Roman Architecture
The Romans excelled in creating an empire that was architecturally designed with beauty and practicality. The foundation of their inventions was greatly influence by the Greeks. Through the Greeks fundamental Architecture the Roman’s mastered the skill in expanding architecture that impacted Roman culture. Among the vast Architecture that the Romans constructed during the first century were the beautiful arches, domes, and two innovative Column’s that stand as a testimony to Rome’s leadership (Roman, Martin).
The beautiful well constructed Roman Arches provided new and elegant buildings. Concrete provided a base that was fundamental in creating a structure such as the Arch. The arch was constructed in a manner were the weight had to be perfectly placed on the keystone (located in the middle of an arch). As a result of arches, aqueducts, bridges, and buildings flourished into existence. The base of the arch provided the structural foundations for both aqueducts and brides in which transportation of water and people became safer and easier. The most prominent building that was construction with an arch was the Colosseum in which the whole outer circle was created with Arches. Besides the arches which excelled throughout Rome was the dome (Carr, Martin, History, MacKenzie).
The Roman’s crafted magnificent domes that had one key purpose, to expand space. Before the Dome's space was limited but after space multiplied. The dome opened up the space of a building by providing a structure in which the ceiling was pushed out. The construction of the dome had to be precise. The collections of arches that formed the dome were held in place by gravity. The collapse of a dome only resulted when buttresses which transferred weight to ground were unevenly placed. The pantheon, a temple to the gods, testifies to one of the most beautiful domes that Rome achieved. The hundred and forty two height of the dome further opened the space and with the oculus light the interior is stunning. The construction of domes allowed interior space to multiply and with the production of the Roman columns Rome’s beauty continued
The Romans further expanded when adding two columns, Tuscan and Composition, to the previous three Greek columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian . The Tuscan and Composition Columns were publicly displayed all around Rome. The Tuscan Column resembled the Doric Column but consisted of a base. on the other hand, the Composition Columns appeared to be the Ionic and Corinthian combined. However, the leafs that were on the Corinthian were replaced with volutes. An example of a Composition column is seen on the beautiful Arch of the Titus. Both columns provided a firm structure and provided Rome with elegant to structures (Martin, Roman). The Romans brilliantly expanded an empire that grew to excel architecturally through arches, domes, and columns. A clear powerful empire can be drawn from the impressive Architecture remains. To this day the architectural achievements of the Romans are admired. Many modern building including the United States Capital has been modeled after the Romans Architectural achievements (History, MacKenzie, Martin).
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