Roman Architecture - concrete, material, brick, empire, bricks and stone

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ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. Like the rest of Roman civilization, Roman architecture is a manifestation of the essen tially direct and practical Roman mind. It is concerned not with the search for any ideal of beauty but with the solution of every day problems. Consequently while the elements of Roman archi tecture are derivative, being Greek, and Etruscan or rather Italic in origin, they are adapted and transformed by the Roman genius in the light of increased technical knowledge to fit altered condi tions of life. The influence exerted on Roman architectural forms by the materials and methods of construction used, cannot be overestimated, and the enduring stability of Roman buildings may legitimately be held to be due to the presence of good and durable building material. The discovery of concrete in particular gave to the Roman builders an almost imperishable material which could be moulded into a homogeneous mass exerting no thrust when set, and which thus enabled them to attack and to solve entirely new problems in spatial planning.

Building Materials.

The material employed by the Romans in their earliest buildings was tufa, a volcanic rock of varying hardness, some soft enough to be worked with bronze tools. Later other harder volcanic stones were used, e.g., peperino, and the stone from the Alban hills. Under the later republic and the empire the most important stone for building was travertine which was quarried mainly at Tibur (Tivoli). This becomes very hard after exposure to air and weathers to a rich golden tone. An example of the use of travertine is the exterior of the Colosseum.

For their concrete the Romans used pozzolana of which there are extensive beds at Pozzuoli, near Naples, and also round Rome. This is a fine chocolate red volcanic earth, which when mixed with lime forms an excellent natural hydraulic cement which will set well even under water. With this cement was mixed an aggregate of broken tufa, travertine, brick or even marble, pumice stone being used in vaults after the 1st century A.D. to lighten the weight.

Besides its extreme durability this concrete is practically inde structible by fire. It is used in all the great imperial buildings, e.g., Pantheon, baths of Caracalla and basilica of Maxentius. The new forms of architecture which were developed by the use of this material spread all over the Roman empire.

Unburnt bricks faced with stucco were used especially for private houses under the republic. It is to these bricks that reference is made in Augustus' famous saying "that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble." Of these, naturally, very few remain. Under the empire kiln-baked bricks and tiles were the most common facing for concrete. They are never used to build a whole wall in the modern manner but merely as a pro tective skin. These bricks or tiles are almost always used in triangular shapes. Large tiles about 2 ft. square called bipedales were employed as bonding courses.

The use made by the Romans of marble was mainly decorative. It was applied in slabs to brick and concrete walls, and set in cement. It was used for pavements either in slabs cut and arranged in patterns, or as mosaic. Under the empire a great demand arose for coloured marbles and such stones as porphyry, granite and alabaster, which were imported from various parts of the empire. The abundant use of these marbles is well illus trated by the remains of the Flavian palace on the Palatine and of Hadrian's villa at Tivoli.

The use of stucco over unbaked brick and over coarse stone was prevalent from the earliest times in Greece, Sicily and Italy. It served as a protection from the weather and also as a finish. Later it was used over brick and concrete. It was made of lime, sand and fine marble dust and would take a high polish. Thus it became the usual ground for decoration especially in the interiors of houses. Examples of its use abound at Pompeii, and in Rome in the House of Livia, in Nero's Golden House, etc. Another material the use of which was mainly decorative is bronze. Doors, grills, panels of ceilings, etc., were made of it.