not only hollowed out
of a hill-side but they were also built up by
Example: means of concrete vaulting, supporting tiers
of seats, under which were the connecting
THERMAE OF CARACALLA corridors used for retreat in case of sudden
showers.

7. AMPHITHEATRES
• are characteristically Roman buildings
found in every important settlement and
are good exponents of the character and
life of the Romans, who preferred displays
of mortal combats, considered to be good
training for a nation of warriors
• Gladiatorial combats had their origin in
funeral religious rites connected with
human sacrifices to the names of the dead.
• The elliptical amphitheatre, with its rising
tiers of seats, may be regarded as a
compound of two theatres, stage to stage,
thus making a continuous auditorium round
Parts:
a central arena.
1. Ante Rooms
• In addition to their normal purposes, they
2. Apodvteria and staircases
were also used for naval exhibitions, and
3. Entrance Halls
water-pipes for flooding in some of the
4. Open Peristyles
arenas still exist.
5. Sudatorium
6. Tepidarium
Arena – Latin word meaning sand or beach, was
7. Suites of Bathrooms
so called because of the sand with which it was
8. Entrances
strewn to absorb the blood of the combatants.
9. Main Entrance up one Tier
10. Two storey small bath and shops
Example:
11. Lecture halls and Libraries
12. Ephebeum (Gymnasium)
Colosseum, Rome
• a vast ellipse 189 x 156.5 m with eighty
external arcaded openings on each

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storey, those on the ground floor forming • Chariot racing was enormously popular, and
entrances from which the various tiers of vast sums were spent upon the training and
seats were reached. selection of men and horses

• The arena proper is an oval 87.47 m x Circus Maximus, Rome

54.86 m surrounded by a wall 4.57 m
high, behind which was the podium, with • Famous charioteers were the idols of the
the Imperial throne and seats for the day and though risking life and limb, reaped
officers of the state. rich rewards.
• Behind the podium rose the auditorium • Four-horse chariots were usual, but up to
seats for some 50,000 spectators, with ten horses are also used. The teams
corridors and stairs beneath, while dens compete with each other. Heavy betting
for the wild beasts were under the lowest gave intensity to the popular interest.
tier, on a level with the arena.

The component parts of the concrete vary:

 lava was used for solid foundations
 tufa and brick for the supporting walls
 Pumice stone for the vaults to reduce
their weight
 travertine blocks, set without mortar 9. TOMBS
and held together with metal cramps, • The Roman practiced both forms of burial,
were used in the facade. cremation and interment, and thus
 marble was employed for the columns, sarcophagi for the ashes are sometimes
seats, and ornament. found in the same tomb chamber.
• During the first three centuries of the
• The external facade, 48 m high is divided Christian era, the body of nearly every
into four storeys: . emperor was burnt on a magnificent pyre,
• the lower are pierced with arches and have from which an eagle was released to
attached three-quarter columns of quasi symbolize his escaping soul.
Doric order for first storey. • In the second century, when cremation
• quasi Ionic order for second storey. became less usual, wealthy citizens were
• quasi corinthian order for the third storey. embalmed on their death and played in
• corinthian pilasters with corbels between to massive and costly sarcophagi.
support the masts of the velarium • Roman law forbade burial inside city
• which was drawn across the auditorium for confined arid tombs lined the main roads
the top storeys. radiating from the town gates.

Velarium – a great awning drawn over Roman The Roman had five classes of burial places:
theatres and amphitheatres to protect
spectators against the sun.  Coemeteria or subterranean vaults
– contained both columbaria and Loculi
Mast – a tall span or hollow metal structure
rising vertically to support the sails or awnings. Columbaria – is so called because of their
resemblance to pigeon-holes, were niches
8. CIRCUSES formed in the rock to receive a vase containing
• The Roman circus, for horse and chariot the ashes of the deceased and with the name
racing, was derived from the Greek inscribed thereon.
hippodrome.

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Example:

The Mausoleum of Augustus

• was a huge cylinder 88.39 m (290 feet) in
diameter, faced in travertine, supporting
a mound of earth, 44.20 m (145ft.) high
from the ground, planted with evergreen
trees and surmounted by a bronze effigy
of Augustus.

"Loculi" or recesses for corpses – were sealed

with a front slab inscribed with the name.

• The interior was subdivided into tiers of

compartments, some of them vaulted, by
Sarcophagi – often beautifully carved with a complex system of ring and radial
figures and festoons are surmounted by lids like concrete walls, all of them finely
roofs terminating in scrolls, were also placed in compartments were filled with, earth,
the vaults. Later these vaults were called except for the sepulchral chamber and
catacombs. the passages leading to it.
• Behind the facade wall, a series of
hemicycle buttresses completed the
precautions for retaining and dividing the
pressures of the great load of earth.

 Pyramidal tombs
 Temple- shaped Tombs
 Monumental tombs  Sculptured memorials
– most typical Roman class, descended
from the Etruscan Tumuli, with their 10. TRIUMPHAL ARCHES
embracing ring of stones or rock. • These were erected to emperors and
– consisted of large cylindrical blocks, often generals commemorating victorious
on a quadrangular podium, topped with a campaigns.
conical crown of earth or stone. • Such arches were adorned with appropriate
bas-reliefs and usually earned gilt-bronze
statuary on an attic storey, the latter having
a dedicatory inscription on its face.
• had either one or three openings, two of
the latter being footways, and the piers
were ornamented with Corinthian or
composite pilasters or columns: slightly
detached, full columns often were used
after the early second century A. D.

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Example: Example:

The Arch of Titus, Rome The Arch of Constantine, Rome

• (A.D. 821) with a single opening – (A.D. 312)
commemorates the capture of Jerusalem. – built in honour of Constantine's victory
• On each main face attached columns flank over Maxentius
the opening and at the outer angles, and
these are the earliest known examples of
the fully-developed Roman Composite
order.

