ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ROME: INTRODUCTION:

Despite the quality and quantity of the Roman constructions that have reached us, the achievements of
Roma in any field of the plastic arts has tended to be undervalued. The interest in the study of
Roman art declined with the rediscovery of Greek art in the late 18th century.

This neoclassical interpretation of Roman art managed to relegate it. Against this interpretation, at the end of
In the 19th century and early 20th century, the art historians of the Vienna School rebelled.

However, this has not been the only mistake in our image of Roman plastic culture. Apart from
The tendency to consider the art of this period as 'Greek art under Roman domination' has been another one,
equally misleading, which has wanted to see in this art a direct creation of a "Roman genius" that saw itself
forced to oppose a strong resistance to the contact with Hellenistic artistic civilization that tended to
preserve their own cultural content.

The truth is that, among various interpretations, one cannot deny the historical role of art.
Roman is fundamental. On one hand, it is absorbing the inheritance of Greece and conveying it directly to
the West. On the other hand, it leads to a break with Hellenism and prepares the Middle Ages.

Roman art will therefore emerge (not so much architecture, which will always have its own personality but
accentuated) from an external encounter with Greek art, rather than as the expression of a deep feeling.
It immediately had an eclectic character and had no trouble presenting itself right away to
service of a governing ideology.

This influence of Greece on Roman art, undeniable, came from two sources:

In the first place, Etruscan art had a strong Greek influence. And the Etruscans maintained
a long and narrow contact with the Romans during the early centuries.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the Roman Empire came into direct contact with the
Greeks in the course of conquests during the last centuries before Christ and this constituted a
overwhelming impact on Roman taste.

This desire for conquest complicates our definition of Roman art quite a bit. Hellenic culture was
quite homogeneous practically until the times of Alexander. It was limited to Greece itself, Asia
Minor and Southern Italy. Roman art will be much more difficult to delimit geographically.
the contribution of the provinces is immense.
On the other hand, the Roman Empire does not represent a single episode in the history of art, but at least
three

The primitive Rome.

The republican period.
The imperial era.

The archaeological remains evidence that Rome began as a group of settlements established on the hills,
in which those of the Palatine are the oldest, dating back to the 8th century BC. The valleys were used
as a necropolis. At the end of the 7th century BC, Rome entered the Etruscan orbit and for a little more than a
The century was ruled by Etruscan kings. During that time, all the varied aspects of life took place.
urban, the valley of the forum was drained and became the civic center; the first were built
temples and monumental public buildings; houses with roofs replaced the thatched cabins
of Bálago. Etruscan gods were imported.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 1

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
In the 3rd century BC, Rome had managed to dominate all of Etruria and had begun the conquest of Italy.
Meridional, from Sicily and from Greece itself. By the end of the 2nd century, it was already the most powerful state of the
Mediterranean. Shortly after, an imperial administrative structure, which would begin with Augustus, was established.
posible la transmisión de ideas, la financiacion de ambiciosos programas de construcción y la extensión de
Roman culture.

Augustus, unlike Pericles, was not a democrat, as he created a monarchy based on the models.
Hellenistic. But although in the political sphere 'libertas' practically disappeared, it continued to exist.
artistic freedom, supported by a growing patronage and by the experience of artists coming from
conquered territories.

The era of Augustus, which left us architectural works such as the Ara Pacis, the Maison Carrée, etc.
to be counted among the glorious cultural episodes in the history of humanity, just as others were.
following, especially regarding the reign of Hadrian.

At the end of the 2nd century A.D., with the last of the Antonines (Commodus), the crisis of the ancient world begins.
which will become decisive and dramatic throughout the 3rd century AD and will then prepare the transition to
medieval world. Rome will remain the administrative center but the provinces will participate increasingly
more in their political and cultural life. Above all, the eastern provinces will gain importance, until the
relocation of the official seat of power to Byzantium. In 350 AD, the new Rome will become the center of
Empire and it will be called Constantinople.

THE ARCHITECTURE:

Of all the Roman arts, architecture was undoubtedly the one that was in the best position to respond
the Greek cultural impact in a more creative and less secondary way. In fact, it is architecture that
land in which the Romans demonstrated greater originality.

New techniques:

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Roman architecture is the use of new techniques and new
materials.

In the field of new techniques, the arch, for example, had already been used in urban architecture.
Greek and at the gates of the Etruscan cities, but it was the Roman architects who knew how to
explore all its possibilities.

Similarly, barrel vaults were not unknown in later Greek architecture, but
they were practically limited to cameras and underground tombs. In contrast, already in the republican Rome
These vaults were extensively used to form imposing platforms and foundations.

The skill of Roman architects lies in their ability to use these techniques effectively.
more regular, and in this aspect they showed themselves less attached to tradition and more open to the new
methods.

Thanks primarily to the arch and the vault, the Romans created buildings with interiors that were each
more rich in spatial relationships, while in Hellenistic architecture the large volumes
they continued to circulate in outer space.

In Rome, the volumes appear transferred to the interior, aided by the construction techniques of the
walls

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 2

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
 In Greece, the walls had a solid structural consistency.
The Roman wall, on the contrary, was rather considered as an inert element intended to
to enclose a space that serves as a support structure.

New materials:

Logically, the creation of this new space would have been impossible without the combination of principles.
of the arch and the vault with the use of new materials.

In ancient Rome, there had gradually been a shift to using higher quality stones, moving from tuff.
limestone locales, harder. It was also common to use unhewn stones and mortar, on
everything for the foundations.
The use of these materials evolved with the discovery in the 3rd century BC that a mortar of
lime, containing volcanic sand produced when poured over gravel or unworked stones (caementa),
a concrete that, when set, had extraordinary hardness and allowed for the construction of entire walls
concrete

An early example of the large-scale use of opus caementicium is the Porticus Aemilia (193 BC).
It is about a huge complex of warehouses built near the Tiber, consisting of several rooms.
above walls built with concrete and covered with irregular stones (opus incertum).

