ADDIS COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN

PLANNING
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
Apr, 2024
contents
 Historical Background:
 Location and period
 Social characteristics , beliefs & system of government
 Architecture of the Civilization:
 Early Influences-The Etruscans
 Engineering Innovation and achievements
 Roman Buildings
 Other architectural elements
 Roman city Planning and Design
 Architectural Characteristics:
 Buildings and other architectural elements
 Building materials, construction and technologies
 Architectural Organizing principles
Historical back ground
 Location
 The Roman Empire was one of the largest early empires in history, stretching from England in Northern Europe to
the Ancient Near East and Africa
 Rome, located on the Italian peninsula was the capital of the empire
 From the capital, an infrastructure of roads and communication systems was established to connect the whole
empire
 Roman architecture refers to the architecture of Rome and of the Roman Empire
 Rome is today the capital of Italy
Cont’d
 Period
 The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC. Roman civilization lasted for more than a
thousand years.
 The history of the civilization is divided into three periods;
 753 - 510 BC - Etruscan Period
 510 – 44 BC - Republican Period
 44 BC – 476 A.D - Imperial Period
 Entruscan period - established an urban culture the height of its development around
600 B.C.
 They had conquered and established their authority over a loose federation of cities
 Rome at its foundation was a minor city and became a colony of the Etruscans
 Rome was ruled by Etruscan Kings aided by a popular assembly
 Towards the end of the 6th century B.C., Etruscan power began to decline
 Cont’d
 This brought about the end of the republican
 Republican period - developed a system of Representative
period Following a series of civil wars that ended in
government 27 B.C. Caius Ocatavius, who later took the name
 After the expulsion of its Etruscan Kings, Rome gradually assumed Caesar Augustus assumed the title of emperor
leadership of a number of settlements for mutual defense  This ushered in the Imperial period of Roman
 This gradually led to the expanding influence and dominance of history
Rome  Emperor Augustus undertook a significant
 By 273 B. C. Rome became the established dominant force in the reorganization of the Roman Empire
region It conquered its rivals, defeating  The golden age of architectural development was
 Cathage in 146 B.C.,Macedonia in 168 B. C.,Greece in 146 B.C., witnessed during this period and he revitalized
and Syria in 64 B. C. national life and created new building works.
 Rome was government by a body of elected male representatives
of the population known as the Senate
 This is why the period is referred to as republican or in other
word democratic
 Towards the end of the last millennium B.C. Rome entered into a
series of civil wars which brought about the rise of some military
dictators, of which Julius Caesar was the most successful.
Cont’d
 Imperial Period – invention of new building materials like brick,
concrete and new building styles left it a city of marble.
 The 3rd century A.D. was a period of political confusion in
 the Roman Empire and attack Barbarian people started living in the
north of Europe
 In 286 A.D. Roman Empire was split into two;
a western empire and Eastern empire
 reunite the Empire again in 324 A.D. and established a new capital for
the empire at the city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople
 After his death, was split again different destiny
 In 476 A.D. the western empire with its capital at Rome fell after
century of attacks by Vandals and Visigoths ending the history of that
part
 The Eastern Empire with its capital at Constantinople survived and
became the focus of a civilization that lasted until 1453 A.D. when it
was sacked by the Ottoman Turks
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS , BELIEFS & system of government
Social Life Religious Beliefs System of Government
 The Roman people were  Roman people were not deeply  The System of government in
essentially farmers, traders, religious, particularly during the ancient Rome was democratic
soldiers and warriors early part of their development  During the Republican period,
 The Forum was the place for Government consisted of two
 Contact with other people
social, political, recreational and always resulted in changes to
 elected consuls, a senate and
religious activities just like the their culture, art and way of life - judiciary
Greek Agora Most of their religious beliefs  The consuls acted as the
 Romans participated in a lot of were borrowed from the Greeks executive arm of government
entertainment activities and overseeing the activities of the
spectator sports such as drama,
 Public assemblies, such as senate, army and other
chariot racing, and gladiatorial senate meetings, war victories executive institutions such as
contest . and most state functions were tax collectors and police
always started with sacrifices to  The senate was an assembly of
 recreational bathing
a particular god in his temple selected land owners, the
 Roman society had an active social
life and unique  The state spent money to built upper class of Roman society,
temples to the various gods who approve budgets and
suggest laws
Architecture of the Civilization
 The Environment around Rome was not as rich
as the Greek mainland in construction material  In Roman architecture, the orders survived simply as
especially marble ornaments applied to great concrete buildings.