– is of fine proportions with eight

monolithic detached corinthian columns
supporting an entablature returned back
to the wall, and on the attic storey, a
quadriga.
• The "Soffit" of the archway is ornamented – Much of the decorative sculpture was
with deeply recessed coffers, and a relief in brought from earlier monuments of the
the centre represents the apotheosis of time of Trajan, and represents incidents
Titus on one side of the opening is a carved of his reign.
relief of the Emperor in a Triumphal car,
and on the other is a representation of the 11. TOWN GATEWAYS AND ARCHWAYS
spoils taken from the temple at Jerusalem.
• The Keystones, which project considerably Three main types:
to support the main architrave, are also  Those forming part of the protective wall
richly carved and are faced with figures of circuit usually simple, but sometimes
Roma and Fortuna. elaborated into commemorative
• The attic storey with the dedication was monuments.
originally surmounted by a bronze  Ornamental portals to forums, market
quadriga. places or other large enclosures;
 Arches built at main street intersections
Soffit - the ceiling or underside of any particularly when the main streets were
architectural member. colonnaded. Gateways of the first type, in
town walls, might have one main archways
Keystone - the central stone of a semi-circular and a footway on each side, or more often,
arch, sometimes sculptured. two main archways or without a pair of side
footways.
Spandrel - the triangular space enclosed by the
curve of an arch, a vertical line from its 12. ROMAN HOUSES
springing a horizontal line through its apex.
Roman dwelling houses are of three types:
 Domus or private house
– combined the features of the old Italic or
keystone Etruscan dwelling with other elements
spandrel
spandrel derived from the Greek house.
– An atrium fanned the more public portion
soffit of the building and beyond was the
peristyle of Greek origin, the centre of
family apartments.

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 History of Architecture 01
Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• Encircling the House of Pansa on three sides

were shops, bakeries and three smaller
dwellings.
• “prothyrum" or entrance passage led from
the street to the atrium, where a central,
shallow rectangular basin or "impluvium"
was sunk. in the pavement directly below
the compluvium opening in the "Lean-to"
roof above, which sloped down four ways
towards it.
• The Atrium also contained the shrine of the
family gods, and near to the impluvium
Example: there stood a marble table.
• An open living-room on ‘’Tablinum" was
THE HOUSE OF PANSA, POMPEII curtained off between the atrium and the
• Illustrates the typical Domus or family peristyle, and at the side was a passage, the
mansion. "fauces".
• comprises two portions; the atrium, or
forepart, which served for formal occasions Peristyle – a range of columns surrounding a
as well as normal use; and a rear or court or a temple.
"peristyle“ portion, which was the more
intimate, private part. Atrium – an apartment in a Roman house,
• The atrium represents the entire dwelling forming an entrance hall or court, the roof open
• the peristyle is colonnaded and is an to the sky in the centre.
additional chief element.
• Greek influence caused columns sometimes Compluvium – a quadrangular opening in the
to be used to support the margins of the atrium of a Roman house, towards which the
roof opening or "compluvium'' of an roof sloped so as to throw the rain water into a
enlarged atrium, which in the original shallow cistern or impluvium in the floor.
lacked columns.
• Privacy was assured for the whole house Prothyrum – a porch or vestibule in front of the
since all the rooms, faced inwards towards door of a house.
atrium or peristyle
• light being gained for them through tall Impluvium – a shallow tank under the
doorways with metal grilles within their compluvium, as opening in the roof of an
doors or hung with curtains. atrium.

Lean-to – a small extension to a building with a

roof having but one slope whose supports lean
against the building.

Tablinum - a large open room or apartment for

family records and hereditary statues situated
at the end of the atrium farthest from the main
entrance.

Fauces – the passageway from the street to the

atrium, or from the atrium to the peristyle

The peristyle enframed by (16) Ionic columns

was laid out with flower beds and graced with
statuary, fountains and water-basin.

Surrounding the peristyle are:

• " Cubicula" or bedrooms,
• Window glass was rare.

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 History of Architecture 01
Architectural Manifestations of Thoughts from the Beginning of Civilization
to the Eurasian Cultural Balance (up to 1500AD)

• Triclinia" or dining rooms with different • Water was distributed to public buildings
aspects for summer and winter, and fountains by lead pipes.
• "oecus" or reception-room, and
• "alae“ or recesses for conversation Example:

– Dining rooms were fitted with three The Pont du Gard, Nimes, France
couches for nine people, the recognized • forms part of a magnificent aqueduct, 40
number for a Roman feast km. (25 miles) long, constructed to bring
– Floors were decorated with Mosaics water to Nimes from the neighborhood of
– Walls decorated with Fresco paintings. Uzes.
– Kitchen and painting were at the side of
the peristyle, farthest from the entrance,
but convenient for the side street.
– There was a series of small upper rooms
round the atrium and peristyle.

 Villa or country house

– spread on a vast complex of large park
scattered with extraordinary buildings.
• It is 268.83 m long and formed three tiers of
arches, crossing the valley 47.24 m above
the river Gard.
• In the two tower tiers the arch above the
river is the widest and the others vary in
width, while in the uppermost tier there are
thirty-five arches of 4.27 m span supporting
the "Specus" or water channel.

 Insula or apartment block

– rose four or more storeys high.

* pictures were taken from www. google.com &

wikipedia.com

13. AQUEDUCTS
• The Romans gave importance to an
adequate water supply.
• Immense quantities of water were required
for the great thermae and for public
fountains, and for domestic supply for the
large population, which was estimated to
be 1,610 million liters or 350 million gallons
of water poured daily by eleven great
aqueducts.

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