The quality of the concrete from the time of the Republic was relatively low compared to what it reached
to have in recent times of the Empire.

It should be added that the innovation of concrete was mainly applied to baths, theaters, and amphitheaters, that is,
tipologías de edificios que habian tenido pocos o ningún precedente que pudieran servir de modelo
conditioned. Even so, the new techniques gradually became acceptable because they were wrapped in
conventional garments. And so the exterior of a Roman building had to look, as in the past,
supported by columns true or not.

Evidently, the first factor that determines the choice of materials and construction is their existence in
the area. And the chosen materials depend on both the nature of a construction and the character
of its decoration. And so it happened in most of the Roman architecture before the 1st century BC although
with various exceptions.

Adobe was still widely used at the end of the 1st century BC. It was gradually replaced by concrete.
coated with masonry and further ahead with brick. The increasing use of brick as a material of
coating made it possible to be used for decorative purposes as well. Initially, the
brick could only be the basis of a decoration executed in stucco. Thus, the use of brick as such
It was initially purely structural. Later on, even the Corinthian capitals, moldings,
Cornices, columns and pilasters, pediments, were made of molded or carved brick.

From approximately 40 BC, opus reticulatum began to be widely used in Central Italy.
that consisted of pyramid blocks arranged with the square base facing outwards, aligned to form a
diagonal drawing, similar to a net on the surface of the wall, with the vertices embedded in the core and
concrete that coated.

On its part, the stone-cutting factory, large square blocks of stone arranged in rows.
horizontal, extended throughout the Empire, except where it was not possible to obtain stone opus
quadratum. Una característica especial de este opus es la mampostería rústica de juntas rebajadas, la
unfinished stone that remains on the surface is left this way deliberately in some monumental buildings

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 3

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME 2004/2005 COURSE
(Porta Maggiore), which gives them a rough and robust appearance. This opus greatly influenced the
Renaissance architects.

Of course, another material was marble, which gained enormous prestige for its use in larger buildings.
category. During the reign of Augustus, the quarries were discovered and began to be exploited.
Carrara in northern Tuscany, which was commonly used in public buildings in Rome.

La tradición y la innovación.

As important as innovations in technique or materials is the degree of conservatism and

respect for the tradition that reflects Roman architecture.

In this sense, the main characteristic was the retention and reworking of architectural forms.
Greeks, especially the Corinthians, in the external treatment of buildings, many of which were
built from principles totally analogous to those of the column/beam. That is to say, the Romans adopted
the Hellenic orders, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian but they were given special treatment.

The Corinthian capital, being the most ornate, was the favorite of the Romans in buildings.
monumental.

The Ionic style, however, was used sparingly, although it was often used in friezes that decorated the
exterior of theaters and amphitheaters.

The classical Doric had been the basis of the type of column used in Etruscan architecture. The version
The Roman of the Doric differed in that:

It had a smaller capital with a more complex profile.

The shaft was slimmer and had no striations.
It had a base and was molded.

En el renacimiento a esta versión le dieron el nombre e columna toscana y se usó en general para
small-scale architecture.

Finally, the composite capital was a fully Roman invention, consisting of a combination of
Ionic volutes with crowns of acanthus leaves typical of Corinthian.

New typologies:

While in Greece the architecture had maintained a completely unified character, taking as
Standards for all types of buildings, the joints of the peripteral temple, in Rome, although the temple
It fits quite well with the Greek model, new building typologies emerge in correspondence with each.
moment with the utilitarian purpose for which they had been intended. Thus we have: basilicas, baths, amphitheaters,
monumental arches, blocks of housing, luxurious country houses and of course the works of
engineering.

The architects, the authors: ...

It is surprising that few of these buildings can be attributed to a known architect. The
Buildings have gone down in history because they belonged to Rome and were built for emperors.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 4

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME 2004/2005 COURSE
THEME 18: RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE: TEMPLES AND SANCTUARIES:

18.1 THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD: THE CONFIGURATION OF THE OFFICIAL SCHEME OF THE TEMPLE
ROMAN

The basic typology of the Roman temple acquired its first formal and aesthetic configuration in the period
republican, combining three elements:

Etruscan architectural tradition define the basic structure.

Reception and adaptation to their own tastes of the Greek temple.
Specifically Roman contribution of new materials and new construction techniques.

The first temples built in Rome strictly adhered to the Etruscan model. Let's take into account
the importance and influence of the Etruscans in the formation of Rome.

The best example of the temple in republican times is the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which was initiated
in the times of the last Etruscan kings. Its structure has not been preserved, but we know it from
descriptions of ancient authors. It responded openly to the typology of the Etruscan temple; triple cella,
elevated on a high podium, double portico of columns more spaced than in the Greeks and decoration to
ceramic base.

The transformation of this model to turn it into a new reality, the Roman temple, began
between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC due to the full assimilation by the Romans of the influence
Greek, as it will now reach its fullness with the Roman expansion, through Magna Graecia and Sicily first and
after Greece.

The result of this process of Hellenization was the adoption of the Greek architectural orders that would be
reinterpreted and incorporated into the traditional typology of Etruscan temple, giving rise to the first
original creations of Roman religious architecture:

Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome. Etruscan podium and plan, the Ionic order that composes it has been
modified and adapted to the Roman taste. The temple was pseudoperipteral and not peripteral. Thus appears one of
the most defining characteristics of Roman temples the trend to expand the front porch and
to give it greater importance in relation to the embedded colonnade that surrounded it. According to D. S.
Robertson, this may be due to trying to downplay the importance of side and rear perspectives.
in favor of the frontal, possibly due to being located in an urban area.

The filo-Hellenism also had its reflection in the assimilation towards the 3rd century BC of another distinctly
Hellenic: the circular temple, type tholos, which was applied profusely during the 2nd century BC to fall before
the model of the official temple already described.

