A brief history of Roman architecture & a bonus Museum Guide

How Rome was founded and grew:

The legend goes a little something like this: Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus, the twins attributed to the god of Mars (who was considered the god of war). The king of a nearby area left the twins in a basket in the Tiber River, intending for them to drown when they were babies. A she-wolf rescued the twins and raised them as her own. The twins later defeated the king and founded the town of Rome in 753 B.C. Romulus killed Remus and became the first king of Rome which is how the name of the town came to be. The monrachy ended in 509 B.C and from that point on, Rome became a republic ruled by a sentae which consisted of weathly landowners. The next 450 years saw the conquering of the rest of Italy, and expanded to Turkey, France, Greece, Spain and North Africa. Greece heavily influenced Rome in terms of architecture and gold from Greece. The ever present human condition of greed caused the collapse of the Republic through civil war. Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra and thus the Roman Empire began in 31 BCE . Octavian later became known as Augustus and although the senate ran the country, the emperor had absolute power. Subsequent emperors expanded the empire further and Rome flourished as the “eternal city”.

Roman Architecture: Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum Romanum:

The Greek influnces on the architectural and sculptural styles found in Rome cannot be undervalued. The Greeks build their structures with a post and lintel system (two posts and a beam across). This building technique allowed for beautiful exteriors but left much to be desired with regard to interior spaces.The buildings could only be so large because of the weight of the lintel. The Romans experimented with concrete, vaulting and arches and their building techniques quickly surpassed all others in existence. They focused on the creation of open interiors rather than relying on support beams throughout. One peek into the Parthenon and you will see the obvious mastery they had achieved.

Roman concrete (opus caementicium), was developed early in the 2nd c. BCE. While concrete had been on the scene prior to Rome’s expansion and used by other cultures, the Romans added volcanic Italian sand (also known as “pozzolana”) to the mortar recipe that was widely used at this time and found that this particular sand made their mortar incredibly stable and strong. It could even set underwater! Concrete isn’t all that pretty to look at so bricks and marble were added to the surfaces for an aesthtic improvement. The Romans also began using molds so that they could create unique shapes. The BIG advance in engineering was the innovation of the true arch. A true arch utilizes large wedge shaped stones and a keystone at center. The tension holds the arch in place and true arches can span wider openings than post and lintel architecture.

The Romans also built aqueducts which brought water into the cities and increased sanitation. Bath houses became popular because of the stable water source. In addition, most cities included a circus which is an arena where chariot races were held.

Amphitheatres were built to house audiences, the most famous is of course, the Flavian Amphiteatre, widely known as The Colosseum.

The Colosseum:

A great fire burned a large percentage of the city and the emperor at that time, Nero, decided to build his palace in this area rather than rebuild this area of the city for the people. This didn’t go over well and Nero was deposed by Emperor Vespasian and he had Nero’s palace complex torn down, ordering that the Colosseum be built on top of what had been an artificial lake. The majority of the building was completed by some 60,000-100,000Jewish slaves (there is a long and not so wonderful history of how the Jewish population was treated in Rome for many years. The history of the Jewish Ghetto in Rome is a worthwhile topic to research). The Colosseum was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, because it was built by Emperors Vespasian and his sons, successors to Nero of the Flavian dynasty and it was completed in 80 A.D.

The Colosseum is 620 ft. long (189 meters), 511 ft. wide (156 meters) and 159 ft. (48.5 meters) tall. The outer walls contain 80 archways. This allowed the 50,000-80,000 spectators to enter and exit quickly. Three types of column orders were used in the construction. The orders describe the form and decoration of Greek and later, Roman columns.

Doric: the simplest type of column which has no decoration at the capital (the top section of the column).It is a simple rectangle placed at the top.

Ionic: Slightly fancier and less masculine than the Doric capitals, Ionic capitals have are scrolled at the top of the column.

Corinthian: the most decorative column capital, this column order is fancier and more feminine than the Doric and Ionic. Acanthus leaves are carved at the top of the columns. The symbolism of the Acanthus leaf is associated with rebirth and immortality.

The Romans used Doric on the bottom level columns, Ionic on the mid-level columns and Corinthian on the top level columns. This gave the feeling of the building looking lighter as the height increased. Doric orders are so devoid of decoration that they feel “heavy” and this purposeful placement of the column capital styles enhanced the building’s aesthetics. The Colosseum was built with 100,000 cubic meters of travertine stone as well as concrete and brick.