 Romans construction material consists of Stone,  But the Romans also made unique additions to the
principally local travertine and timber also orders that are very important.
invented a system of firing brick and used brick  New orders evolved and were added to the Greek
widely in construction orders to form the classical language of architecture
 Romans were also the first people to discover  Romans also made additions in the entablature of
concrete then the concrete is different from our temples, in the scale of buildings and the proportion
present day concrete of the entire design.
 They also developed new construction systems  “While the Greeks are said to be the inventors of form,
based on the arch and dome. The combination Roman architecture concentrated on the creation of
of arch and vault construction with brick as space
formwork and concrete as bonding material
enabled the Romans to construct great buildings
with very large interior spaces
 man construction also developed the system of
wooden truss construction
Cont’d
 Early Influences -The Etruscans
 Engineering Innovation and achievements
 Roman Buildings
 Other architectural elements
 Roman city Planning and Design
Early Influences-The Etruscans
 The Earliest civilization in the region around Rome were the
Etruscan order
Etruscans
 The Etruscan civilization existed in the northern part of what is
now Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman Republic.
 They brought sophisticated Eastern and Greek culture to the
region.
 Not much has survived of Etruscan buildings to the present
however.
 The Etruscans introduced another order of architecture known
as the ‘Tuscan order’ became popular with the Romans.
 It is simplification of Doric order; simpler base, the shaft was
without flutes and rises 7 times its lower diameter
 The capital and entablature were also without decoration and
looks the most solid
Engineering Innovation and achievements
 Romans created what can be referred to as a ‘structural revolution’
 This revolution centers on their understanding and use of the arch
and vault

Arch vault
 They also discovered the groin vault
 Because of this structural revolution, they were able to span large
openings in buildings and other structures with economy ,strength
and large interior spaces
bridge
 The revolution also allowed the Romans to construct large
engineering structures such as roads and bridges to connect all
parts of their empire, and aqueduct to supply water to their cities.
Arches

 The arch was not a new building form, as it had been

known by other civilizations including the Egyptians and
the Greeks
 But the Romans used it to its fullest potential
 The arch is an organic structure with the elements of the
arch resting on each other and transferring load to the
column
 Arches were used over doors and openings and
sometimes, they are built over a lintel to deflect the load
to the surrounding walls.
 with an arch, there are no tensile stresses as all the
forces are in compression and building stone has
enormous compressive strength
 Up to a certain point also, the more an arch is loaded the
stronger it becomes
vault
 Vaults are used to cover an area as a
roof •This is formed by intersecting two barrel- vaults at right angle
 The simplest of the vaults is the Barrel and is called a “groin vault” .The weight of the is concentrated at
vault, which is just made up of an arch the corners eliminating the need for continuous support
extended over a certain distance •The opening of the space in 4 directions means that ample light
 The disadvantage of the vault is that it can be provided to the area below it
•The dome was another structure that was used in roman
exerts a continuous load and therefore
needs some form of continuous architecture.
•The Romans used the true dome with its fully rounded
support
perfection
 It can be adapted to suit different types
of plans by making simple modifications
to it
 It is also difficult to light the space
under a vault except from the ends. The
Romans invented unique ways of
overcoming these difficulties
 The cross vault was created from the
barrel vault to overcome some of the
problems of the ordinary vault
CONCRETE Dome
 The Romans were the first to develop concrete
•A dome is a vaulted structure having a circular plan and usually
 The concrete developed by the Romans is the form of a portion of a sphere, so constructed as to exert an
different from modern concrete and is made equal thrust in all directions
up of lime, sand and water •Romans used domes to span and cover very large open spaces.
 Around the 2nd century BC, Pozzolana or •They used it in many public buildings like basilicas, the
volcanic ash was also added pantheon etc.
 Concrete did away with the need for the
shaping and transportation of stone and for
high skilled labor for stone masonry
 Concrete has the advantage that it can be cast
in any shape and in far larger sizes than the
megalithic blocks of stone used in buildings
and to construct monolithic vaults
 Fired brick used as formwork was the most
popular covering material over concrete face
ENGINEERING STRUCTURES Road and Bridges
 The Trojan’s Bridge Alexandria is an example of
 The arch was not a new building form, as it had been ancient Roman structural achievement
known by other civilizations including the Egyptians and  It is also amongst the most impressive of the surviving
the Greeks Roman bridges
 But the Romans used it to its fullest potential  The bridge consist of tall piers and wide spanning
 The arch is an organic structure with the elements of the arches
arch resting on each other and transferring load to the  The central arches are slightly above 27 meters in
column length
 Arches were used over doors and openings and  The roadway is carried 48 meters above the River
sometimes, they are built over a lintel to deflecct the
load to the surrounding walls.
