Architecture in Rome Ancient Roman architecture took certain architectural aspects from different areas to create a unique and highly admired form of architecture. However, they were not able to do this overnight. In fact, for the first few centuries after it was founded, the people of Rome resided in very basic huts with no outstanding architectural merit. According to oxford dictionary a hut is “a dwelling of ruder and meaner construction and (usually) smaller than a house.” It was under the rule of the Etruscans that they developed more complex structures that served specific purposes, such as a temple dedicated to a god. The Etruscans themselves borrowed many aspects of their architectural designs from Ancient Greece and expanded upon it. One may notice that the time that Rome began its first step into architectural greatness was around 509 BC, when it became Republican Rome. “With the expulsion of the Etruscan kings Rome was free to shape her own destinies” (Sear 14). Since Rome was finally free from the constraints of its conquerors it now had the liberty to create whatever they wished in whatever manner they preferred. Though evidence of Greek influence could still be found, Rome began to develop a style of their own; however, once Rome conquered nations across the Mediterranean Sea it incorporated many of the building designs which were reflected in the buildings of their capital. Imperial Rome is seen as both the lowest and highest point in Rome’s history. During this time Rome began creative large amounts of innovative and massive structures that symbolized the fact that Rome was the dominant power in the ancient world. It was duing this time that Rome modified some of its earlier principles to be utilized in government and religious buildings. Also around this time was when cement began to play a vital role in the ability to construct ornate arches and complex domes. Another significant change was the increased use of marble in construction rather than brick.

EARLY ROME Everything must start from small beginnings and Roman architecture is no exception to the rule. The earliest information that can be found on Roman architecture show that the majority of the buildings were nothing more than simple huts with a small place to give offerings to their gods. But as the Etruscans took control and studied Greek techniques, buildings of stone with terra cotta decorations began to emerge. This was a huge jump from the earlier style. As the population started to grow, the Etruscans drained the swampy area between the Capitoline Hill and the Palatine Hill to construct the Cloaca Maxima, an extensive covered drain system that enabled the area to stay dry. This was an important site that would later become the site of the Roman Forum.
To ensure that the city was protected, a network of walls were constructed around the seven hills of Rome; however, only fragments of the original wall remains as it was either built over entirely or scavenged during the creation of other structures. Another large structure built by the Etruscans was the Temple of Jupiter, which included columns and terra cotta status along the edges of the roof. Once Rome rid itself of the Etruscan rule, it was able to build as it pleased. Magnificent temples were contruscted in honor to their gods, with influence from Greek structures, and the Regia, which was the first royal palace for Rome’s own kings. Middle class housing also saw improvement as well. Instead of being built primarily of mud brick and wood, they were being made more out of stone. The Cloaca Maxima also gave the urban population a much better hygiene than the majority of other cities at the time. Unfortunately, very few of these buildings remain because they were constructed in what later became the center of Rome; therefore, they were deconstructed and built over. The Cloaca Maxima does still exist today; exit tunnels can be viewed along the banks of the Tiber River.