Examples of this typology are the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, and the Temple of Hercules Olivarius.
Rome. The Romans departed for its construction from a foreign source, the Greek type of temple.
Corinthian circular, but adapted to their own ways.

It is even more novel and a high exponent within the religious architecture of the temple of the time.
Republican is the Sanctuary of the Primigenia Fortune in Palestrina, (see book).

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 5

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME SCHOOL YEAR 2004/2005
18.2 THE RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE OF IMPERIAL ROME:

The mandate of Augustus: The model of 'Hellenized' Italic temple

In the middle of the 1st century BC, Rome began to transform its image. Julius Caesar became aware of the value.
propagandistic role that art could have in relation to politics and decided to undertake an important
programa constructivo cuyo reflejo máximo era elForo Julio. Esta tarea fue proseguida por Augusto cuyo
The objective was to create a language, an official architecture that would identify the empire. This architecture
It is based on two fundamental principles, also present in the republican era:

The use of Greek architectural language reinterpreted to Roman taste.

The incorporation of new materials and construction techniques.
The fired brick in these years stops being a complement to stone to become
in a basic element.
Also begins the exploitation of the quarries of Carrara.
The opus incertum is replaced by the opus reticulatum.

One of the fronts of Augustan architecture was religious architecture. a large part of the propaganda
The policy was based on the return to past moral values and the restoration of the official religion.

To promote these reforms, he ordered the erection of monumental temples that followed in their structure the
typological model of the republicans, but transforming it through some novelties that would give to
Augustan temple a special image:

Widespread use of marble.

Incorporation of a modified Corinthian order in its aesthetics (shortening the intercolumns)
Incorporate the pediment in the Greek way of the 5th century BC.

These characteristics can be appreciated in the Temple of Mars Ultor built in the Forum of Augustus.
(see book).

The innovations incorporated into the temple by Augustus's architecture were reflected in the provinces.
Among the many temples built in the provinces, we highlight La Maison Carrée in Nimes. (see book).

18.3 THE TYPOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS OF THE 2ND AND 3RD CENTURIES AD:

The vaulted temples: the pantheon

The architectural trends imposed by Augustus in sacred architecture, with the consolidation of
Italic temple model of Greek inspiration, were continued during the 1st century A.D. by the
Emperors of the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties, during whose periods few experiences were had.
innovations. This is possibly due to the attempt to remain true to certain patterns that
they were associated with the splendor of the early days of the empire.

It will not be until the 2nd century A.D. that the second major innovation occurs.
Roman imperial religious architecture: circular plan temples covered by vault or dome and
built with concrete. One of the most outstanding features will be the deepening in the valuation of
interior space of the building. The Roman Pantheon constitutes the emblematic complex of this type of
building, to the point that its influence has come to determine a good part of the production
subsequent architectural Byzantium, Islam or the Italian Renaissance. (see book for description).

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 6

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
The Pantheon was a building of a typically Roman character, which Hadrian wanted to oppose with another construction.
religious of Greek aesthetics: The Temple of Venus and Rome: a peripteral temple of enormous proportions and
rectangular plant, raised on a podium, composed of two cellars, finished in apse and connected by it, like
if they were two temples linked by their head, which could be accessed by 2 independent porticos.

The sanctuaries of the Eastern Roman Empire.

After these constructions erected during the reign of Hadrian, the typological novelties in the
Roman sacred architecture corresponded mainly to the eastern provinces, where it still
kept alive the Hellenistic tradition, while also evolving, influenced by technical renewal and
materials of Roman architecture.

Eastern Roman architecture even became a disseminator of architectural forms.

the empire. On the contrary, Rome and the western provinces continued with the already described patterns.

Characteristics of Eastern Roman architecture (Greece and Asia Minor) are:

Taste for monumentality and the overlapping columns.

Baroque style in architectural forms.
Urban and decorative assessment (vision) of open spaces.

An example of this sacred architecture from the eastern provinces is the Sanctuary of Jupiter Heliopolitan.
in Baalbek (province of present-day Lebanon) 2nd century A.D. (see book).

THEME 19: FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE:

Although at certain moments in its history and related to some social groups it was practiced in
In Rome, burial, the most common funeral rite between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD, was cremation.
starting from Adrian, however, the rite of burial was resumed, making imposing arrangements for the occasion
marble sarcophagi.

Among the Romans, it was common to locate their tombs along the exit roads of the cities, although
important necropolises existed where the most common type of burial consisted of a pit where they
I was depositing the urn in which a small stone or double tile structure was being built.
slope, placing in front of it a stele or altar.

However, there existed monumental tombs whose basic typology was practically defined in the
early times of the Empire, under the mandate of Augustus. It is about the tomb-mausoleum in the shape of
mound towered that became a model for the rest of the Roman emperors.

The typology was inaugurated by the Mausoleum of Augustus, intended as a family tomb for the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Claudia, a synthesis between the tumulus tomb of Etrusco-Italic tradition and the Hellenic influence brought by the
Tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria. (See book).

This model of imperial tomb initiated by Augustus had its continuation in the Mausoleum of Hadrian.
the actual Castel Sant'Angelo, which faithfully followed its typology, although endowed with greater monumentality
(See book).

The success of this typology reached Roman provincial architecture, especially in the western realm.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 7

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
But aside from this typology, some modalities of architecture emerged during the Empire.
funeral homes very different, that despite not having achieved success or architectural continuity,
they represent interesting examples.
One of the most remarkable is the Trajan's Column, a monument with an eminently purpose.
commemorative of the military victory of Trajan in Dacia, which also served as the burial site
of the emperor, locating a burial chamber beneath the base that supported the column.