 A commemorative arch stands at the center of the
Bridge; that bears the name of the architect of the
 with an arch, there are no tensile stresses as all the bridge
forces are in compression and building stone has
enormous compressive strength
 Up to a certain point also, the more an arch is loaded the
stronger it becomes
Aqueducts
 Aqueducts were used to supply water to Roman cities  The Aqua Claudia is also another
 The Pont Du Gard is probably the most magnificent of  example of Roman aqueduct
the Roman aqueducts.  The Aqua Claudia was one of the eleven aqueducts
 The Aqueduct in some places is almost 50 meters above that supplied Rome with water
the deep valley of the River Gard  The aqueduct supplies water to Rome over a distance
of 66 kilometers
 It was constructed of 3 tiers of arches
 It was constructed around 50 A.D. to supply water to
the city of Nimes

Roman building
 The focus of Roman building design was on functional
spaces
 The Roman people demanded buildings of various
functions from the Roman architect
 The architects were able to respond, creating buildings
that answer to their functional requirement by providing
appropriate interior spaces
 The buildings types include theaters, amphitheaters,
basilicas, circuses, basilicas, temples and baths
 All of these buildings were erected within the dense
fabric of the city
Theaters
 The Romans adopted the Greek theater  The Theater Marcellus constructed
transforming it into something Roman. There between 23 to 13 B.C. was the first
was an expansion of the stage and the whole theater constructed in the capital
theater was contained within a high-unbroken Rome
wall  It is a good example of a Roman
 The Greek Theater was blended into the theater
landscape. In contrast, the Roman Theater was  Access to its banked seat is from
an urban form located in a flat city the rear, providing access
 The structure of the theater consists of massive circumferential
structural arcades on piers  A stage runs from end to end in
 Theaters were built in every Roman City. It was front
used for acting and drama .A purely cosmetic  The stage is enclosed by a tall wall
layer of trabeation was added to the front
 The trabeation was of the Greek orders and
gave scale to the building
 It also creates a rhythm of solids and voids on
the elevation
 The three orders of Greek architecture were
used on the theater elevation
AMPHITHEATER Colosseum, Rome
 The amphitheater is a roman structure with no  Its construction began under the Emperor
Greek equivalent Vespasian in 72 A.D. and was completed in A.
D. 80
 Amphitheatre is a public building used for spectator
sports, games and displays
 It was used for spectator sports including
gladiatorial combat
 Apart from function, the important outward
distinction between an Amphitheatre and a theatre
 The colosseum is elliptical in shape. It
is that Amphitheatre is round or oval in shape measured 48meters high, 188 meters long,
and 156 meters wide
 An amphitheater was first built in Pompeii in 80 BC,
but the best example of the Roman amphitheater is
 The wooden arena floor was 86 meters by 54
the Colosseum meters,and covered by sand
 The colosseum had a seating capacity for
50,000 spectators
 The Colosseum was ingeniously designed;
most spectacle venues have been influenced
by the Colosseum’s structure into modern
times
 The seating formed a uniform elliptical ring
 The substructure of the amphitheater is very
much like that of the theater
 Vaulting was used both radially and
 Cont’d
 The Colosseum also had a passageway that opens into a tier
of seats from below or behind  Underneath the arena was the "underground", a
network of tunnels and cages where gladiators
 Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase
and animals were held before contests began
 The passages quickly dispersed people into their seats and  The arena floor no longer exists, and the
upon conclusion of the event disgorged them with abruptness
hypogeum walls and corridors are clearly visible
into the surrounding streets
in the ruins of the building
 The third level, the maenianumsecundum, was divided into  The orders were used in the elevation in the
three sections
same manner as on the theater
 The lower part, the was for wealthy citizens, while the upper  The Colosseum was in continuous use until 217,
part was for poor citizens
when it was damaged by fire from lightning
 A third, wooden section was a wooden structure at the very  It was restored in 238 and gladiatorial games
top of the building, added by Domitian
continued until Christianity gradually put an end
 The most ingenious part of the Colosseum was its cooling to some sports
system
 It was roofed using a canvas covered net-like structure made
of ropes, with a hole in the center
 The Arena where the action take place is located at the center
of the ellipse
Cont’d
 CIRCUSES
 The Romans developed circuses or stadium for horse and
chariot racing
 Every city usually had one circus located close to the forum
 The circuses had stalls at one end where the chariots
emerge at the beginning of the race and a track which they
race around
 The structure of the circus is very similar to that of theaters
and amphitheaters
 Circus Maxima is an example of a Roman Circus
CIrcus Maxentius
 It is located in Rome and is one of the oldest It went
through a series of transformation over the period of its
existence
 The image shown is its final form around 400 A.D.Its is 600
meters in length by 200 meters in width
 The circus had 3 tiers of seat, and there are stalls for 12 race
houses or chariotso Each race was of 7 laps covering a
distance of about 3.6 kilometers
 BATH
BATH of Caracalla
 The Romans had a unique need for exercise,
bathing and relaxation and they devised a  The bath is set free standing within a square precinct enclosed by walls
unique architectural element, the Bath to  The precinct has a water reservoir to the south, supplied by an
address that need aqueduct to service its water need
 The roman bath was more that just merely  The reservoir is located beneath a stadium used for athletic contest
swimming or washing  The east and west walls have a curved exedra that defines space for
 This practice became so popular that at some cultural activities such as library, music performance, philosophical
point, they took it more serious than their lectures, etc.
