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Humanities in Ancient Rome

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Humanities in Ancient Rome
2-14-2013
T-TR 12:30-1:45
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Ancient Rome was a turning point in history. It is considered by many to be one of the most important and influential societies to ever dominate Earth. At Rome’s peak in the history of civilization, one could not go anywhere from Spain to Saudi Arabia without being influenced in some way or another by the empire. Over the twelve centuries of Rome’s existence, it produced hundreds upon thousands of architects, musicians, playwrights, actors, sculptures and many other artists of all kinds. Arguably though, Rome is most known for its stunning architecture, classic sculptures and beautiful paintings. The architecture of ancient Rome was born out of necessity rather than for …show more content…

Over the years however, it was used for an even larger variety of purposes such as a fortress, quarry, workshops, housing and even a Christian shrine. It stood as the shining point of the Roman Empire. Any visitors from foreign lands would come into the city and see the massive structure and be awed. It was four stories high, had access to running water, was surrounded by artificial lakes, gardens and pavilions and could seat comfortably a large portion of Rome’s ever growing population. The building still stands today even after the devastating natural disasters, such as earthquakes and the Great Fire of Rome, and stone robbers. Roman architecture is something to be awed by. It combined ingenuity with a great usage of tools and materials. This begs the question of how in the world did the Romans build such large and incredible structures so long ago? The answer is they discovered a building material so impressive it is still used today, and every day, in construction sites all over the world; concrete. It is hard to find a historically accurate date in which concrete was discovered, but scholars believe it was put into use around the middle of the first century. It was used throughout the entire Roman Empire for all of their building and construction needs and concrete was the answer. It was “hydraulic-setting cement” and shared many of the same qualities as the modern Portland cement. The cement consisted of volcanic dusts,

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