Roman architecture: history, characteristics, and influence

¶ … Roman public architecture contained elements derived from both Greek and Etruscan traditions. Spatially, Roman architecture shows a development from closed, simple space units and regular articulation to more complex spatial relations, more fluid interpenetration of spaces, and more rhythmic organization of space and mass. New materials, such as concrete with brick and stone facing and marble veneers, sculptural decoration, and walls painted with illustration helped to further enhance the early Roman architecture.

A characteristic feature of Roman design was the combined use of arcuated and trabeated construction. Although at first tentatively employed in the spaces between the classical columns, the arch eventually came to be the chief structural element. Flanking columns, usually engaged and superimposed served merely as buttresses or for decoration. The building of Roman architecture was aided after the invention of concrete. Using this material, architects covered vast interior spaces with vaults of increasing complexity and without interior supports. These included the barrel vault, the cross or groined vault, and the dome. Vault buttresses, instead of forming exterior projections, became an integral part of the interior support system.

One example of early Roman architecture using the vault design is the Coliseum of Rome. Over 160 ft high with eighty entrances, the Coliseum could hold upwards of 50,000 spectators. The facade was limestone, brick and concrete with marble facing. Barrel vaults radiated from the elliptical center. The weight was carried on travertine piers and vaults. The lower tiers were marble, with wood on the upper tiers.

The Coliseum consisted of four stories; its arches were framed by superimposed orders: Roman Dorie on the ground floor, Ionic on the second, Corinthian on the third, and the fourth story consisted of Corinthian pilasters. It also carried masts which suspended an awning to protect the spectators from the sunlight. The walls on the outside were made of travertine, while the inner walls were made of siliceous rock deposits and the vaulting of the ramped seating area was made of concrete.

The Coliseum boasted seats of marble for the upper class, and benches of wood for the lower. Ramps within the arena made movement easy by the large crowds, and on a catwalk suspended above, trained archers were watchful and would shoot to avert disaster when an enraged animal would get out of hand. A wall about 15 feet high separated the spectators from the bloody events in the arena.

The characteristics used in the building of the coliseum, including the vaults, the domes, and the semi-domes all added to the special design of both the exterior and interior of the coliseum. From the outside, the 80 entrance arches on the ground floor, built using the standard column structure, added ease and beauty to the special design. From the inside, the ramped seating area and the giant vaults expanded the coliseum, and the layered and tiered arrangement of the seating area was an impressive show of spatial ingenuity. As with most Roman structures of the time, mass and interior space were manipulated to produce a visually appealing conception of greatness.

Another example of Roman public architecture is Trajan's market. The market was a commercial center of about 150 shops and offices, set into the side of the Quirinal Hill. Both monumental and functional, it is typical of ancient Roman architecture.

The semicircular brick building is set into the hill, above which are tiers of terraces ascending the slope. At the upper end of the hill, a two-story market hall with a series of groin vaults was lined with shops on either side of a central promenade with a balcony level and clerestory openings above.

The brick facades are detailed with brickwork arches, pediments, and travertine lintels, and the markets are a magnificent demonstration of concrete and brick construction, with vaults and arches throughout. The Great Hall has a central empty rectangular space covered with six large cross-vaults. Realized in the classic Roman taberna style, piers, and lintels in travertine with upper windows for light, the vaults relieve their mass onto the side surroundings. The system of the corridors on the first and second levels insured ventilation and light.