gods  The front wall has a series of shops with the entrance at the center
 It was a daily practice of almost all Romans to  e main bath building is rectangular, 225 meters by 115 meters and is
go to a Bath once a day to relieve stress
situated within the walled precinct
 It has a perfect bilateral symmetry along its north- south axis
 The bath has a large dressing hall, apodyterium at the center of the
building
 structure of the bath of caracalla is made up of vaults, arches, groin
vaults and domes
 Includes supplementary rooms, including Gymnasium and bathroom
suits
Cont’d
 There were spaces for public life.They consisted of different rooms:
 Changing rooms
 Different temperature rooms:
 Frigidarium (cold)
 Tepidarium (warm)
 Caldarium (hot)
 Swimming pool
 Gymnasium
 Library
 TEMPLES
 Most of the roman temples were combination of Etruscan and Greek
prototypes
 The typical temple had an axial plan, an entrance porch with widely
space columns in front
 The temple also had a cellar or sanctuary
 The whole temple is raised on a high podium with frontal steps
providing access
 A good example of the early form of the temple is seen in Maison
Caree at Nimesis located in Nimes France
 It was built by the Emperor Agrippa
 The temple shows Greek influence on early roman temples
 The temple is 26.5 meters long, 15.5 meters
 wide and raised on a podium 3.3 meters high
 It is a temple with 6 Corinthian columns in front, 10 diameters high
 The best preserved of the temples and the one showing the highest
achievement in temple architecture is the Pantheon
 Pantheon
 The Pantheon is the best surviving of all classical
buildings
 It also represents the highest achievement of Roman
architecture
 It was built as a temple dedicated to all the Roman
Gods, hence the name Pantheon
 It was built between AD 118 and 128 by the Emperor
Hadrian on the site of an earlier temple by
Agrippahe Pantheon essentially consist of two parts;
the an entrance portico and a circular part or
rotunda
 The portico is 8 columns wide and 3 columns deep
and leads to the entrance of the templeThe columns
are of unfluted Corinthian order
 The wall of the rotunda is 3 storeys high on the
outside; they are made up of brick faced concrete
and support the dome roof of the temple
Cont’d
 The Dome roof forms a
perfect sphere with a
diameter of 142 feet in
the interior
 At the head of the dome
is a 30ft wide oculus,
that opens up the great
dome to the outside and
illuminates the space
with light
 The interior was built of
Egyptian granites,
African colored marbles
and pure white marbles
from the Aegean
 The Pantheon combines
scale, boldness and
mastery of every
architectural art.
 Basilicas
 Basilicas are among the most important categories of roman
architecture
 There were no basilicas before the Roman era
 The basilica are rectangular and usually contained interior
colonnades that divided the space into aisles at one or both sides,
with an apse at one end
 The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the
flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the clerestory
windows
 The function of the basilica is close to that of the Greek stoa.
