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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

MODULE 2 & 3

CLASSICAL ROMAN
ARCHITECTURE
– Historical Background

• Location and period

– Architecture of Rome

• Arches & Vaults,

Concrete

• Aqueducts, Bridges

• Civic Architecture:
Theaters and
Amphitheatres,
Circuses, Bath,
Temples, Basilicas

• Residential
Architecture
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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The history of the civilization can be divided

into three periods;
753-510 BC Etruscan Period
510 –44 BC Republican Period
44 BC –476 A.D Imperial Period

• Rome was ruled by Etruscan Kings aided by a

popular assembly

• Towards the end of the 6th century B.C.,

Etruscan power began to decline

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• In 509 B.C. Rome revolted against their king
LOCATION and established an independent city state

• Roman architecture refers to the architecture • Further decline in the power of the Etruscans
of Rome and of the Roman Empire was accompanied by the rising influence and
• The Roman Empire was one of the largest increasing significance of Rome
early empires in history, stretching from
England in Northern Europe to the Ancient • After the expulsion of its Etruscan Kings,
Near East and Africa Rome gradually assumed leadership of a
• The pink area of the Map shows the greatest number of settlements for mutual defense
extent of the Roman Empire
• Rome, located on the Italian peninsula was • This gradually led to the expanding influence
the capital of the empire and dominance of Rome
• From the capital, an infrastructure of roads
and communication systems was established • By 273 B. C. Rome became the established
to connect the whole empire dominant force in the region
• Rome is today the capital of Italy
• It conquered its rivals, defeating Cathagein
146 B.C., Macedonia in 168 B. C., Greece in
146 B.C., and Syria in 64 B. C.
• With time Rome also developed a system of
Representative government

• Roman Architecture–The Environment around

Rome was not as rich as the Greek mainland
in construction material especially marble –
Romans construction material consists of
Stone, principally local travertine and timber

• Roman also invented a system of firing brick

and used brick widely in construction–
Romans were also the first people to discover
concrete;
PERIOD
• Roman concrete is different from our present
• The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC. day concrete–Romans made significant
improvements to the arch to address its
• Roman civilization with Rome as capital lasted shortcoming
for more than a thousand years.

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE • They were also able to design and construct

buildings with large interior spaces
• The Romans adopted the external language
of classical Greek architecture–In Roman • The revolution also allowed the Romans to
architecture, the orders survived simply as construct large engineering structures such as
ornaments applied to great concrete bridges to connect all parts of their empire,
buildings. and aqueduct to supply water to their cities
• But the Romans also made unique additions
to the orders that are very important. STRUCTURAL INNOVATION-ARCHES
• New orders evolved and were added to the
Greek orders to form the classical language of
architecture • With an arch, there are no tensile stresses as
• Romans also made additions in the all the forces are in compression and building
entablature of temples, in the scale of stone has enormous compressive strength
buildings and the proportion of the entire • Up to a certain point also, the more an arch is
design. loaded the stronger it becomes
• While the Greeks are said to be the inventors • Arches were used over doors and openings
of form, Roman architecture concentrated on and sometimes, they are built over a lintel to
the creation of space deflect the load to the surrounding walls.

• The Greek and Roman architecture are

referred to as classical architecture

• The first book on architecture was produced

by Marcus Vitruvius Pollioin 100 A.D.

• The ten books of architecture written sets

down rules and procedures for creating
architecture of value

• The genius of Roman architecture was

expressed not in the design of a particular
building, but in the production of a vast
number of various building types

• Roman buildings include bathhouses for

bathing, circuses for racing, amphitheaters for
gladiatorial contest, temples for religion,
domus for family life and the forum as the
center of public life and national commerce VAULTS
• Vaults are used to cover an area as a roof
• Romans created what can be referred to as a
• The simplest of the vaults is the Barrel vault,
structural revolution
which is just made up of an arch extended
over a certain distance
• This revolution centers on their understanding • It can be adapted to suit different types of
and use of the arch and vault plans by making simple modifications to it
• The disadvantage of the vault is that it exerts a
• They also discovered the groin vault continuous load and therefore needs some
form of continuous support
• Because of this structural revolution, they were • It is also difficult to light the space under a
able to span large openings in buildings and vault except from the ends
other structures with economy and strength • The Romans invented unique ways of
overcoming these difficulties