Finally, it must be said that Roman funerary architecture developed a final model of
burial: that of the hypogea excavated in rock in the oriental style, which occurred precisely in Asia
Minor, where the fusion of Roman beliefs with local cults was very common. The best
The preserved exponent of this typology is represented by the Tomb of the Pharaohs, a hypogeum.
rocky structure from the 2nd century A.D. that was built in Petra (Jordan).

TOPIC 20: PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE I:

One of the most interesting chapters of Roman architecture is devoted to public buildings.
Rome created new typologies in all areas, but especially in this of architecture.
public, which with more or less deep roots in Greek or Etruscan traditions, had to respond to
the demands arising from the new political and social institutions. Once tested in the metropolis,
or in the Italic cities, they spread as universal prototypes of civil architecture throughout
the empire.

It is during the Roman Republic that new typologies begin to develop, which quickly
they were implanted starting from the imperial era across the various territories of the empire.

However, barely any remnants of republican Rome remain, as they disappeared or were rebuilt in.
imperial era, although we do have examples in the different colonies, and we can certainly continue
its evolution in imperial times.

Really, all these new typologies acquire their generic form in the colonies that Rome creates in its
advance through the Italian peninsula. The new territories were not simply exploited, but instead were
Romanized. On this ground is where Roman architects formulated urban standards and types.
generalized civil architecture that, under the reign of Augustus and his successors, were used for the
urbanization of the western area of the empire.

Los edificios públicos, foros y basílicas, van a tener una estructura fijada en la epoca republicana,
generally characterized by the use of rectangular or square plants and flat roofs, rarely
above said. From this period, few remains are preserved in Rome; during the Augustan era, most of
these buildings were rebuilt, and an important novelty is introduced in their construction, the
use of marble, while establishing the necessary use of classical orders as a motif
ornamental of official architecture.

With all these elements, the architecture of the time of Augustus becomes the institutional image.
of the imperial regime. These official models change little in their structure over time;

built in marble.
Decorated with the game of classical orders.
With rectangular plants.
Lintel covers.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 8

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
They will contrast with other types of public buildings developed from the Empire, the buildings of
entertainment such as theaters, amphitheaters, and baths; especially in the latter, the use of the each
more developed concrete technique will allow the increasingly centralized plant operation
complex and arched coverings.

The concrete technique was excellent for the increasingly sophisticated vaulted coverings. Without
It is difficult to find this technique in institutional public buildings until very advanced stages.
imperial era, due to the fact that their image remained fixed in the time of Augustus.

20.1 INSTITUTIONAL PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE:

THE FORUM:

In ancient Rome, the Forum was an open space, the main square of the cities, where the market was located.
and the citizen assemblies were held. In it, the activities and the buildings were located more
important places in the city, originally the shops and markets, the places designated for assemblies and
courts of justice and finally the temples. Thus, the forum was the commercial, political, and religious center of
the city, where all kinds of shows could also be held. In the Roman Forum, events were celebrated
gladiator fights until the end of the Republic when specific typologies for them emerge.
activities.

El Foro romano tiene su precedente y modelo en el ágora helenística, aunque en su estructura

architectural, rectangular space surrounded by porticoes, brought important innovations: it was formed
like an absolutely closed square where all the elements were organized in an axial manner. The
forums became open public spaces but perfectly limited and defined by the
own architectural structure.

The planned forum brought together the most important buildings in the city: the basilica, the court of
justice and place of assemblies and the temple. These 3 elements forum, basilica, and temple formed a complex
articulated. The temple was located at one of the narrowest ends, the basilica was placed
transversely, closing the space at its other end.

The grouping of these 3 elements into a single architectural complex seems to have originated in
the cities of northern Italy, from there it passed to Rome and subsequently to the rest of the empire.

In the colonies and new cities founded by Rome during its expansion, usually of military origin, the
The regularity of the Forum was achieved by extending the space at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus.

Forums of the republican era:

Forum of Rome.
Forum of Pompeii.

(see book)

Imperial Forums:

César's Forum.
Forum of Augustus.
Forum of Vespasian or of Peace.
Forum of Nerva or transitional.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 9

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
 Trajan's Forum.
Forum of Septimius Severus (Leptis Magna, Tripolitania)

(see book)

THE BASILICA:

The origin of this building, so characteristically Roman, is uncertain. The basilica actually emerges in the
Roman forum, where it can have a spontaneous origin from the Greek stoa, or have some precedent
anterior not preserved.

Its characteristics are:

They are rectangular-shaped buildings.

Covered with a lintelled structure.
Divided into ships, with the central one being taller than the side ones, normally one or two on each side.
from the central. These divisions are made through a series of columns.

It has been interpreted that the genesis of the basilica is from the union of two opposing side aisles, elevating the nave.
central.

The truth is that the Roman basilica was located in the forum and emerged alongside it, where it served as a tribunal.
of justice and place of commercial transactions.

It seems that the origin of the forum-basilica union took place in the Campania region, where the first
A surviving example is the Basilica of Pompeii, although it is later than the first examples erected in.
Roma of those whose remains are not preserved.

The basilica, assimilated into the forum and next to the temple, rapidly expanded, becoming one of the
most common typologies in imperial Rome, with examples in Italy and western provinces.

In the eastern provinces, it was one of the new Roman buildings that had the most diffusion, although it took time.
time to impose.

The Paleochristian basilica originates from these Roman basilicas.

These buildings, with a rectangular, elongated plan, divided into aisles by columns, were covered with
flat wooden coffered ceilings; they were illuminated by series of holes located in the projection of the nave
central. Inside the basilica, the space where justice was administered was distinguished from the space
destined for commercial transactions. The first was marked by the position of the platform where it
the tribunal was located, usually at one end. Subsequently, semicircular apses were opened
(Ulpian Basilica) at the ends where the platforms were located, from them the apses will derive.
paleochristians.

The side aisles, numbering two and exceptionally four (Ulpian Basilica), served for transactions.
commercial and financial, although they could simply be a transit place. In most cases
it had an upper gallery called pluteum. In addition, the basilicas could have secondary rooms such as
files, offices, and even chapels of imperial worship.

