How Did Roman Architecture Impact Society

     Rome's vast empire lasted for an amazing one thousand-year reign. Half of it referred to as the republic, and the other as the empire. However, after its fall in 5oo-a.d. Rome has still remained in existence through its strong culture, architecture, literature, and even religion (Spielvogel 175). Even after its disappearance as a nation Rome left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. Its ideals and traditions have been immolated, and adopted for over two thousand years. Whether, it is through its language of Latin, its influence of religion, or its amazing architectural ability Rome has influenced almost every culture following its demise. The heritage of Rome has

In popular culture and many history books Rome is portrayed as the pinnacle of culture before our modern times. Roman achievements such as aqueducts, thermal spas, roads, and the use of concrete are often highlighted to show how advanced technologically Rome was. Think of the film Gladiator and its depiction of the advanced coliseum. But imagine if Rome had never fallen. Would modern society be more advanced today? Quite the contrary would be true. It is actually medieval technology and society that progressed more rapidly than that of Rome, and if it weren’t for the fall of Rome, technology would have advanced much more slowly.

Roman architecture has influenced our modern-day society in many ways. One of the ways is by the construction of the Roman Colosseum in 72 A.D. The Roman Colosseum was the first major stadium or amphitheater to ever be built. Without the planning, construction, and techniques used for Roman Colosseum, we would not have some of the famous stadiums and amphitheaters that exist today.

The history of their architecture runs virtually in step with the history of their empire to an extent. As the Empire expanded so did the architecture, and as Romans became more magnificent their architecture followed. Roman architecture began as a form of worship. The first Roman architects were the ancient priests and dwellers who made areas of sacrifice and worship for their gods. At first, their homes were simple huts but as they grew smarter and more aware of their surroundings, making the building more complex than ever. So, like many arts, Roman architecture’s roots are embedded in the worshiping paid in religion. The Romans were, of course, not the first to practice many of their building philosophies. However, they built like no other society before them. Their methods showed and proved, efficiency and sophistication to construct a whole new look. With the rise of the Romans and the everlasting hail of Caesar after Caesar and Emperor after Emperor, Roman architecture expanded and influenced building over the world. Unlike the Empire, though, Roman design did not die at the hands of the Germanic’s, or rather at the hands of self-destruction; it continued to expand and play a part in every major style throughout history. Even through its empire’s own defeat, architecture has stood as an everlasting symbol of what Rome once was, and what the rest of the world is today. , Roman architecture cannot be looked at as a small period or cultural event, for it lives on today through the

To start off, one invention from ancient Rome that still has an effect on the modern world is our Transportation system. Transportation is used a lot it is still used to today for importing and exporting. (doc. 3) Some of us would not even be able to get to school without transportation like roads or subways. I am going to New York. I cannot go if I don’t have transportation like a plane or car. If you did not have transportation you would have to work at home and life would not work properly. As you can see, the transportation system from ancient Rome is still needed in our world today.

One of the things the Romans were famous for was their road system. There is a reason for the quote “All roads lead to Rome” (Doc.3) because it is definitely true. For example the Romans had over 85,000 km. of roads across their empire (Doc.3). There were three main uses of the Roman roads.

The romans had the Sea Lanes, that were roads that connected ports, making possible the transportation of grain from city to city, for example. They also had the Tiber River, which made the city grow a lot. It was the natural highway for traffic in Latium, and provided an early defense against neighbors. And the Roman Roads, that linked all the

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).

The Romans were known for their architecture which included their arch and dome creations which have been used in construction today. The Romans were big on the use of concrete which is also widely used today. The Romans are remembered for one of their most beautiful buildings known as the Pantheon. The Pantheon’s design is used in the U.S. today on most government buildings in Washington D.C. and all over the rest of the country. The Romans were also known for their magnificent coliseum. Today we used the coliseum’s design to build our modern day stadiums for sporting

To make travel easier, the Romans built roads which would aide the travel between villas and the city and the city’s baths were located south-east of town. Temples and their Doric architecture existed throughout Rome, her colonies and provinces and was used for the worship of Roman gods. Unlike temples, basilicas were situated in the center of town and was used as meeting halls, as well as conducting administrative

The aqueducts also gave birth to another landmark in building of early mega-structures: the arches. Through use of arches, aqueducts could be made taller and longer without using a lot of building materials. The aqueducts enabled expansion of Rome and helped keep the city clean. Through aqueducts the common Roman citizen had access to running water, a quantum leap in the civic amenities as per many experts.

Roman arches are of great importance, not only to Rome but to the world as a whole. The arch was not invented by the Romans, as arches have been used in cultures far predating the Romans; however, the Romans did find a way to perfect the arch. Before the Romans, arches were used to support relatively small amounts of weight, such as in storerooms, these arches limited the scale of buildings they supported. The Romans however used arches to support immense amounts of weight. The reason for the arches newfound strength lies not with the shape of the arch, but within the material used to construct it. Through the invention of concrete, Romans were able to construct arches that would hold the weight of structures such as the aqueduct, which provided water to entire cities. Soon, several cultures adopted the Roman arch to support their own

The ancient Romans were skilled engineers and have left lasting contributions in this field. The Romans built a great network of roads connecting cities throughout their empire. They also built aqueducts and bridges using arches for support. The Roman arch design was by far the most important innovation of their time. The arch, however, would have been useless without the discovery of concrete. The Romans had many other such discoveries that would make their engineering skills known throughout the world.

In ancient Rome, architecture and engineering were highly regarded. It contributed much to Rome’s development, power, as well as the longevity of such an immense and substantial empire. Architecture displayed an immense amount of workmanship as well as innovation. This is seen through Rome engineers as they created the concept of concrete, constructed the famous Roman aqueducts, and the luxurious Roman baths. Roman’s were clearly superior engineers compared to their competitors because Roman engineers developed new and innovative concepts that were never introduced before, therefore contributing to the success of the Roman Empire.

As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” however long it took to build the capital, the days, months, years, centuries of work can be viewed as a long lasting landmark which paved the way for new and challenging architecture to come (How Roman architecture influenced modern architecture [sa]). According to Tony Rook (2013: [sp] ch.2) the typical Roman temple shows the Etruscan tradition combined with the Greek one. Although some of their premature concepts were acquired from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, Roman architects transformed the body of architecture for all time to come, offering buildings and structures that has never been before, along the side of public buildings and infrastructure that could be used by