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Roman Architecture Today

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Roman Architecture Today
Randy Hilliard

Randy Hilliard 2
HUMN 101-C02
03/10/12

Roman Architecture Today

The Basilica of Constantine in ancient Rome is remarkable in it's scale and purpose. It had multiple rooms designed for any number of uses. Political gatherings, business meetings, and several other types of functions. It was located in the heart of the Roman city. Looking closely at this structure, I thought of one such structure today that is very similar in both structure and use to this great basilica of Roman times. The Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.
It is in the shape of a circular or oval building, with the roof in a great dome shape, just like the Romans used in the Basilica of Constantine. The Georgia Dome has a huge opening in the middle of the building, with thousands of seats aranged around it so that everyone would be facing the center of the arena as they sat down. Behind these seats and out along the outer part of the building are hundreds of rooms ranging in use from private viewing areas, concession stands where you can eat, rooms for business meetings and several other uses.
This building resembles the Basilica of Constantine in all of these ways, but it also has similarities to the ancient Colosseum of Rome. People gathered here to watch ancient games and battles of gladiators. In this sense, the Georgia Dome is used for football games, concerts, wrestling events as well as other events that attracts thousands of people at a time. Whether we realize it or not, Roman influences have stretched across generations to modern day buildings, highways and

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