Tuscan Order - Close to Roman Doric but the columns don't have fluting

Composite Order - Combination of Ionic and Corithian, large scale valutes and acanthus leaves

Innovation

Clearly the Romans were excellent engineers and this allowed enormous freedom to architecture. Destructive fires in the city pushed innovations such as the use of pozzolanic concrete. Concrete not only allowed fire-prone materials to be eliminated but its greater strength permitted the construction of enormous structures which until then had been impossible to conceive. The enormous, single-span, dome of the Pantheon is one such example. Other architectural innovations can be found in great buildings such as the Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden House. Its vast dimensions allowed the designers to surprise the visitor with unexpected features such as the vaulted octagonal room. The Domus Aurea also gives us an interesting parallel with the architects and buildings of later periods. For example it is interesting to note how the Romans enjoyed using false structural features to aesthetic ends like building false vaults into their ceilings. These could be plastered and painted as in the Domus Aurea but in fact they performed no real weight-bearing function. There is merely a space between them and the beams of the floor above, which at best provided the function of improved insulation and sound proofing. I find an interesting similarity and counterpoise to this in the Gothic aesthetic trick of accentuating the structural ribs of churches in order to render a stronger sensation of height rather than to actually perform a structural function. The manipulation of "space" in Roman architecture also shows through in the arts closely associated with Roman architecture. For example in Roman mosaics we see a breadth of solutions which manipulate the sense of space through a modular "flat" approach which enhances overall size versus a central "emblema" which creates a focus in the centre - a device rather similar to that employed during the Roman Baroque and counter reformation when the altar was placed closer to the centre of the church.

Likewise in ancient Roman painting applied to architecture we find a range of solutions subdivided into the well known 4 styles of Roman painting which show a continued preoccupation with the wall as a surface which can either act as limit and support or as something to be broken down through illusionary space to be viewed from different positions as one moves around the architecture (eg Piazza Armerina villa). Recognition of the surface brought manipulation of flat colour as a vehicle for conveying space (rather like a Mondrian painting) or by neutralising colour and overlaying images of imaginary creaturs: later known as "grotesque" because of the findings in Nero's Domus Aurea which when found was more like a series of underground grottos. At the height of the empire we find the first examples of apartment buildings which could reach as many as three or four floors. These apartment blocks were made according to predefined models with the apartments conceived as modules. Rather than looking inwards towards a central courtyard the apartments now looked outwards to the surrounding streets. We therefore see the first modern concepts of urban planning. The great baths are a tribute to the position and status of the individual the "civis". They naturally abounded in what was regarded most noble: water, columns and vaults with cladding of precious marbles and mosaics. The acqueducts are a tribute to the opulence of the state and its dominance over nature and the ravages of the world outside the city walls. We cannot, of course, forget the greatest of Roman pass-times: the circus. This was in many ways an extension of the Greek Amphitheater but developed to include the shows which were closest to the passions of the common man of Rome: naval battles, racing chariots, blood and gore and yet more blood. The greatest innovation and invention of Roman architecture was not a conceptual one rather than one of engineering; at first well aligned with political propagandistic drives and later put to use for religious (Christian) motivations: the manipulation of internal space to create an interplay between "inside" and "outside" and hence completely transform the individual's perception of the space and his position within society and "reality".

Fortuna Primigenia is an old Goddess of Fate and Luck in Roman myth whose worship was centered around the city of Praeneste, the modern Palestrina in Italy. Praeneste was a city of the Latini tribe in the region of Italy named Latium for them, and was located about 20 miles southeast of Rome, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. There Fortuna Primigenia had a great temple complex and an oracle, appropriate to a Goddess of Fate. Her name was often interpreted as "First-born" or "Eldest", and taken to mean that She was the eldest daughter of Jupiter; so She was also called puer Jouis, or "Child of Jupiter". However, the title Primigenia should be more properly taken to mean "Primordial" or "Original" Fortune, as it refers to the antiquity of Her worship at Praeneste, which was older than that at Rome. As Praeneste was often at odds with Rome during the Republic, and not made part of Rome until the first century BCE, Fortuna Primigenia was regarded as a "foreign" Goddess by the somewhat xenophobic Romans, though they did come to embrace Her in time.

