• Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek

architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek
buildings, becoming a new architectural style.
• The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Roman
architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and even more so under the Empire,
when the great majority of surviving buildings were constructed.
• It used new materials, particularly Roman concrete, and newer technologies such
as the arch and the dome to make buildings that were typically strong and well-
engineered.
• Roman architecture covers the period from the establishment of the Roman
Republic in 509 BC to about the 4th century AD, after which it becomes reclassified
as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture. 
• Almost no substantial examples survive from before about 100 BC, and most of the
major survivals are from the later empire, after about 100 AD.
• Roman architectural style continued to influence building in the former empire for
many centuries, and the style used in Western Europe beginning about 1000 is
called Romanesque architecture to reflect this dependence on basic Roman forms.
• The Romans produced massive public buildings and works of civil engineering, and
were responsible for significant developments in housing and public hygiene, for
example their public and private baths and latrines, under-floor heating in the form
of the hypocaust, mica glazing , and piped hot and cold water.
• Despite the technical developments of the Romans, which took their buildings far
away from the basic Greek conception where columns were needed to support
heavy beams and roofs, they were very reluctant to abandon the classical orders in
formal public buildings, even though these had become essentially decorative.
• Innovation started in the 3rd or 2nd century BC with the development of Roman
concrete as a readily available adjunct to, or substitute for, stone and brick. More
daring buildings soon followed, with great pillars supporting broad arches and
domes. 
• Factors such as wealth and high population densities in cities forced the ancient
Romans to discover new architectural solutions of their own. The use of vaults
 and arches together with a sound knowledge of building materials, enabled them
to achieve unprecedented successes in the construction of imposing infrastructure
for public use. 
• Examples include the aqueducts of Rome, the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of
Caracalla, the basilicas and Colosseum. 
• These were reproduced at a smaller scale in most important towns and cities in the
Empire.
PANTHEON
• The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, now a Catholic church in Rome, Italy, on the
site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus
(27 BC – 14 AD).
•  It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD.
• The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under
a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under
a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening to the sky.
• Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's
largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the
interior circle are the same, 43 metres (142 ft).
• The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. Until modern
times, the dome was the largest built, measuring about 142 feet (43 metres) in
diameter and rising to a height of 71 feet (22 metres) above its base.
• It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it
has been in continuous use throughout its history and, since the 7th century.
COLOSSEUM
• The Colosseum  , also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an oval amphitheatre in
the centre of the city of Rome, Italy.
•  Built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete, it was the
largest amphitheatre ever built at the time and held 50,000 to 80,000 spectators.
• The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the
emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and
heir, Titus.
• 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 substantially ruined because of earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum
is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and is listed as one of the New7Wonders of the
World.
• It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand, covering an elaborate underground
structure called the hypogeum.
SANTA SOPHIA
• Santa Sophia  officially the Great Mosque of Ayasofya  and formerly the Church of
Santa Sophia, is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul.
• Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it
remained the main cathedral of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire until 1453, when
it was converted into an Ottoman mosque upon the fall of the city. 
• Completed during the reign of the eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, it was then the
world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It
is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture.
• Built as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople between 532 and 537 on the orders of
Justinian I, the basilica was designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus
and Anthemius of Tralles.
• After the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was converted to a
mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror. The patriarchate moved to the Church of the Holy
Apostles, which became the city's cathedral.
• The mosaics depicting Jesus, his mother Mary, Christian saints, and angels were
eventually destroyed or plastered over . Islamic architectural features were added, such
as a minbar , four minarets, and a Mihrab, indicating the direction of prayer . From its
initial conversion until the construction in 1616 of the nearby Sultan Ahmed Mosque,
aka the Blue Mosque, it was the principal mosque of Istanbul.