ROMAN

ARCHITECTURE:
GENERAL
INFLUENCES
1. Geographical
 Rome began as a small village near the Tiber
River in Italy on a peninsula close to the
Mediterranean Sea. The city was far enough inland
to provide some protection from the sea.
 Rome is located east of the river. It begins in the
Apennine Mountains and flows to the Tyrrhenian
Sea.
Tiber River
- The Tiber River was a source of freshwater and
rich soil needed to support the development of
people, animals, and crops of Rome.
- It is the second longest river in Italy.
- It provided easy transportation and its valley
has vast land for farming.
- It also served as a defense system against
attacks from the other side of the river.
2. Geological
 Volcanic Activity
- Two Volcanic Regions: (1) Alban Hills, southeast
of Rome, and (2) Sabatini Volcanic Complex,
northwest of Rome.
- Eruptions created large volcanic plateaus and
craters.
 Erosion has altered this plateau and created a
topography of valleys and hills, including the
seven hills that Rome was built on.
 The volcanic rocks in the Roman area did not
only shape the landscape but also served as an
important water supply to the city.

Sanpietrini
- small cubic-shaped blocks made from volcanic
rocks coming from the surrounding volcanic
regions.
- used as pavement in one of Trasteveres small
streets
 The Apennines
- Another important water supply to Rome are
the springs in the Apennines, a NW-SE trending
mountain chain, also called “The Backbone of
the Italian Peninsula”.
- This mountain chain is the result of a collision
between the African and Eurasian plates.
- The rocks in the Apennine mountain range are
limestones, deposited in ancient shallow seas as
long as 300 million years ago.
 The Tiber
- The river which passes through Rome and played
an important role in the city’s development
- Romans in the imperial times did not build
houses on the floodplains of the Tiber since the
river would flood once in a while.
3. Climatic
 Ancient Rome was located on the Mediterranean
Sea and had warm summers and mild winters.
 This type of climate is referred to as a
“Mediterranean Climate”
 North Italy has the climate of the temperate
region of Europe, Central Italy is genial and sunny,
while the South is almost tropical.
 This variety of climatic conditions is sufficient to
account for the diversity of architectural features
and treatment in the peninsula itself, while the
differing climates of the various Roman provinces,
from England to North Africa and from Syria to
Spain, produced local modifications in details.
4. Religion

 Religion became a part of the constitution of the

state.
 They venerated more their emperors than their
gods and because of this, there were less temples
for worship.
 Chief Roman Gods acquired similar attributes to
those of the Greeks.
 Every house had an altar to the Lares or family
gods and ancestor worship was a recognized part
of their religious rites.
5. Social and Political

 In early times, Etruria, in West Central Italy was

occupied by the Etruscans.
 The Roman Empire was the greatest social and
political center in western civilization.
 The empire survived for about 500 years, from 31
BCE to 476 CE.
 Important Emperors who patronize architecture
in Rome:
1. Nero
2. Vespasian
3. Trojan
4. Hadrian
5. Septimus Severus
6. Garacalla
7. Diocletian
6. Historical

 Republican Roman architecture was influenced

by the Etruscans who were the early kings of
Rome; the Etruscans were in turn influenced by
Greek architecture.
 The Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill in
Rome, begun in the late 6th century B.C.E., bears
all the hallmarks of Etruscan architecture.
 Periods of development:
1. Etruscan - notable for the use of the true &
"radiating arc", they were the earliest civilization
and great builders, invented the Tuscan capital,
their temples were oriented at the south.
2. Roman - adopted the columnar and trabeated
style of the Greeks and developed the Arch., vault,
and dome of the Etruscans.
 The Most Important Contributions of the
Etruscan Architecture:
 The use of the arch and the dome which comes
from Eastern influences.
 As in the Greek art; also in the Etruscan
architecture predominate adinteladas
structures. The buildings do not have almost
sculptural decoration except some sculptures of
terra cotta in the pediments of temples.
 They created a new order, the Toscana, derived
from the Greek Doric order; simple base, smooth
shaft and similar to the Doric capital.
 The structure of the Etruscan temples which
lacked columns at the rear as in the Greek plants
was taken by the Romans later as a construction
model for their religious buildings.
 The doors of the fortifications with semi-
circular arches between two towers.
 Construction of tombs placing in the likeness of
the houses in the cities with a quadrangular
structure and forming blocks with their
corresponding signal. This was the structure that
Rome inherited and extended for the rest of the
world up to our days.