The entrance to the building was always made through the side that connected to the forum, depending on the position.
horizontal or transversal of the basilica in relation to it.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 10

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME SCHOOL YEAR 2004/2005
The ceiling was flat and beamed, and a gabled roof was constructed on top of it. Further ahead in the
Basilica of Majencia, the enormous possibilities of covering that the widespread use of concrete brought
it allowed for a vaulted cover. The size of these architraved buildings was made possible thanks to the
development of complex wooden frameworks, trusses, and beams, that demonstrated the mastery and
development achieved by the builders in carpentry work.

From the republican era, the basilica best known is the one in Pompeii, since those built in Rome just barely
They are known more than by their names. The first of them was the so-called Porcia Basilica, which disappeared in a
fire in 54 BC. The second was the Basilica Emilia later reconstructed by Caesar. Later
Sempronius Gracchus commissioned the construction of the Sempronian Basilica, rebuilt by Caesar and which received from
at that moment the name of Basilica Julia.

These first basilicas, although they were built in the Republican Forum, were not an essential element.
to him. The assimilation of forum, basilica, and temple occurred in Campania, the first known example is
Pompeii, and from there it will go to Rome and the rest of the empire.

Basilica of Pompeii.
Basilicas of Caesar in Rome.
The Emilia Basilica.
the Julia Basilica.
Basilicas in the Imperial era.
The Basilica of Trajan
The Basilica of Maxentius. (see all in the book)

OTHER BUILDINGS:

In addition to the visible ones, there were other public buildings associated with the forums intended for different purposes.
fines. Each one forms a specific typology, but there are not enough remains, or they are scattered and
isolated to study them as a homogeneous typology and see their evolution.

The election:

It was a place considered sacred in ancient Rome, where meetings were held for the election of
the magistrates of the plebe and the celebration of assemblies. These assemblies, along with the senate, were the
elements of Roman governmental power. They were located in the forum.

There are only records of these buildings during the republican period, since the institution ceased to exist at
establish the empire.

The curia:
In Rome, it was the building where the senate met, and in other cities where the so-called
Municipal curia. Since the republic, the so-called Curia Hostilia existed in the forum; in Caesar's time the
The building was rebuilt and came to be called Curia Iulia. Almost nothing remains of that building. What can be seen today...
The forum is the result of radical arrangements carried out during the time of Domitian and Diocletian.

The plant is rectangular, of a single space, forming a large hall with a high ceiling presumably.
wooden coffered ceiling, reinforced at the 4 outer corners with solid supports
buttresses. On both sides of the hall there were 3 tiers intended for the seats of the senators. The
the exterior façade was built with brick, with the lower part covered in marble and the upper part of
stucco imitating masonry. It was crowned by a pediment decorated with three acroteria.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 11

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
The libraries:

They do not present a generalized model, thus not constituting a defined typology, since in most cases
they were part of larger architectural complexes, such as baths, forums, temples.

However, it can be affirmed that they followed a certain functional and spatial organization: it was about
of two rectangular-shaped rooms connected, one was designated for the Latin library and the other for the Greek one. Each
one of these spaces formed a large room in whose walls rectangular niches opened with
shelves to store books, scrolls, papyri. Around each of these main rooms there
they had smaller rooms where the desks were located. Usually in one of their
facades, the building had a portico that served as a meeting place and gathering spot.

The first known library in Rome was established by Caesar, although it is unknown if it had the support of.
with a specific building. It is estimated that in Rome at the end of the empire there were about 40 public libraries.

Famous were those located in the Forum of Trajan, after the Ulpia Basilica and flanking the column of
Trajan. There, two buildings were constructed, breaking with the custom of separation into two rooms.
that each building was dedicated to a type of books, Greek and Latin.

This arrangement will not occur again. Both buildings were of a simple rectangular plan with
niches as a closet and shelves in them. In the construction, marble-coated brick was used in
place of marble slabs like the rest of the forum. This material was chosen for its greater capacity of
brick to absorb the harmful moisture for the books.

From the time of Hadrian is the enormous Library of Athens, consisting of a spacious open courtyard,
porticoed and presided over by a fountain. On both sides, a rectangular classroom opened flanked by two
exedras, which were accessed through a portico.

The files:

We know the only building specifically designated for archives in Rome: The Tabularium (see book)

20.2 COMMERCIAL PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE:

MARKET

Although commercial activity had many spaces to take place in the ancient Roman cities (in
the forums, markets, or fairs around sanctuaries, small shops at the lower parts of the houses,
occupying entire streets) there existed a special type of market, the macellum, a public space
built for the sale of food.

The structure of the macellum was simple, a large rectangular courtyard bordered by small shops,
some open on both sides, often with a colonnade. It had a more developed facade than
the others and in it could be situated singular buildings, like in Pompeii a small chapel dedicated to
imperial cult.
En el centro del patio, normalmente, existia un pabellón de planta circular columnado y con una fuente,
a place designated for cleaning the fish before placing it in its selling spots, usually located in
one of the sides and separated from the rest.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 12

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
This structure of the macellum, enclosed with stalls around it and with a central pavilion, developed as
joint in the northern region of Italy just as happened with the Foro-basilica-temple unit, it seems
that responds to the urban planning of the new colonies.
In central Italy, there was another equally common type, consisting of an entirely enclosed courtyard.
circular surrounded by shops that opened exclusively to it.

Among the preserved macellum is the one ordered to be built by Augustus in Athens, the called
Roman Market. The Markets of Trajan (see book).

THEME 21: PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE II:

21.1 EDIFICIOS CONMEMORATIVOS:

Among the new architectural typologies that the Romans developed with greater political significance are without
doubt the grouped as commemorative buildings. Of them, the best preserved are the arches.
triumphal arches, built exclusively for exhibition. The triumphal arches imply a conversion to the
monumental form of provisional constructions erected on the occasion of military triumphs.

