Roman Architecture and Art

Roman art and architecture had a huge impact on the art and architecture of today. One of the ways Roman architecture is similar to today's architecture can be seen in the structure of cities. When Roman architecture began it was merely copies of Greek architecture. Romans eventually created their own form of architecture by developing new building materials and creating unique shapes and forms.

"The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a rectangular plan and resembled a Roman military camp with two main streets—the cardo (north-south) and the decumanus (east-west)—a grid of smaller streets dividing the town into blocks, and a wall circuit with gates. Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded before the adoption of regularized city planning, could, however, consist of a maze of crooked streets. The focal point of the city was its forum, usually situated at the center of the city at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus. The forum, an open area bordered by colonnades with shops, functioned as the chief meeting place of the town. It was also the site of the city's primary religious and civic buildings, among them the Senate house, records office, and BASILICA, (q.v.). The basilica was a roofed hall with a wide central area—the nave—flanked by side aisles, and it often had two or more stories. In Roman times basilicas were the site of business transactions and legal proceedings, but the building type was adapted in Christian times as the standard form of Western church with an apse and altar at the end of the long nave. The first basilicas were put up in the early 2d century bc in Rome's own Forum, but the earliest well-preserved example of the basilicas (c. 120 bc) is found at Pompeii."(source)

Some of the most famous and beautiful peices of Roman art were statues. Roman statues were usually made of marble or clay, and sometimes some metal would be added. The statues were made of gods or important leadrers. The people/gods that the statues were made of were usually nude. Since the statues were made in honor of the gods/leaders, the Romans belived that they should be made of the best quality materials.

Statues were very common in Rome. Romans liked statues because they depicted the god/leader in a very realistics manner. They reinforced Roman artistic convention. They also popularized Roamn artistic convention.

Thew Roman Colosseum is one of the most famous buildings in Rome. The Colosseum was built in 80 A.D. near Nero's "Golden House". It was called the Colosseum because of Nero's Colossus that was near by. The Colosseum consists of four floors.

"The huge theater was originally built encompassing four floors. The first three had arched entrances, while the fourth floor utilized rectangular doorways. The floors each measured between 10,5-13,9 meters (32-42 feet) in height. The total height of the construction was approximately 48 meters (144 feet). The arena measured 79 x 45 meters (237-135 feet), and consisted of wood and sand. (The word "arena" is derived from the Latin arena, which means "sand.") Nets along the sides protected the audience."(source)

Barnett, Mary. Gods and Myths of the Romans: the Archaeology and Mythology of Ancient Peoples. Smithmark Publishers. New York. 1996

Hadas, Moses. Imperial Rome. Time Inc Publishers. Canada 1965