REPULICAN ROME Perhaps one of the easiest yardsticks by which it is possible to measure the greatness of any civilization is its architecture: the basic concepts that motivated it and what remains today. Architecture really does reflect the wealth and power of a civilization, and Rome fits this perfectly since many of their structures survive to this day. Republican Rome was the point in time when the city truly established itself as the greatest city in the known world. In the span of just a few centuries it was able to conquer entire cultures; this gave Rome the inspiration to reflect this in their capital city. The greatest architectural construction during this time was the Roman Forum. The Forum was composed of a central plaza surrounded by some of the most notable buildings in ancient Rome. Among those buildings were temples to several of the major gods, such as Saturn and Vesta. The large area that was used for public assemble was known as the Comitium. The Curia buildings, also known as the Senate House, were constructed and reconstructed many times. The first of the Curia buildings to be constructed was the Curia Hostilia. The Curia Cornelia was the second one to be built, and was constructed over a large part of the Comitium. There were many Curia during this time, but the most prominent ones could be found in the Roman Forum. The huge building located at one end of the Forum was known as the Tabularium. The Tabularium housed the official records and contained offices for almost all the Senate and other political positions. The area that served as the economic center of Rome was the Basilica Aemilia. Since the Basilica Aemilia was originally constructed as a royal palace it was built with multiple arches, an elaborate façade, a bronze tile roof, and marble floors. On the other side of the Forum was the Temple of Vesta, and directly behind the temple was the home of the Vestal virgins. For centuries the Forum served as the economic and political center for Rome, and during Imperial Rome even more additions were made. Though this was the main place for commerce and government to take place, there were other markets, government buildings, and places of assembly scattered throughout the city. Another architectural advancement of Republican Rome was the individual citizen’s home. Almost all of the houses were symmetrical and followed a set layout. Located in the center of the house was an atrium, usually containing a garden and possibly a statue of the family’s god, for richer homes it might contain a small pool. All the hallways leading to the other rooms connected to the atrium through arched columns. Each of the rooms were evenly spaced around the center hallway. In the more urban areas of Rome, people resided in insulae. Insulae were apartment block that were as tall as six stories. Depending on who would reside in them the insulae would have been constructed of different materials. The more expensive insulae were constructed from marble, while the less expensive ones were made from mud brick. The floor plan itself was the same regardless of the material used. Each floor consisted of one apartment with the hallway that led to the rooms open to the street facing side. There is evidence to support that in the middle of a block there was something similar to an atrium. Located in this atrium was a garden or a bath that was accessible to all residents of the apartment block. A majority of the apartments also had running water and some form of a sewage system. The main problem with this style of living was the fact that they were prone to fires. One of the most notable public buildings of Ancient Rome are the baths, also known as thermae. These buildings were highly utilized by Romans and served as more than just places for hygiene. Contained inside the baths were courts, libraries, public speaking places, shops, places of worship, and many other luxuries. The thermae were a place of socialization and of great cultural importance. Often the thermae has large vaulted ceilings, a custom practice in Roman architecture. Theatres in Rome also play a large part in the daily life of a Roman. One of the first structures to be made entirely out of stone in the city of Rome was the theatre. The greatest example of a Roman theatre is the Theatre of Pompey. It is the biggest theatre ever built in the city of Rome and was even the largest in the world up until modern times. The stage area, or the scanae frons as it was known back then, has a multistoried wall with a colonnaded front. This theatre was used as a basis for all the other latter theatres.
IMPERIAL ROME As Rome grew stronger and reached the height of its power, the buildings reflected this change. During the centuries that the Roman Empire existed, the buildings and structures were some of the most magnificent in the world. By using concrete they were able to build more complex structures than most civilizations. During this time, architects were able to access unlimited resources for construction political buildings; stone could be transported across the empire to create effects such as the way color affected shadow and refracted light. “The architects of the High Empire reworked the old designs with great virtuosity into varied ensembles of fresh power” (Brown 33). Brown basically meant that the large and innovative structures in Rome were a great influence to many other places throughout the empire. As the government began to evolve, so too did the architectural techniques. Cement was invented and became a popular product to use when constructing vaulted ceilings and high, elaborate domes. Cement was utilized by putting a thick, lime rich cement to the base then using lighter cement as progress continued upwards. Large blocks of stone were lifted using slave operated cranes that operated by slaves walking around a circle-shaped treadmill. Due to the interconnectivity of the empire, new materials were readily available which allowed for more creative forms of construction. One example of this is the Pantheon. One place that experienced a major change was the Roman Forum. A large number of new structures were added, one being the Basilica Julia. The Senate House was rebuilt in 29 B.C. and renamed the Curia Julia. This time the Senate House did not interfere