A Corinthian column order from the Colosseum.

It is estimated that some 400,000 people were killed for bloodsport over the course of the 350 years the Colosseum was used for this purpose. Not all battles were like those seen in the movies. Some of the Gladiator battles were a lot like modern day boxing matches with different classes of fighters and not all Gladiators died in each battle. Some of them lived long lives as fighters! Animals, slaves, gladiators and prisoners were all held in the hypogeum- the underground labrynth of tunnels and chambers below the floor of the arena. There were 80 vertical shafts to access the arena from the hypogeum, as well as an extensive network of trap doors through which scenery elements could be deployed during the spectacles.

The Colosseum has survived earthquakes and fires over the years, sustaining fairly significant damage. Active conservation is ongoing.

When you visit, you will notice a lot of holes in the outer walls and some interior spaces. These are remnants of the time when the marble was being mined/recycled for other buildings in the city. Obviously this is no longer in practice and was stopped before the Colosseum was completey destroyed. Pfew!

Palatine Hill

Rome has 7 hills surrounding the city and the most well known is Palatine HIll. This is where the she-wolf is said to have nursed Romulus and Remus and is where the wealthy and powerful lived, it was the ritzy area in ancient Rome. Emperor Vespasian’s two sons, Titus and Domitian were patrons of the Hill. As mentioned earlier, Titus was responsible for ordering that the Colosseum be built. He died at age 42, likely of malaria and didn’t have any heirs so his brother Domitian became emperor. He was not popular and was a ruthless ruler. Despite his lack of popularity, Domitian is repsonsible for building some incredible places in Rome, much of which we can still see in ruins today. The Palace of Domitian sat on Palatine Hill and was massive. It was comprised of 3 sections:

The Domus Flavia :contained public rooms for conducting business.

The Domus Augustana: the residential section of the palace and is expansive. It is the main section of the complex.

The garden/ stadium: a long, elongated arena that is thought to be a private garden for Domitian though some have proposed the idea that it was used for private entertainment such as greek-style foot races.

It can be hard to imagine just how extravagant the palace was but if you are intersted in seeing a reconstruction, you should definitely check out the amazing 3D reconstruction video I’ve included. It brings it to life! You’ll recognize the garden area with foundation that you see in the last photo below. It’s pretty cool. Notice how worn the marble is!

The Farnese Gardens:

Established by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1550 on the northern slopes of the Palatine, the terraced Horti Farnesiani featured aviaries and ancient sculptures and were the first private botanical gardens in Europe. The juxtaposition of ancient ruins and these beautiful gardens of the 16th century is fascinating. The gardens continued the feeling of opulance on Palatine until the 18th century when the gardens fell into disrepair. The two pavillions at the top of the hill overlooking the Forum grounds are almost all that is left. Luckily for us, these gardens have been restored and are open to the public. The pavillions used to be aviaries and the fountain which sits below and in the middle of them is a wonderful spot to visit. If you search for photos of the fountain pre-restoration, you’ll quickly appreciate all of the work that has been done to bring the gardens back to life.

If you’d like to read more about this magnificent place, I recommend visiting this blog , it’s extremely thorough, well researched and has loads of photos to peruse.

Forum Romanum:

It is breathtaking, it defies any expectation you might have prior to arrival and you can literally feel the power of this place. Roughly 4.5 million visitors each year will agree, it is a must see site.

Did you know that the Roman Forum lay hidden underneath a cow pasture and quarry until archeaologist Carlo Fea rediscovered it in 1803.? Me either but apparently it’s true! It was unearthed and excavated as far down as 15 meters. Imagine being Carlos! Bragging rights!

The valley where the Forum is located was prone to flooding from rain and the Tiber River so in the 6th century BCE, a canal was built for drainage and landfill projects took place raising the usable land area to dry land. The Forum grounds had humble beginnings as a marketplace for day to day shopping. Eventually temples and buildings were erected starting with the early Republic era, as leaders soon found the value of its location just below the Palatine Hill for a civic center because of it’s proximity to rulers and wealthy townspeople.

The Temple of Saturn is considered the first temple at the Forum site. Several other temples followed and many have been rebuilt over the centuries or added upon so it can be hard to know the exact chronology of the earliest features. The first Temple of Saturn was built around 498 B.C. and is considered one of the earliest temples in the Roman Forum. But it was rebuilt years later, and the current ruins date back to roughly 42 B.C. This building was dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and was used as a treasury—where Rome’s money was managed and kept.