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The cross vault was created from the barrel

vault to overcome some of the problems of
CONCRETE
the ordinary vault
• Concrete has the advantage that it can be
• This is formed by intersecting two barrel-vaults
cast in any shape and in far larger sizes than
at right angle and is called a “groin vault”
the megalithic blocks of stone used in
• The weight of the groin vault is concentrated
buildings
at the corners eliminating the need for
• With concrete, it was possible to construct
continuous support
monolithic vaults and arches
• The opening of the space in 4 directions
• Concrete buildings were normally faced with
means that ample light can be provided to the
other materials to hide the ugly look of the
area below it
concrete.
• Fired brick used as formwork was the most
popular covering material

• The structural revolution introduced by the

Romans enabled them to introduce a variety of
new civil structures and building programs
never seen before their time

• The ability of the Romans to create large

structures enabled them to build significant
civil structures including aqueducts, bridges
and sewers
• Aqueducts were used to supply water to
Roman cities
• The Pont Du Gard is probably the most
magnificent of the Roman aqueducts
• It was constructed around 50 A.D. to supply
water to the city of Nimes

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The Aqueduct in some places is almost 50

meters above the deep valley of the River
Gard
• It was constructed of 3 tiers of arches

• The Trojan’s Bridge Alexandria is an example

of ancient Roman structural achievement
• It is also amongst the most impressive of the
surviving Roman bridges
• The bridge consist of tall piers and wide
spanning arches
• The central arches are slightly above 27
meters in length
• The roadway is carried 48 meters above the
River
• A commemorative arch stands at the center of
the Bridge; the commemorative arch bears
the name of the architect of the bridge
• The Aqua Claudia is also another example of
Roman aqueduct
• The Aqua Claudia was one of the eleven
• The focus of Roman building design was on
aqueducts that supplied Rome with water
functional spaces
• The aqueduct supplies water to Rome over a
• The Roman people demanded buildings of
distance of 66 kilometers
various functions from the Roman architect
• The architects were able to respond, creating
buildings that answer to their functional
requirement by providing appropriate interior
spaces

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The buildings types include theaters, • Access to its banked seat is from the rear,
amphitheaters, basilicas, circuses, basilicas, providing access circumferentially
temples and baths • A stage runs from end to end in front
• All of these buildings were erected within the • The stage is enclosed by a tall wall
dense fabric of the city

THEATERS
• The Romans adopted the Greek theater AMPHITHEATRE
transforming it into something Roman • The amphitheater is a roman structure with no
• There was an expansion of the stage and the Greek equivalent
whole theater was contained within a high- • Amphitheatre is a public building used for
unbroken wall spectator sports, games and displays
• The Greek Theater was blended into the • Apart from function, the important outward
landscape distinction between an amphitheatre and a
• In contrast, the Roman Theater was an urban theatre is that amphitheatre is round or oval in
form located in a flat city shape
• The structure of the theater consists of • An amphitheater was first built in Pompeii in
massive structural arcades on piers 80 BC, but the best example of the Roman
amphitheater is the colosseum

• The Colosseum is an amphitheater in Rome

• Its construction began under the Emperor
Vespasian in 72 A.D. and was completed in A.
D. 80
• It was used for spectator sports including
gladiatorial combat
• It is said that 9,000 wild animals were killed in
• A purely cosmetic layer of trabeation was the one hundred inaugural days celebrating
added to the front its opening
• The trabeation was of the Greek orders and • The Colosseum hosted large-scale
gave scale to the building spectacular games that included; fights
• It also creates a rhythm of solids and voids on between animals, the killing of prisoners by
the elevation animals and other executions, naval battles
• The three orders of Greek architecture were via flooding the arena, and combats between
used on the theater elevation gladiators
• Theaters were built in every Roman City
• The Theater was used for acting and drama
• The Theater Marcellus constructed between
23 to 13 B.C. was the first theater constructed
in the capital Rome
• It is a good example of a Roman theater