with the Comitium. Its religious importance was strengthened with the addition of the Temple of Romulus, the Temple of Antoninus, and the Temple of Faustina. Also added to the Roman Forum was the Forum of Caesar. However, another forum was also constructed known as Trajan’s Forum. Trajan’s Forum was a large project started under the orders of Emperor Trajan, with the funding being provided by the spoils from the conquest of Dacia. Apollodorus of Damascus, a man who accompanied Trajan in the Dacian campaign, was the one to design it. The Trajan Forum was built between the Capitoline and Quirinal hills. It consisted of a large square which was surrounded by the Basilica Ulpia, this shifted economic and political power to the Trajan Forum. The Trajan Markets were constructed in the square as well. The Trajan markets were a multi-level complex and the front was screened by many columns. On one end of the Forum was a temple dedicated to Trajan. On both sides of the square were libraries. One of the libraries contained Latin documents and the other contained Greek. Between the two libraries sat the Trajan’s Column which is still standing to this day. Trajan’s Column is 125 feet tall and made entirely out of marble. Displayed on the column are the battles and events of the Dacian Wars beginning at the bottom of the column and spiraling upward until the top. The Trajan Forum remained the central place until the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine were built in the Roman Forum. This shifted the power away from the Trajan Forum and back to the Roman Forum. This was the biggest structure to be constructed at the time. It utilized the most advanced engineering and borrowed styles from the Baths of Diocletian and the Markets of Trajan. During this era the house design for Roman citizens did not change very much. It stayed a place where one could return to that was leisurely and not completely structured and ordered, it was the one place where one did not have to be formal. This solitude was a critical part of Roman culture and the informality was shared by the empire to the poorest home-owner. The most extravagant palace in the Empire was the emperor’s place. It contained a large number of gardens, atriums, courtyards, and a personal bath and library. During the Roman Empire, baths reached the height of their design. They were built with the most advanced technology, contained many facilities for leisure, and were constructed on a larger scale than was not imaginable before this era. The baths were a set of complex spaces that were used for more than just bathing; they had gardens, lounges, sports grounds, lecture halls, and libraries. The Baths of Caracalla complex spanned 33 acres and is one of the first to contain a library. The largest and most lavish baths ever built were the Baths of Diocletian. The Roman theatres are some of the most well known structures that are still standing today. There were multitudes built within the city and even more built outside of Rome itself; furthermore, their designs were all based off the theatres in the capital. Another structure that was built around this time was amphitheatres. Amphitheatres were a place where the masses would attend to witness gladiatorial fights and other bloody events. The most well known amphitheatre was the Flavian Amphitheatre, also known as the Coliseum. The Coliseum was the greatest amphitheatre to built for over a thousand years, and evidence of its influence can even been seen in modern football stadiums. The Coliseum was large enough to house 50,000 people, which rivals modern stadium seating today. The arches on the Coliseum were the only structure that could support the upper floors without restricting access inside; on the other hand, the columns are nothing more than for decoration. The Coliseum was home to many gladiatorial battles and fights with dangerous and exotic beasts that were often shipped to Rome for the entertainment of the masses. One of the most elaborate combat that occurred in the Coliseum was when they flooded the staging floor to allow naval battles. The arch from Roman architecture played a major role in many structures, but one of the most important structures it was used in was the aqueduct. The aqueduct’s purpose was to supply Rome with massive amounts of fresh water every day. Over 300 million gallons of fresh water was supplied to Rome daily. This is more than the amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls in one day. About 500 kilometers of aqueduct feed into Rome with a majority of it being underground to prevent contamination. The parts that are above ground are spectacular due to the fact that when faced with rough terrain, the Romans stacked multiple rows of arches on each other to make it possible to cross a ravine. The amount of precision that went into creating the aqueducts is truly amazing as well. The largest amount of variation is no more than thirty-four centimeters over one kilometer. This feat of engineering is truly astounding based on size and precision given the technology available for building during this time.

CONCLUSION When Rome was first starting out, the owed their architectural advancements to the Etruscans who changed the small farming village on the Tiber banks into a successful city. As the Republic of Rome began to advance, the complexity and design began to improve and new creations were introduced with the influence from cultures during Rome’s conquest. It was these conquests that gave Rome its wealth and the inspiration it required to construct massive buildings. Throughout the Empire, astounding and massive structures were being constructed to reflect the increase in Roman power and influence. “It is said of Augustus that he found Rome a city built of bricks but left it a city built of marble” (Clayton 22). This statement is a very accurate reflection of the way Rome was reconstructed during its era as an empire and the dominant power of the world. From start to finish, the concept of architecture in Rome was formed on the basis of shaping matter around space. As the empire grew and expanded this only began to become more complex and meaningful, but the foundation on which it was built never changed.

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