As the "First-born" daughter of Jupiter, Fortuna Primigenia was believed to fix the new-born child's destiny or fate. Her name could also be interpreted as "First-bearer", as in the first to bear children; and She was depicted as suckling two infant children, who were said to be Juno and Jupiter, i.e., the supreme female and male principles, symbolizing totality as Mother and Father Deities. Naturally as a Goddess connected with childbirth, She was especially favored by married women. Her temple complex in Praeneste was built into the side of a great hill, and had several levels of terraces and staircases, a basilica, and curia (meeting-hall), with the small circular temple to Fortuna at the top. It was a huge complex, measuring 1300-plus feet at the base of it and stretching vertically up the hillside for 450 feet, and it incorporated two reservoirs which provided water for a great fountain as well as for the surrounding town. The ruins today are very impressive, though a palace was built on the foundations in the Renaissance; following the original layout, it kept the semicircular shape of the colonnade just below the temple (alas, the temple itself has long since vanished), as is not uncommon of medieval or Renaissance structures built over ancient sites, since it's easier to built on foundations that are already there than to take them apart and start from scratch. On the oldest level, that of the basilica, are two small caves or grottoes, the one to the west most likely being the original shrine of Fortuna around which the complex was built. The temple of Fortuna Primigenia was one of the largest in ancient Italy, if not the largest, and owing to its spectacular situation on a hill, could be seen from all over

Latium, even from as far away as Rome.

The aqueducts and bridges in Roman period exist in Rome, Merida, Segovia, Tarragon in Spain and Nimes in France. Pont du Gard in Nimes is one of the famous one which preserve original style of Augustus era. Now the bridge exists about 300m long, 49m above of the river. The bottom arches, which spans are 15.75m to 21.5m, are about 155m long, 20m high. On the top of the bottom arches is a 7m wide road which has expanded for the trafic of cars in 1743. The middle arches are same spans of the bottom arches and the length is about 265m in total. The height of middle part is about 21m and width is 5m. On the top of the 35 small arches, about 8.5m high 3m wide, support the waterway. The big arch, the bottom arch and middle arch, have 3 times or 4 times of the small arch in span and 6 times of the small arch in height. There was only 17m fall from the headwaters to Nimes and that meant the incline was 34cm per 1km.

Arch

The Romans not only demonstrated their power to adapt what already existed to many purposes in their use of the arch, but in that of the various orders of architecture also; they not only employed these in ways not before known, but they combined features of different orders, and created the so-called composite capitals and bases. In the Colosseum, for example, we see two styles most inappropriately used. The entire structure is arched, and a net, as it were, of Grecian columns, supporting an entablature, applied to it. The first glance reveals its faults, and a regret that buttresses were not used is involuntary; these would appear to sustain the whole, and would have added an effect of vast strength as a constructive element; while the columns used have the effect of sustaining the entablature only, and of adding their own burden to what the arches already had to bear. The Roman Doric, derived from the Greek, differs from it through the introduction of an independent base, and certain ornamental additions to the capital. This order was used in Roman forums, courtyards, etc., and in the three-quarter columns in arcades, as well as for useful supports in civil buildings; but no purely Greek temple existed in the entire Roman territory. It would seem that these exquisite edifices, in the perfection of Greek refinement, were too sublimated in effect to please the ruder Romans. The Ionic order suffered absolute degradation at the hands of the Romans, who appear neither to have understood nor appreciated this column. However, their structures were so lofty that they found it necessary to use the three orders of pillars, one above the other, and so placed the Ionic in the centre. Two capitals from the Temple of Concord, now in the Palace of the Conservators, having a pair of rams' heads at each corner, show the degeneration to which Ionic capitals were subjected. It is to be deplored that the two orders which had reached perfection in Greece were not appreciated and properly used at Rome.

With the Corinthian order it was quite different. That was still incomplete in the estimation of the Hellenes; for while exquisite in design and grace, the Greeks had not given it the strength which is an indispensable feature of a supporting architectural member. This the Romans accomplished, or perhaps it would be more just to say that Greek artists perfected this order in Rome. Within the Roman territory the Corinthian order underwent many modifications; and it is stated that as many as fifty varieties of Corinthian capitals were produced for Roman uses during the three fruitful centuries mentioned above. They vary from the elegant simplicity of the Greek artistic taste to that florid ornamentation loved by the Romans. Those in the portico of the Pantheon have fine capitals, not over-ornamented; but the incongruity of a plain shaft with a Corinthian capital affords an example of Roman methods. The Romans introduced stone arch technology over two thousand years ago. They applied to bridges they constructed across the known world and examples can still be seen today. The technology they used has stood the test of time and some Roman construction methods are still used today. The arch is an prime example of Roman technology that is still used world wide even though modern materials are now used. A basic example of the construction of a typical Roman Stone Arch is shown below. As described on previous sheets, a wood frame was first constructed in the shape of an arch. The stone work was built up around the frame and finally a keystone was set in position. The wood frame could then be removed and the arch was left in position. Stone arch technology was used even on Roman monuments such as the Colosseum in Rome. Many of the monuments built with stone arch technology can still be seen today, such is the strength of the arch.

