The Roman Empire 1. [antikvár]

Introduction The Genius of Rome"Impressionist" Pompeian landscape Painting from the excavations of Pompeii showing buildings at the water's edge. With its circular building, tower, outhouses, and arbors, this landscape, dating from before A.D. 79, is typical ofthe refined lifestyleofthe Romans, as described by Pliny the Younger in his Letters. (Museo Nazionale, Naples)The architecture that the Romans created is one of the most significant in human history. For centuries, from the time of the Etruscans and the Republic to the end of the Empire on the eve of the barbarian invasions, the Romans created a wealth of major buildings. They revolutionized building techniques, with their repeated use of the arch, the vault, and the dome. They designed grandiose and imaginative spatial schemes.The buildings that survive today, broadly dating from the end of the second century B.C. to the beginning ofthe fourth century A.D., demonstrate the Roman genius for architecture. Often the structures are so well preserved that the observer can judge the technological progress made during that time and develop an understanding ofthe underlying motivation of those who built them.This book provides an understanding of how Roman architecture, whether in the form of sanctuaries, palaces, baths, markets, private homes, aqueducts, or tombs, differs from that of classical Greece and the Hellenistic period, of which it is in part the direct heir. It also defines the spatial discoveries and technological innovations that the Roman spirit brought to the conception and realization of sacred and civic monuments.The Differences between Roman and Creek ArchitectureThe study of architecture requires an examination of the mentality, the religious beliefs, and the driving force of a whole civilization. In order to understand the essential character of Roman architecture, for example, it is not enough to know, according to Vitruvius's treatises, that the Romans used the three great classical orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Rather, the originality of Roman builders lies less in their decorative and ornamental schemes than in the creation of spatial relationships, curvilinear forms, vaults supported by arcades, and vast domed structures covering large halls, intended as much for civic use as for the pomp of religious ceremonies or ofthe imperial court.Unlike the Creek temple, essentially a structure for the play of light and shade, with little interior space accommodating a small sanctuary, Roman builders typically used arches, vaults, matching domes, or sweeping areas of concrete to cover huge spaces.The Greeks used the static tnHthon design: two pillars or columns supporting an architrave-in effert, a pairof vertical supports linked by a horizontal lintel, which absorbed the stresses of the building. The Romans, on the other hand, employed a dynamic structure based on elements deployed in a succession of circular load-bearing arcs to cope with the tensions that ran through the entire construction.The architectural vocabulary of the two traditions is very different as well. That the Romans built temples with peristyles and saddlebacked roofs based on the Greek model is true. However, the vault was unknown in classical Greek architecture and starts to appear only at the beginning of the Hellenistic period. And although the Greeks created semicirculartiers of seating for their theaters set intoIntroduction 7