 It is also the place where magistrates to hold court to dispose of
legal matters The Basilica Ulpia was built by Emperor Trajan in the
period A.D 98-117 for his imperial forum
 Basilica Ulpia stretches for 120 meters in length over the width of
the Trajan forum
 The Basilica consists of a central hall, 25 meters wide surrounded
on all sides by double colonnades
 The Basilica had two semi-circular apses at it’s two ends
 RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
 Every city usually had one circus located close to the forum
 The circuses had stalls at one end where the chariots emerge at the
begin Roman cities had a range of various types of private dwellings
 The private dwellings reflected the rank and wealth of the inhabitants
The Romans developed circuses or stadium for horse and chariot racing
 At the lowest level are the multi-story tenements where a large
proportion of the population styed
 They consisted of shops on the ground floor and apartments on the
upper floors
 The apartments were built around a courtyard for light and air
 The common roman house was the Domus
 These were reserved for the more well off members of the Roman
society
 The domus was essentially a courtyard house, with a peristyle
colonnaded courtyard
 It had few or no windows to the outside
Cont’d
 Other architectural elements
 Other Than buildings, ancient Romans also contributed to the
development of several architectural elements
 The most prominent of the elements is the triumphal arch
 A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental
gate, usually built to celebrate a victory in war
 They are almost always built in the Form, framing the paths
that people follow Romans started it as a way to celebrate their
victories in battles
 Some triumphal arches are made of stone and intended to be
permanent
 Arch of TitusIt was built to commemorate the military
victory over Jerusalem in A.D. 70
 The arch has a height of 15.4 meters, a width of 13.5
meters and was constructed of stone
 The marvel of its stone construction is evident in the
keystone, which ensures the stability of the arch
 ROMAN CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN
 The Romans developed circuses or stadium for horse FORUM
and chariot racing The planning of most cities fall in  The forum was the descendant of the Greek agora for
between the two extremes of organic growth and rigid the Romans
grid planning  It began as a market place
 It rapidly became the commercial, political and
 All cities had a forum, theater, bath, market etc.
ceremonial center of the civilization
 Many of the cities contained buildings that were copies  In the process it developed into an elaborate
or local versions of key monuments in Rome architectural space that became a part of all roman cities
 Focus in city design is on integrating civic buildings  Unlike the Greek agora which is informal in plan, and
with public spaces and residential neighborhoods whose buildings are subordinate to the space, in the
 Each public building had interior spaces that roman forum, the organization is more formal
 The buildings surrounding it are normally large and
responded to functional requirement with the spaces
also linked and connected with the public spaces of dominate the space
 Buildings commonly found in the forum include
the city
 temples, basilicas, and bath
 The Forum was the center of the Roman city
 Majority grew in an unplanned manner over the
centuries forming complex organic entities, to which
sometimes order was introduced
 Rome is a good example
Cont’d

Forum Romanum

Republican forum
 Architectural Characteristics
BUILDINGS TYPES ENGNEERING STRUCTURES
 Roman architects were genius in a way that  Romans also contributed I several engineering and architectural
they were able to meet the needs of a objects to human civilization
complex society for different building types  Engineering contributions incorporate:
for a thousand years  Road and bridge structures
 Roman buildings included  Construction of aqueducts
• Bathhouses for bathing,
The Orders
• Circuses for races,  Romans also contributed to the development of the orders
• Amphitheaters for gladiatorial contest,  Romans coined:
• Temples for religion,  Tuscan order – common in earlier temples
• Domus for family life  Composite order – Ionic + Corinthian
• Triumphal arches for memory
 The forum as the center of public life
 Cont’d
MATERIALS CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
 The choice of building materials  The Roman Civilization had the most  The greatest contribution of the
contributed to the success of Roman innovative construction system of the Romans in Building services and
architecture. civilizations so far studied technology is in the aspect of water
 Roman building materials were very  Roman architects understood the  The development of the ‘Aqueduct’
diverse and rich underlying principles of ‘Arch’ and enabled ancient Romans to supply
‘Vault’ construction and were able to water to their cities
 Materials that were not available
locally could usually be imported from innovate to address their shortcomings  Rome at the height of its
other Roman colonies  The combination of arch and vault development had to supply water
construction with concrete and fire brick to meet the needs of its one million
 Roman building materials included
formwork provided the Romans with the inhabitants
stone, marble, brick, and timber
technology to achieve their architectural  Along with water supply, the
 The art of producing fired brick was a dreams Romans also developed a system of
Roman invention
 No previous civilization had an waste water collection and disposal
 Romans also invented ‘Concrete’ architecture that involved the  Sanitary sewers were used to
 The combination of concrete and brick manipulation of space like that of the collect waste water that is
formwork enabled Roman architects to Romans channeled outside the city for
design and vast buildings for different disposal
 Romans also introduced the use of
uses
‘Timber trusses’in roofing
Group members Id
1. EYOB ASFAW...................................................................................................ADPE/175/15
2. YORDANOS NEGASH.......................................................................................ADPE/122/15
3. YILMA ALEMAYEHU........................................................................................ADPE/03715
4. KIDEST ADENW...............................................................................................ADPE/112/15
5. REDIET ENDIEG...............................................................................................ADPE/050/15
6. LENSA TAMIRU...............................................................................................ADPE/051/15
7. ...............................................................................................ADPE//15


Thank you