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

•
• It has been estimated that about 500,000
people died in the Colosseum games
• The colosseumis elliptical in shape
• It measured 48 metres high, 188 metres long,
and 156 metres wide
• The wooden arena floor was 86 metres by 54
metres, and covered by sand
• The colosseum had a seating capacity for
50,000 spectators
• The Colosseum was ingeniously designed; • The Colosseum also had a passageway that
most spectacle venues have been influenced opens into a tier of seats from below or
by the Colosseum's structure into modern behind
times • Each entrance and exit was numbered, as
• The seating formed a uniform elliptical ring was each staircase
capable of supporting the 50,000 spectator • The passages quickly dispersed people into
capacity of the facility their seats and upon conclusion of the event
• The substructure of the amphitheater is very disgorged them with abruptness into the
much like that of the theater surrounding streets
• Vaulting was used both radially and • Seating was divided into different sections
concentrically to support the structure • Above the podium was the maenianum
primum, for the other Roman aristocrats who
were not in the senate
• The second level, the maenianum secundum,
was divided into three sections
• The lower part, was for wealthy citizens, while
the upper part was for poor citizens
• A third, wooden section was a wooden
structure at the very top of the building, added
by Domitian

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• Circus Maxima is an example of a Roman

Circus

CIRCUSE MAXENTIUS
• It is located in Rome and is one of the oldest
• It went through a series of transformation over
the period of its existence
• The image shown is its final form around 400
A.D.
• It is 600 meters in length by 200 meters in
width
• The circus had 3 tiers of seat, and there are
stalls for 12 race houses or chariots
• Each race was of 7 laps covering a distance
of about 3.6 kilometers

• The most ingenious part of the Colosseum

was its cooling system
• It was roofed using a canvas covered net-like
structure made of ropes, with a hole in the
center
• The Arena where the action takes place is
located at the center of the ellipse
• Underneath the arena was the "underground",
a network of tunnels and cages where
gladiators and animals were held before
contests began
• The arena floor no longer exists, and the
hypogeum walls and corridors are clearly
visible in the ruins of the building BATHS
• The orders were used in the elevation in the • The Romans had a unique need for exercise,
same manner as on the theater bathing and relaxation and they devised a
• The Colosseum was in continuous use until unique architectural element, the Bath to
217, when it was damaged by fire from address that need
lightning • The roman bath was more that just merely
• It was restored in 238 and gladiatorial games swimming or washing
continued until Christianity gradually put an • This practice became so popular that at some
end to such sports point, they took it more serious than their
gods
CIRCUSES • It was a daily practice of almost all Romans to
• The Romans developed circuses or stadium go to a Bath once a day to relieve stress
for horse and chariot racing • The bathing procedure involves a pattern of
• Every city usually had one located close to the exposing the body to various levels of heater
forum air and water
• The circuses had stalls at one end where the • The core program of the bath consist of a
chariots emerge at the beginning of the race disrobing room, the apodyterium, a series of
and a track which they race around at least two heated rooms, the tepidarium,
• The structure of the circus is very similar to and a hot room or cauldarium
that of theaters and amphitheaters • Besides the heated rooms, the bath may also
have a swimming pool, or natatiofor cold

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

plunges on hot summer days or a cool circular cauldarium is located to the south of
unheated room called the frigidarium it, where it is more sunny
• Bathing also dries the skin so baths also • A series of supplementary rooms, including
provided rooms with special attendants to oil Gymnasium and bathroom suits are arranged
and towel bathers dry symmetrically on two sides of the building
• Wealthy people and Emperors had private • The structure of the bath of carracalla is made
both, but the greatest baths were the public up of vaults, arches, groin vaults and domes
ones built for the populace • The interior also shows how the Romans have
been able to adapt the Greek orders and
BATH OF CARACALLA treatment to arch and vault construction
• The bath of Caracalla is a good example of a
Roman bath and among the best preserved
• The bath is set free standing within a square
precinct enclosed by walls
• The precinct has a water reservoir to the
south, supplied by an aqueduct to service its
water need

TEMPLES
• Temples were a significant part of roman
architecture
• Scores of temple were built during every
period
• Most of the roman temples were combination
of Etruscan and Greek prototypes
• The typical temple had an axial plan, an
entrance porch with widely spaced columns in
front
• The temple also had a cella or sanctuary
• The whole temple is raised on a high podium
with frontal steps providing access
• The reservoir is located beneath a stadium
• A good example of the early form of the
used for athletic contest
temple is seen in Maison Carree in Nimes
• The east and west walls have a curved exedra
• The best preserved of the temples and the
that defines space for cultural activities such
one showing the highest achievement in
as library, music performance, philosophical
temple architecture is the Pantheon
lectures, etc
• The front wall has a series of shops with the
entrance at the center MAISON CAREE, NIMES
• The main bath building is rectangular, 225
meters by 115 meters and is situated within
the walled precinct
• It has a perfect bilateral symmetry along its
north-south axis
• The bath has a large dressing hall,
apodyterium at the center of the building
• A swimming pool or Notatois located to the
north of it, while a tepidarium and a domed

