Did The Romans Become Innovators In Architecture

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome's buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

With Etruscan influence, the Romans began building with enthusiasm, combining columns, arches and various styles of vaults into their homes, temples and Colosseum. Although the Romans impact on architecture spread throughout Europe and the United States, nothing is as magnificent as the Romans development of concrete and its use for constructing walls, theaters and those beautifully graceful bridges.

The Roman Empire left a legacy that still continues to affect people with modern technology. The Romans’ technology might have not been as advanced as modern technology today, but they still managed to caused great impact over the ancient people. The Roman Empire’s inventions and innovations such as indoor plumbing, aqueducts, and construction of roads and buildings with their fast drying will always be notable attention because they managed to acquire extensive progress without modern methods. However, the Romans were not restricted to new inventions, they also managed to improve the existing fields of medicine, law, government and warfare.

The Importance of Concrete in the life of Rome and the Result of its Use.

Many of Rome’s paramount architectural accomplishments can be found in, and around Italy. These sites include the Pantheon, the Arch of Titus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Roman Forum, and Ancient Roman Aqueducts, along with the Colosseum. Many of these architectural feats have been replicated throughout Roman territory. Their domain stretched all over Europe, Northern Africa, and even into the Middle East. Today we are still able to enjoy much of Rome’s artistry, which can be linked to the how their engineers manufactured these monuments. Roman architects created structurally sound buildings by making use of the vault, and the arch. These engineers also created concrete, a binding agent holding the structures together. All of these forms were later replicated throughout the empire (Lake Oswego School District, 2012:1).

The Roman empire, know for its vast expansion and sprawling cityscapes. The cities acting as a changing entity that evolves in both logical planning and organic evolution often times brought on by the victories of war. These changing cities were subjected to many innovations, from arches, to the engineering of aqueducts which eventually leading to the first public toilets, baths, and sewage systems. Nevertheless, they did not evolve in just an engineering sense they also started created new building materials by combining tradition methods with new ideas which eventually lead to the creation of concrete.

The Arch and Dome were the most distinctive features of the ancient Roman architecture. Roman buildings significantly differed from those of Greek and so the new architectural style was created. Mainly because of high population densities and wealth in the cities, the ancient Romans discovered their own architectural solutions. In particular, they applied arches and vaults as well as building materials enabling them to attain the unprecedented progress in the construction of public structures. The Colosseum, the basilicas, the Baths of Caracalla and the baths of Diocletian, the aqueducts of Rome, the Pantheon, are all relevant proofs of genuinely Roman architectural innovations. These impressive buildings all served important public functions, In contrast to Greek aesthetic axioms; these objectives were attained with a wide scope of public effect. Roman architects and civil engineers used the skills necessary to build the best possible roads, bridges, baths, forums, theaters, etc. The works of the roman architects are so sufficient that they still stand today. These include arches, columns, roads, and buildings, such as theaters, amphitheaters, and circuses, which were designed for recreation. The Romans eagerly embraced Greeks’ sophistication, so much that it became the foundation. In one respect, however, Rome’s arched construction, in which a roof is

Even though the Romans had Greek influences their architecture was unlike anything that had come before it. Through the discovery of concrete, arches and vaulting the Roman’s architecture differed from the Egyptians, Greeks and Persians. The Egyptians, Greeks and Persians all had impressive architecture and were impressive when viewed from the outside. The Romans however began to create wondrous interiors which reflected the roman identity where what a human holds inside them is the most important and what is on the outside is

Chemistry and architecture empowered Rome to be a sustaining force across the Mediterranean. Through new chemistry, concrete (caementicium) developed into an enduring compound that transformed architecture with the use of the arch (arcus). The coupling of material and design were significant in the life of a developing Rome. The purpose of concrete and arches allowed architects to construct aqueducts, domes, and bridges while buildings such as the Colosseum and Pantheon displayed their opulence. Chemistry and architecture served the Rome Empire, but the pursuit to perfect concrete and the arch benefited humankind well beyond the ages.

The Roman arch held incredible importance regarding architecture. It was a supporting structure in a building that could carry a lot of weight. They achieved this not so much through the shape but rather the composition of these arcs. Furthermore, the Roman arch was significant in that the Romans (with their arcs) were then able to build massive structures like aqueducts. This feat of architecture freed architects to explore various different structures.

The Romans used the Greek system of architecture design and modeled many buildings after Greek structures.

(Kamm, Wilson,2006,2008,2009), We can first begin to look for the development of both the concrete and arch. Concrete made the Romans

Roman architects did not invent the Arch nor for that matter concrete, but they did however refine and apply these key architectural techniques and materials to sublime effect we will explore the impact the use of these two elements had on the development of Roman architecture, how they affected everyday life in Rome and the results of their use. . Some of the earliest evidence of the application of the arch date back to the second millennium BCE, the Romans adopted it from other cultures and were drawn to a number of key attributes of this shape. A popular parlour trick for illusionists is to place a crate of eggs between two solid surfaces and place a large weight on top of it, sometimes an adult. Counter intuitively the eggs do not break

Architecture was something that was also very similar between Rome and Greece. The Romans adopted the Greek orders of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthians but they made it their own. The Romans made Doric Columns taller and slimmer, they also used the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order and combined the volutes of the Ionic order to create what is called composite order. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans liked to use the Corinthian order the most, and the Doric the least, Roman architects also liked to use the engaged columns, which are columns attached to the walls, on the inside and outside of the

The Romans were extraordinary builders and professional civil engineers, and their flourishing civilization formed developments in technology, culture and architecture that endured for centuries. Ancient Rome had several qualities that made their civilization successful but most importantly through the advancements of technology and innovations that flourished throughout the ages that are still used in today’s society. The legacy lives through the inventions of the aqueducts, concrete, newspapers, battlefield surgery, bound books, roads and highways, roman arches, and the twelve tables. All of these inventions and innovations served as their own individual purpose that made the civilization boundless which is why I interested in this research topic.