The main opening of the arch, and the sides if any, were flanked by columns generally.
pairs. The intermediate spaces sometimes contained reliefs related to the commemorated event. The reason
its erection was explained in a clearly visible inscription in the attic above the vertex. Normally the
the arch was adorned with sculptural groups sometimes in bronze.

Literary sources mention that the oldest triumphal arches erected in Rome date back to
beginnings of the 2nd century BC

In the times of Augustus, two triumphal arches were erected in the Roman Forum. The first in 29 B.C. after the
victory at Actium, was of a single window. It was demolished and replaced by another in 19 B.C., of which we know
its structure for a coin of the time.

Arch of Titus (from book)

Under Trajan, triumphal arches were built in Ancona and Benevento; the first one is the most slender.
probably of all the preserved ones, accentuated by the high podium on which it stands, erected in the
115 BC simultaneously to that of Benevento, this one of almost square proportions and with a single arch.

Arch of Jerash (see book)

Arch of Septimius Severus (see book)

Arch of Constantine (from the book)

In the times of Augustus, a completely different commemorative building was erected: The Ara Pacis. (see book).
Probably the most Roman of all the commemorative monuments we can mention is the
Trajan's Column (see book) and later the Column of Marcus Aurelius.

21.2 AN ARCHITECTURE FOR SHOWS:

The Roman people were especially fond of shows and the buildings dedicated to them.
entertainments present some special typologies. Thus, stage representations in the Greek manner
they were frequent in Rome since the mid-3rd century BC and although the typology of the theater is

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 13

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME SCHOOL YEAR 2004/2005
heir of the Hellenic suffers some significant changes, especially due to its tendency to the
monumentalization

The orchestra in the Greek case was semicircular, the cavea was excavated on a slope where the
the topography allowed it. The possibilities for external decoration were very limited.
The Romans create a large orchestra, and what is more important, they build (the majority of
sometimes) the cavea completely, over a series of radial concrete vaults, so that when
All the exterior arches will be adorned with the canonical shape (tabularium) of columns.
attached houses

The first theatrical works performed in Rome took place in provisional facilities of
wood. Until Pompey, Rome will not have a permanent stone theater.

Theater and Portico of Pompeii. (see book)

Theater of Marcellus. (see book)

However, the type of show preferred by the Romans was sports. One can speak of a
truly sporting competition (not forgetting its martial roots) with the Greeks in the I Games
Olympics of Ancient Greece in 778 BC.
Due to its philosophy and political education, Greek civilization will exalt the worship of the body, strength, and the
physical perfection as a part of their culture.

For the Romans, however, sports activity never constituted an element that contributed to the
peace and unity of Rome, although he was political in another way. He was part of the physical and moral training of
young people and public entertainment.

In fact, the Greek athletic games, as such, never gained the popularity in Rome that
they had in Greece. Really the "sports" shows that prevailed among the Romans were of
another type and were framed in two fundamentally different categories:

The games. theatrical performances, chariot races and quadrigas.

The games. gladiator fights, venations (hunting of ferocious animals).

Each one needed specific buildings. Both gladiator fights and venationes
They celebrated in the amphitheaters. The spectacle of the gladiators was undoubtedly the most popular of the
Roman shows and it would be the national sport for eight centuries. But the gladiator combat that
It has commonly been a typical manifestation of the Roman people, but it was actually an older invention.
It dates back to customs of killing prisoners of war and sacrificing animals in honor of gods and
heroes, and the Hellenic spread human blood in honor of the fallen comrades.

Over time, this rite took on profane and spectacular characteristics. And these spectacles always
were offered by a magistrate to the gods and to the Roman people.

For all these reasons, amphitheaters are among the most important examples of Roman architecture.
in the West. Furthermore, it was fundamental for the Roman people. At first, the gladiator games were
They celebrated in improvised places like forums or squares. The first built in Rome in wood dates back to
year 53 B.C.

The amphitheaters of Verona, Nîmes, Arles, and El Djem, despite small variations, are descendants
direct type developed in Central Italy. Some primitive amphitheaters like those in Mérida and
Syracuse were partially excavated in the ground. Some amphitheaters had underground chambers.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 14

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
beneath the sand to house people or animals, or to contain materials intended for the
shows.

Colosseum of Rome. (see book)

Para los ludi, concretamente las carreras de carros se requerian unos espacios alargados mucho mayores
that the amphitheaters, for this purpose the Romans built the circuses, among which probably the best
the temple is the Circus Maximus (see book).

TEMA 22: ARQUITECTURA DOMESTICA:

There are many preserved examples of domestic architecture from the Roman period in this area.
they used various and complex typologies of buildings both in housing, such as the villa or the palace.

In the case of housing, the exceptional circumstances of Pompeii or the abandonment of Ostia after the period
imperial, have facilitated the preservation of two complete cities from different eras, which allows for the
comprehensive knowledge of the most common domestic typologies. The domus and the insula.

More dispersed although with presence throughout the empire, are the remains of villas. This dispersion is due to
the very function and essence of this architectural complex, intended for agricultural exploitation or to the
recreation of the great patricians.

The preserved remnants of the royal residences are scarcer, as the number of these was smaller.
buildings, although they are significant and allow for the exact knowledge of the various models
typological.

22.1 THE HOUSE:

HOUSE

The domus was the individual house designated for a single family, which developed throughout the era.
republican. In Rome, there are no remnants of this architecture, but in Pompeii due to the circumstances
It is well known that the remains are extensive, which is why it has also been called a Pompeian house.

It is a complex house developed inward, with hardly any exterior elements other than a
sober facade. It can be distinguished into two parts:

The one that is structured around the central atrium.

The one that opens to the peristyle at the back.