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• Nimes France
PANTHEON
• It was built by the Emperor Agrippa
• The temple shows Greek influence on early
• The Pantheon is the best surviving of all
roman temples
classical buildings
• The temple is 26.5 meters long, 15.5 meters
wide and raised on a podium 3.3 meters high
• It is a temple with 6 Corinthian columns in
front, 10 diameters high
• Its podium is three and half times the height of
the entablature with 15 access steps in front
• It has an entrance porch that is 3 columns
deep
• The temple has a cella that is one and half
times long as to its width

• It is also represents the highest achievement

of Roman architecture
• It was built between AD 118 and 128 by the
Emperor Handrian on the site of an earlier
temple by Agrippa
• It was built as a temple dedicated to all the
Roman Gods, hence the name Pantheon.
• The Pantheon essentially consist of two parts;
the an entrance portico and a circular part or
rotunda
• The portico is 8 columns wide and 3 columns
deep and leads to the entrance of the temple
• The columns are of unfluted Corinthian order
• The wall of the rotunda is 3 storeys high, on
• The walls of the cella have attached half the outside; they are made up of brick faced
Corinthian columns on its visible three sides concrete and support the dome roof of the
temple

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The interior has eight large niches with one

serving as the entrance and the remaining
seven used dedicated to the seven major
Roman Gods
• The Dome roof forms a perfect sphere with a
diameter of 142 feet in the interior
• At the head of the dome is a 30ft wide
occulus, that opens up the great dome to the
outside and illuminates the space with light
• The interior was built of Egyptian granites,
African colored marbles and pure white
marbles from the Aegean
• The Pantheon combines scale, boldness and
mastery of every architectural art.

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
• Roman cities had a range of various types of
private dwellings
• The private dwellings reflected the rank and
wealth of the inhabitants
• At the lowest level are the multi-story
tenements where a large proportion of the
population stayed
• They consisted of shops on the ground floor
and apartments on the upper floors

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The apartments were built around a courtyard

for light and air

• The common roman house was the domus

• These were reserved for the more well off
members of the Roman society
• The domus was essentially a courtyard house,
with a peristyle colonnaded courtyard
• It had few or no windows to the outside

• At the high end are elaborate palaces and

villas for the very rich
• The Domus Augustana, also called flavian’s
palace, is an example of the high-end
residential palaces
• Domus Augustana was both a house for the
emperor as well as his palace for official
functions
• It was laid out around two peristyle atriums
• The atrium to the left is for state function
• Entry is from an inconspicuous door from the
top
• The residential part of the palace is arranged
around the courtyard located to the right
• To the right of the residential part is a sunken
garden in the form of a stadium
• This is the private garden of the emperor,
where he can interact with nature

HANDRIANS VILLA

• Romans also built country villas or houses,

where they could go to be close to nature
• A very good example of the country villas, is
the Handrian’s villa built for the Emperor
Handrian
• The Handrian villa displays an example of the
level of wealth displayed in buildings
• This was a large country estate spread on a
vast terrain