Temple of Vesta, focused on the maternal elements of the archaic state as well as safeguarding the cult of Vesta and the sacred, eternal hearth flame of the Roman people. The temple was at first crude be several iterations occurred and the Severan family carried out the final significant restoration of the Temple of Vesta in 191 C.E.

The Forum can be hard to decipher because buildings were added to or rebuilt several times over.

The Arch of Titus is the oldest of the classic Roman triumphal arches. It was erected after the death of Titus by his successor Domitian (who was also his brother).

The Curia is the senate house where the senate would meet and handle business affairs. Though rebuilt several times due to fires and other damage, it is one of the best preserved buildings due to its transformation into a Catholic church in the 7th century.

The Temple of Romulus is another well preserved building which was dedicated to Valerius Romulus in 309 CE. The temple was later converted into a church, the Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano.

The Temple of Caesar is an interesting site. The only element still standing is the altar. Caesar was the first Roman citizen to be deified. The temple was erected at the site of his cremation and was built by Augustus, his adopted son. Today, only part of the cement core of the platform from which speeches would be made has been preserved. In the 15th century the temple stones were used for other buildings. Bummer! Beware, the Ides of March!

Basilica of Constantine was the largest building in the Forum.Only three soaring vaulted arches remain of but it is still an imposing structure that towers over its surroundings. Finished by the Emperor Constantine in 303, it was begun by his predecessor, Maxentius.

Take your time strolling down the Sacra Via, the Forum’s main street. It extends to the Colossuem and used to be lined with columns. You can still see wagon wheel marks etched into the stones from frequent use.

Ancient Basilica Rome — Basilica of Constantine

Most of the ancient buildings and sites were destroyed in 410 A.D. as the Empire fell. It took 100 years for excavations to be completed. Efforts to restore are ongoing and new discoveries are still being made! In 2009 archaeologists found food scraps and pottery that date back to more than a century before when most experts believe Rome was founded. The Eternal City still has its secrets!

The Pantheon:

The Pantheon was built between 125-128 AD. This time period for construction tells us that the Pantheon was built under the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
The name Pantheon comes from the Greek words pan and theon, which mean all and gods, so it is known as the temple for “all gods”. The Pantheon was actually built on the site of another Pantheon. The first building was built by Marcus Agrippa around 27 AD to celebrate the victory of his father-in-law, the emperor Augustus, at Actium over Antony and Cleopatra. However, this building was completely destroyed by a fire.

Domitian had the Pantheon restored in 80 AD, only to have it struck by lightening and burnt to the ground again in 110 AD. The remains of the Pantheon were left in place for nearly eight years until Hadrian became emperor. His building is the Pantheon that still stands today. Hadrian felt a strong sense of history so he included the inscription that states it was built by “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, who was counsel three times” to retain the original history of the building site.

The Pantheon once stood on a podium and was approached by stairs and a colonnaded square but the city has since grown around it and the modern street levels are now higher. You can see evidence of this if you look a the left side of the building from the front. Centuries of dirt and street construction now hide the its podium and stairs. This sunken effect makes the Pantheon seem like a sentry amid the noise and pace of modern times. It is sturdy in appearance and seems almost stubborn in this setting. It has dug its heels in and has spent hundreds of years refusing to be destroyed like its predecessors. It is different than the other ancients in my opinion. Perhaps because it is not cordoned off like the Colosseum and the Forum are.

The interior of the Pantheon is truly a marvel. The walls are 20 feet thick and rise 75 feet! These extra thick walls support the dome which is 143 feet in diameter and the eye is drawn upward to the 29 foot in diameter oculus. An oculus is a central opening and it lets the light into the temple. The sunken ceiling panels (coffers) follow the circular pattern of the dome. A beautiful, multi-color marble veneer disguises the sophisticated engineering of the internal brick arches and concrete structure . More than half of the original decorative marble survives. There are also 7 niches inside the Pantheon which originally housed sculptures of the gods. The engineering of this building is highly complex and it is an amazing experience visiting this ancient sentry. It is of course, very busy. I suggest buying tickets well in advance and try to visit in the early morning hours to avoid the crowds.

Rome Museum Guide: coming soon!