(see book)

ISLAND:

In addition to the single-family house, the domus, Rome developed another type of domestic architecture.
Fundamentally in the city of Rome and in some other congested cities of the Empire, The Insula
multi-story building with housing.

At the end of the 1st century BC, nearly 1 million inhabitants crowded into a relatively small space in Rome.
Only the wealthy patricians could afford to live in a domus, while the rest concentrated in the insulae.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 15

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
The blocks of the insulae had a construction of very low quality: made of brick, floors, ceilings and
wood and straw stairs, they had no kitchens or services. This favored the proliferation of fires and
the continuous collapses. The constant growth of Rome determines that these blocks that until the
At that moment, they had been built with three floors; they will increase in height up to the point that Caesar saw.
required to issue regulatory ordinances limiting their maximum height to 20 meters.

With all this, Rome appeared as an overcrowded city, in whose working-class neighborhoods people were crammed together.
population in these housing blocks, always unhealthy. In 64 AD during the reign of Nero the
The fire that devastated Rome completely destroyed whole areas of the city. This disaster allowed the
Emperor a new city reconstruction plan, with wider streets and aligned buildings and
arcades.

Likewise, the debris accumulated from the landslides caused by the fire allowed for an important
engineering work prior to the reconstruction of neighborhoods, leveling earthworks, filling in ponds, and unifying
the levels, thus providing a more regular seat for the new city.

On this new ground, the aligned insulae were reconstructed, limiting their height and adding them.
porches in the fronts to protect them from fire. A part of each building had to be constructed
with stone and not containing wooden elements. Separate houses divided by walls were not allowed.
party walls; each one had to have its own walls. Likewise, each tenant was obliged to maintain
fire extinguishing elements.

The city began its reconstruction with Nero but it was during the Flavian dynasty, especially with
Domitian when it really came to completion, although again the overpopulation and the pressure on
It was determined that many of the established regulations were being sidelined.

From these ancient insulae, hardly any remains are left in Rome.

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN OSTIA:

Ostia is a magnificent urban model from the imperial era; developed and urbanized at the end of the 1st century.
and in the 2nd century AD, both its urban planning and its architecture reflect the planning devised for
Rome after Nero's fire. Ostia was abandoned at the end of antiquity, so it has not suffered.
the continuous transformations of an inhabited city and has reached us preserved in a form
integral.

It is structured like a rational and planned city, with wide and regular streets flanked by
porticoes, with a uniform treatment on the facades and limited height. Care was taken in the construction of the
buildings made of concrete covered with brick, strictly avoiding materials
flammable, and each building is designed with an independent structure from its neighbors.

There are only Domus in Ostia. The Ostian house is tall, organized into floors and levels, several residences.
for each building and inhabited by neighbors under rental agreements. Urban planning determined the
uniform treatment of the facades, which were arranged with a portico on the ground floor to which one could
open shops, windows, and balconies on the upper floors. The covering was done with a gabled roof
slopes and rarely with a flat terrace.

The housing model developed in Ostia and Rome became the most common type in large
cities of the empire, due to constant growth increasing land prices, which made
impossible the domus. The big cities therefore were populated by insulae which in their lower part
they were lodging taverns.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 16

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
Finally, it should be added in general that in the provinces, the domus developed as a house
independent destined for the upper class in all Mediterranean areas where the Hellenistic house with
the peristyle was its predecessor. The rest maintained their domestic architecture according to their customs.
ancestral.

22.2 THE VILLA.

In Roman times, Villa referred to two distinct forms of domestic construction located outside of the
city

Rustic villa in which domestic buildings were combined with utilitarian buildings for the
agricultural exploitation (warehouses, deposits, stables, cellars, rooms for
workers)
Urban villa or leisure villa, which were summer and retreat residences of the great lords,
which were characterized by the luxury of their facilities and architectural showmanship.

It should be said, however, that all the villas, even the most luxurious recreational ones, were part of their
important funds that assimilated them to complex agricultural exploitations. Therefore the
Villa (with few exceptions) brings together both in its rustic version and in its urban version the two
exposed models.

Its capacity for self-sufficiency determined that when the disintegration of the mechanisms occurs
imperial public power, these great domains were gaining autonomy, both administratively and
economic, until they became true lordly states.

THE URBAN VILLA OR RECREATIONAL VILLA:

It is the summer mansion and retreat of the wealthy patricians and the emperors themselves, marked by the
luxury, exquisiteness, and refinement, nestled in a landscape (marine or inland), open to it and surrounded
of gardens. It was a means by which the well-off citizen enjoyed the countryside by surrounding himself with the advantages
that the city provided him.

Not only did they serve for the enjoyment of their owner, but they were intended to be constructions of
representation and prestige. It also had an intellectual and artistic nuance since in it its owner
he had an important library and displayed his collections of works of art.

Architecturally, these villas are going to be places for experimentation with new forms, especially at
starting from the empire with the consecration of concrete, as new coverings and plants will be tested
and spaces, which would then mainly be transferred to the palaces.

In their more modest versions, they reproduce the layout of the Domus, but with an opening to the outside of
which that lacked. The loggia on the facade, the peristyle, the gallery, the porticoed courtyard are elements
typical of these constructions that open to the gardens that surround them and the surrounding landscape.

The first holiday villas we have news of are those in Pompeii, located on the outskirts of the
city at the foot of Vesuvius. They followed the layout of the domus tempered by the need for openness.
to the landscape. To do this, they reversed the atrium-peristyle order.

The most representative is the so-called Villa of the Mysteries. The southeast wing was destined for luxury.
mansion, situated on an artificial terrace. Its layout followed a longitudinal axis that started at
the entrance, continued the peristyle, the atrium, and the tablinium, culminating in a spacious exedra from which one could

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 17

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
I could contemplate a delicious view of the coast. The northeast wing was a set of utility buildings for
agricultural exploitation. Remarkable paintings.