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

Furthermore, that a member of the elite who

played a role in public life was expected to
have clientes.
• That there should be a distinction between
intimate spaces occupied solely by the
residents and those open to guests and
visitors.
• Thus, Roman Atrium Houses were developed
to accommodate these criteria.
• A main entryway leading to an interior central
atrium court.
• An Atrium court differed from a peristyle in that
most of the court was covered by extending
the surrounding downward sloping roofs. The
central area left uncovered and open to the
sky corresponds to the size of the central
impluvium.
• At the far end of the atrium would be the main
reception room of the house the tablinum.
This room could be left open to both the front
and rear, but would then have had wooden
partitions to close off the openings when
desired.
• The tablinum was flanked by two other rooms
• The structure was made of a loose the alae, and then the assorted cubicula.
arrangement of peristyle halls, fountains, • The tablinum also acted as the area for the
dining halls, dormitories, baths, libraries and display of family archives. Here, the dominus
other facilities would receive guests.
• The most characteristics feature of the villa is • The triclinium (dining room) was located to
the play of curves and curved form one side of the atrium, often in the corner of
• This is most evident in the Canopus the house.
• This is an elongated pool surrounded by a • The lararium (household shrine) was often
colonnade located in the atrium, or an adjacent room.
• The colonnade is topped by alternating • It is sometimes difficult to locate specific
straight entablature and segmental arch kitchens in Roman households of all periods,
sections framing statuary as often the family had portable braziers that
could be easily set up in any part of the
house.
• derived from the Greek idea of central
courtyards houses, dating back to the 6th
century BCE at Megara Hyblaea, in
combination with the Etruscan temple
porches formed by large over-hanging eaves.
• The early Atrium houses, in the ‘Atrium-
Tablinum’ arrangement show close relation to
the oecus-prostas arrangement, exemplified
by the ‘prostas houses’ in Priene.
• There were still no columns serving as
structural support in early ‘Atrium-Tablinum’
houses.
• The addition of alae with the lararium
• From the writing of Vitruvius two main points • -Rooms added specifically for display
stand out: • The three main rooms were directly aligned
• That the type of house a man lives represents across the back, as in Greek peristyle houses.
and needs be appropriate to his social status.

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• -But the tablinum at the center was open to • The solution was to attach to the rear of the
the atrium for its full width, atrium complex a peristyle court, an popular
• flanked by the triclinium to one side and idea that became the new Roman standard
domestic space to the other. from the 2nd century BCE onward.
• *Increased amount of domestic/public space, • Roman peristyles were consciously arranged
both visible and accessible. to be symmetrical and revolve around a
• The Atrium style house became a marker or central feature.
Roman culture and spread throughout the • Columns entered the Roman domestic
entire Roman Empire. architecture vernacular.
• -As seen in the tetrastyle atria.
General trend towards more decorative
architecture within private houses were seen

Early example of Roman ‘Atrium-Tablinum’ Design

The House of the Surgeon, Pompeii
3rd century BCE

nd
House of the Faun, Pompeii 2 century BCE

• Born of Roman desire to add a domestic part

to their homes, but without sacrificing the
atrium-tablinum layout that was so fitting to the
daily lives of the Roman elite.

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

Roman Atrium housing developed through the • Columns, statues and triumphal arches were
process of selecting Greek design ideas that erected as a memorial to the conquering
were fitting for their own cultural, social, and rulers and to the glories of the empire
• No two roman forums are really alike, as there
practical needs at a specific time.
are always differences between the forums in
Both Greek and Roman house designs are different cities
not resolutely defined and unyielding. • In Rome with its two forums, we find a good
Traditional standards did exist, but there was example of the Roman forums
much variation. REPUBLICLAN FORUM
In both the Greek and Roman examples, the • The Republican Forum is also called the
house plans discussed belonged to middle Forum Romanum
• It was the oldest and most important forum in
and upper class citizens.
the city
• Soon it became an important market place
PRINCIPLES
• By the 5th Century B.C. the various functions
• The planning of most cities fall in between the
associated with the forum began to assume
two extremes of organic growth and rigid grid
their architectural shape
planning
• Additions, modification and growth by
• All cities had a forum, theater, bath, market
successive republicans and emperors led to
etc.
its development
• Many of the cities contained buildings that
• By 400 A.D. the forum had accumulated not
were copies or local versions of key
less than 10 temples, 4 basilicas, 4 triumphal
monuments in Rome
arches and many other monuments and
• Focus in city design is on integrating civic
shrines
buildings with public spaces and residential
• All of these were arranged with no
neighborhoods
preordained order
• Each public building had interior spaces that
• The buildings therefore loosely define the
responded to functional requirement with the
space of the forum
spaces also linked and connected with the
public spaces of the city
• The Forum was the center of the Roman city
FORUM
• The forum was the descendant of the Greek
agora for the Romans
• It began as a market place
• It rapidly became the commercial, political
and ceremonial center of the civilization
• In the process it developed into an elaborate
architectural space that became a part of all
roman cities
• Unlike the Greek agora which is informal in
plan, and whose buildings are subordinate to
the space, in the roman forum, the
organization is more formal
• The buildings surrounding it are normally large
and dominate the space IMPERIAL FORUM
• Buildings commonly found in the forum • During the reign of Julius Ceasar, he
include temples, basilicas, and bath attempted to reorganize the Republican forum
• Each individual major building in the forum but realized that it had become too congested
was given a central inside space for rational order
• Governmental function were usually arranged • He therefore decided to build a new forum
on the West End; religious ceremonies were adjacent to but outside the republican forum
celebrated at the east end • This idea was picked by successive
• The inside space of buildings was connected emperors, who added to it to create the
to one or more exterior space of the city imperial forum