Stone arches are not built entirely from stone. Stone is as expensive today as it was in Roman times. The Romans had a great understanding of material costs and consequently constructed stone bridges and viaducts from a combination of materials. The diagram above shows that accurately cut and shaped stone was used for the external walls. Gravel, sand and rough stone was used to fill all cavities. This filling was cheap to produce and use, compared to cut stone and it could be used by unskilled labour to fill the cavities of structures such as bridges and aqueducts.

Voussoir

The keystone is surrounded on each side by voussoirs, or wedge-shaped bricks or stones. The term voussoir comes from French and Latin roots meaning "to turn." The thrust of the voussoirs pushes outward and downward in a Roman arch. Roman arches are noted for their semi-circular, non-pointed curves. The use of voussoirs creates arches which can be be used to span large distances and which can bear heavy loads. An example of this can be seen in the arches used in construction of ancient Roman aqueducts, many of which still stand today.

Colosseum

The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering. Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD[1] under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus,[2] with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (8196).[3] The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia). Capable of seating 50,000 spectators,[4][5] the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, reenactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.[6]

The Parthenon
Work began on the Parthenon, built on the Acropolis, in 447 BC to replace an existing temple which was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC and cost 469 silver talents to build. The work began under the orders of Pericles to show the wealth and exuberance of Athenian power. The name of the building most likely came from a cult statue of Athena Parthenos housed in the eastern room of the building. This magnificent structure was built of ivory and gold and was sculptured by the renowned sculptor Phidias. As with most buildings on the Acropolis it was dedicated to Athena to thank the Goddess for their success. The Parthenon was finally finished in 432 BC and was to show the world the dominance and power of Athens. The vast majority of the money used in the construction came from the Delian League funds. The Delian League was a treaty between the Greek states in league against the Persian Empire. However two years before work started on the Parthenon, the Athenians had struck a peace treaty with the Persians ending the war, although the League continued to exist. It is believed that because of this the league stopped being a mutual defence against Persia but part of the Athenian Empire. This theory was reinforced when Athens moved the Leagues treasury from the Pan-Hellenic sanctuary at Delos to the Parthenon (Opisthodomos room). Not only was the Parthenon a magnificent structure to look at, but it also showed Athenian dominance over the rest of the Greek peninsula and that Athens was its Greek imperial master. The five main instigators of the design and construction on the Parthenon were Pericles, Phidias, Kalamis, Ictinus and Calibrates. Pericles was the leading Athenian statesman at the time, Phidias and Kalamis were in charge of the design of the sculptures and decorations, and Ictinus and

Calib rates were the main architects. The vast majority of the 469 silver talents spent on the Parthenon went on transporting the stone from Mount Pantelakos, which was about 16 kilometres from Athens, to the Acropolis. It is thought there are around 13400 stones in the building. The Parthenon is a clear example of Doric design with Ionic architectural features. The architects used a clever visual effect in their design of the building. The curvature of the Stylobate, the taper of the Naos walls (housing the cult statue) and the Entasis of the columns allow the visual effect to make the temple appear more symmetrical than it actually is. This design was so renowned it has been copied centuries later, even the Romans incorporated it into the design of their buildings, and a good example of this can be seen at the Roman library at Ephesus. Measured at the top step, the dimensions of the base of the Parthenon are 69.5 meters by 30.9 meters (228.0 x 101.4 ft). The Cella was 29.8 meters long by 19.2 meters wide (97.8 x 63.0 ft), with internal Doric colonnades in two tiers, structurally necessary to support the roof. On the exterior, the Doric columns measure 1.9 meters (6.2 ft) in diameter and are 10.4 meters (34.1 ft) high. The corner columns are slightly larger in diameter. The Stylobate has an upward curvature towards its centre of 60 millimetres (2.36 in) on the east and west ends, and of 110 millimetres (4.33 in) on the sides.

Roman Houses

The lower class Romans (plebeians) lived in apartment

houses, called flats, above or behind their shops. Even fairly well-to-do tradesmen might chose to live in an apartment-building compound over their store, with maybe renters on the upper stories. Their own apartments might be quite roomy, sanitary and pleasant, occasionally with running water. But others were not that nice. In the apartment houses, or flats, an entire family (grandparents, parents, children) might all be crowded into one room, without running water. They had to haul their water in from public facilities. Fire was a very real threat because people were cooking meals in crowded quarters, and many of the

flats were made of wood. They didn't have toilets. They had to use public latrines (toilets).

The upper class Romans (patricians)

lived very differently. Their homes were single family homes, which in ancient Rome meant the great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and kids of one family lived in a home together. Homes were made, quite often, of brick with red tile roofs, with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The windows and balconies faced the courtyard, not the street, to keep homes safe from burglars. There were painting on the walls and beautiful mosaics on the floor. There was very little furniture, and no carpeting. Wealthy Romans might have a house with a front door, bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a dining room, a garden, a temple, an atrium, a toilet, and a private bath.