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The function of the basilica is close to that of

the Greek stoa
• It is also the place where magistrates to hold
court to dispose of legal matters
• The oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia,
was built in Rome in 184 BC
• The most splendid Roman basilica is the one
constructed for traditional purposes during the
reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and
finished by Constantine after 313
• In the early Imperial period, a basilica for large
audiences also became a feature of the
palaces

BASILICA ULPIA

• The imperial forum is not one forum, but five • The Basilica Ulpia was built by Emperor Trajan
forums with each supporting the other in the period A.D 98-117 for his imperial forum
• There was variety in their form, but they • Basilica Ulpia stretches for 120 meters in
displayed rational order in their organization length over the width of the Trajan forum
• Each of the forum consisted of colonnaded • The Basilica consists of a central hall, 25
atrium with a temple at its head meters wide surrounded on all sides by
• Of the five temples that of Trojan was most double colonnades
majestic, with the basilica Ulpia sitting across • The walls of the Basilica were finished with
it and two libraries on either side of the central multi-colored marble; also referred to as
court polychromatic marble
BASILICA • The whole structure was covered with a truss
• Basilicas are among the most important roof
categories of roman architecture • Basilica Ulpia represent the generic form of
• There were no basilicas before the Roman era the Roman Basilica,
• The basilica are rectangular and usually • It is this form that will later be adopted by the
contained interior colonnades that divided the Christians for their church
space into aisles at one or both sides, with an
apse at one end
• The central aisle tended to be wide and was • The Basilica had two semi-circular apses at
higher than the flanking aisles, so that light it’s two ends
could penetrate through the clerestory
windows

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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• The triumphatorrode on a biga, a chariot

pulled by two white horses
• The parade followed a precise route in the
streets of Rome
• It traveled along the Forum until it reached the
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where
the laurels of victory were offered to the god.
• Monuments may then be erected to celebrate
the triumph
• Two examples of such monuments in the
republican forum are the Arch of Titus and the
Arch of Constantine
ARCH OF TITUS
• The arch was built in A.D. 81 and dedicated to
the emperor Titus
• It was built to commemorate the military
victory over Jerusalem in A.D. 70
• The arch has a height of 15.4 meters, a width
of 13.5 meters and was constructed of stone
• The marvel of its stone construction is evident
in the keystone, which ensures the stability of
the arch
TRIUMPHAL ARCHES • It has a single opening flanked on each side
by attached columns of the Composite order
• Other Than buildings, ancient Romans also • The composite order has a capital that joins
contributed to the development of several the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order
architectural elements with the volutes of the ionic order
• The most prominent of the elements is the • The face of the arch is decorated with
triumphal arch sculptural relief depicting the destruction of
• A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of the temple in Jerusalem
a monumental gate, usually built to celebrate
a victory in war
• They are almost always built in the Form,
framing the paths that people follow
• Romans started it as a way to celebrate their
victories in battles
• Some triumphal arches are made of stone
and intended to be permanent.
• A number of arches from the city's imperial era
can still be seen in modern Rome.
• Temporary triumphal arches were also
constructed for use for celebratory parades or
ceremony and later dismantled
• A Roman Triumph was a civil ceremony and
religious rite held to publicly honourthe military
commander of a notably successful foreign
war
• Only men of senatorial or consular rank could
perform a triumph celebration and be a
triumphatoras the victorious generals are ARCH OF CONSTANTINE
known • The arch of Constantine was built much later
• The ceremony consisted of a spectacular that than of Titus
parade, opened by the chiefs of conquered • It was built to commemorate the victory of
peoples who are afterward executed Emperor Constantine over Maxentiusin A.D.
312
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History of architecture-2 | Module-2,3 [15ARC4.4]

Odd semester| 2018 notes by: Sherin Varrikatt

• Its form shows an attempt to create an arch

more majestic than that of Titus

• It has three arched openings, a larger one in

the center flanked by two smaller ones
• There are four free standing columns in front
framing the arched openings
• It is also abundantly decorated, depicting the
victory in relief sculpture

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