THE PERISTYLIUM

Instead of surrounding their houses with large lawns and gardens, the Romans created their gardens inside their domus. The peristylium was an open courtyard within the house; the columns surrounding the garden supported a shady roofed portico whose inner walls were often

embellished with elaborate wall paintings. (one famous painting from a garden in Pompeii is the so-called Venus on the half-shell). See this cutaway view of the rear of the house from the composite model in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, including a closer view of the peristyle garden. Sometimes the lararium, a shrine for the gods of the household, was located in this portico, or it might be found in the atrium. The courtyard might contain flowers and shrubs, fountains, benches, sculptures and even fish ponds. This reconstruction of a peristyle shows how attractive this part of the house could be.

Atrium
The formal, central hall of the Roman domus was the atrium. Small bedrooms or cubicula branched off from the atrium. Typically beyond the atrium was a reception or office area known as the tablinum, beyond which would be an enclosed colonnaded garden. The atrium was open to the air and held a small pool to collect rain. Between the atrium and the street were the doors and a corridor (vestibulum,

from which comes vestibule).

Cubiculum

On the walls can be seen remnants of paintings in red on a white background, of a type that is common, for example, in Pompei. These paintings are probably from a later date than the Augustan period (27 BC- 14 AD). According to Arvid Andrn this indicates that Tiberius must have also used the villa. The floor is a simple mosaic floor in white with black decor, made with small mosaic tiles, socalled tesserae. On the right side of the room the floor is somewhat raised; the bed probably was placed here. Above this cubiculum Munthe had a roof erected to protect it. Immediately next to the cubiculum there are further traces of Roman masonry. Perhaps this is from an adjacent room or from a portico facing the sea. Here as well a corner of a mosaic floor similar to the cubiculum floor is preserved, with traces of wall plaster, painted in Pompei red. The most interesting aspect here, however, is the masonry itself. It is Opus reticulatum, a type of brickwork where small squared blocks were laid in a fishnet pattern in the cement core. This type of brickwork is very common in the Augustan period. It is these remnants of a Roman villa that Amedeo Maiuri called the poorest and most famous ruins on Capri.

THE CULINA

The culina or kitchen was usually small, dark, and poorly ventilated, relegated to an obscure corner of the house. Wealthy matronae did not prepare meals; that was the job of their numerous household slaves, so it did not matter if the room was hot and smoky. Baking was done in ovens, whose tops were utilized to keep dishes warm. Embers from the oven could be placed below metal braziers for a form of stove-top cooking; some braziers were more elaborately decorated, like this bronze brazier from Chiusi.

Ancient Roman Mosaics

Ancient Roman mosaics complemented Roman painting both in terms of pictorial effects as well as in terms of their function in Roman architecture as elements of Roman buildings and Roman houses. The great benefit of mosaics with respect to paintings was the greater durability and vibrancy of colour, so much so that in many cases there will be little left of an excavated villa but the mosaic on the floor may well be close to intact. Amazing examples have been found, for example at Hadrian's villa (bowl with doves, over 60 tesserae per square cm), the mosaics in the House of the Faun in ancient Pompeii, the villa at Piazza Armerina in Sicily and of course not

forgetting the wonderful examples from outside Italy such as the numerous mosaics at Antioch (3rd Century AD).

The level of detail and finesse achieved was extraordinary and the amount of work required to achieve high quality could make their cost quite prohibitive. At the bottom end of the scale, but also requiring great time and patience we have mosaics employed for covering floor spaces in a durable yet elegant way. Between these extremes we have the multitude of mosaics used in every day situations, in public places, shops, houses, gladiator training schools and so on. When dealing with ancient Roman mosaics it is tempting to simply run through the chronology, type and level of achievement but a second look will show that we can go a step further: Roman mosaics are a significant facet and indicator of the evolution of ancient Roman art and as such display many of the evolutionary twists and turns of Roman society itself. Ironically, understanding this statement about Roman mosaics in a little more detail requires us to approach the subject as a mosaic with many components rather than linearly like a chronological piece of story telling though clearly we can't do without looking at timing and development as well as construction methods also. Before we delve into an overview of Roman mosaics and their development through time it is worth running through the table below to get a preview of some of the elements which went into creating the many different examples of mosaics which have survived from ancient Rome and

therefore how Roman mosaics reflect use and society of the time. Appreciating these aspects helps us understand the evolution and significance of mosaics in ancient Rome.

Fresco

Fresco by Dionisius representing Saint Nicholas in a Ferapontov Monastery.

Dante Domenico di Michelino's Divine Comedy in Duomo of Florence.

Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresca [affresko] which derives from the Latin word for "fresh".

Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance. Declining in popularity, they enjoyed something of a revival in the 20th century.