From this republican era, we also have news of a series of mansions of patricians located in the
own Rome, in the Palatine, the so-called Horti are an intermediate step between the domus and the villa, since
Like the first, they are urban domestic architecture and follow the same structure of atrium and peristyle, but
as the villas are ostentatious residences open to the landscape and with gardens around them, developing
prestigious spaces surrounded by luxury. At the end of the republic, the gardens of Sila and Pompey were famous.
Craso, Cicero, Caesar etc.

THE VILLA OF HADRIAN IN TIVOLI (see book)

22.3 THE PALACE:

The palace as the residence of the emperor appears as an architectural typology after the reign of Augustus.
he had lived in a luxurious domus on the Palatine like any patrician. However, the consolidation
of the monarchy and the development of court ceremonies highlighted the need for a
imperial residence that not only covered domestic needs but also those of representation and
administrative.

The late appearance of the palace as a typology meant that it developed completely apart from the
official model of monumental and representative architecture established in the time of Augustus for buildings
public.

Therefore, this typology is more rooted in the style of suburban and recreational villas than with the ...
models of institutional architecture. The imperial palaces gathered and developed the style
vaulted Roman architectural. It will combine, on one hand, the spaces open to the outside
through terraces, galleries, peristyles, porticoed patios, and a monumental columned facade, all of them
elements widely used in Hellenistic architecture, with, on the other hand, the development of a
specifically Roman architecture in which countless vaulted spaces play with diversity of
plants: circular, polygonal, semicircular, longitudinal, spaces of different sizes, etc. This
The combination was made possible thanks to the application of concrete in the coverings.

The first imperial palace was commissioned by Tiberius, the Domus Tiberina on the Palatine. It served
as a final resting place for his mother Livia. Only a few small remains of him are known, although it is already
They can guess the existence of a large courtroom, luxury, and a broad monumental façade.

Golden House (Nero) (See book)

Palace (Flavian)

IMPERIAL PALACES OUTSIDE ROME:

The palatium served as a model of imperial residence until the arrival of the Tetrarchy. In 292,
Diocletian as a means to solve the chaos and military anarchy in which the empire was plunged, imposed his
division into four tetrarchies, each governed by an Augustus or Caesar. It was intended to curb the danger
and the threat that was experienced at the borders. Therefore, Rome ceased to be the center of the empire and was born
new capitals:
Trier (Caesar Constantius Chlorus)
Milan (Maximiano Augusto)
Nicomedia (present-day Izmir) (Emperor Diocletian)
Thessaloniki (Galerius Caesar)

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 18

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
The system worked while the four were alive, as upon their death their respective successors
they were embroiled in civil wars, which culminated in the rise to the throne of Constantine and the establishment of
Constantinople.

In all these capitals, institutional urban complexes were built, each trying to
emulate and become a small Rome, equipping itself with monumental architecture of which in general
Just like their palaces, few remains have been left. We can conclude that all of them had a
general planning following the model of the Palatium, divided into two areas, the institutional and the private.
All of them associated a circus or racetrack with the palace, just as the palatium dominated the Circus Maximus.

But all these new imperial residences had their own characteristics that were uniform across all of them.
those that separate them from the model of the palace of Domitian:

Need to be fortified,
Book a wing of accommodation and the court and imperial guard quarters.
Treasury administrative services, ceca etc.
A palatine chapel.
Some hot springs.
A mausoleum.

Except for the fortified palace that Diocletian ordered to be built in Spalato (Split, Croatia) for
retreating in 305, barely any remnants of the other imperial residences remain. Those of Antioch and Milan
they are known by ancient authors, there is nothing left in Nicomedia. The preserved remains are greater in
Trier, with important remnants of the Aula Regia, two large baths, a great colonnaded street that goes
from the Black Gate to the palace, and a circus adjacent to it.

Palace of Diocletian in Split (see book).

TOPIC 23: PUBLIC WORKS AND ENGINEERING:

In matters of engineering, military architecture, water infrastructure or sanitation, in the techniques,

employment of materials and other practical aspects of construction, the Romans settled on the
solid knowledge left by the Etruscans, authors of the first urbanization of Rome to which
the first walls and the execution of the Cloaca Maxima belong to, although it was finally the Romans
who developed these aspects to the fullest of their possibilities.

It should not be forgotten that Rome acts on an empire and that one of the fundamental elements of the
the Romanization of it was the construction of colossal and extraordinary public works of engineering, with
the ones that documented the strength and power of Roman culture throughout the territory.
They carried an unknown well-being that manifested that superiority of Rome.

23.1 MILITARY ARCHITECTURE:

In this aspect, the Romans were masters, due to the military nature of the empire since its
beginnings. Its military architecture focused on the construction of fortifications, but with the
the peculiarity that these had to serve to protect an Empire, not exclusively enclaves
citizens.

On the other hand, in the territories that were being occupied, the work of Romanization was being imposed, to
principle regarding military needs, designing basic infrastructures for the army and
on which civil society would later have to rely. The needs of the conquest led to the layout

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 19

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
of roads and the establishment of important fields in potentially unsafe areas, many of
the camps for the legions or the colonies for their veterans later became
important cities

FORTIFICATIONS ON THE EMPIRE'S BORDERS:

The formation of the empire was achieved thanks to a heavily militarized system in which the key was the
fixation and security of borders. AT FIRST Rome did not establish large systems of
fortification, due to the instability of the continuously expanding borders, and the lack of real enemies,
since security was guaranteed by a "buffer" of vassal states that separated the Empire from
the Barbarians.

Finally, the strong expansion under Augustus led to the concentration of troops at the borders and with
they the development of a military architecture that would allow its maintenance. The first legions
border guards were stationed in fortified camps and communicated with each other through a series of
military roads. The camps were protected from the outside by a defensive line that began to
receive the name of the empire, whose nature varied according to the region.

LIMES:

Although the borders of the empire were mostly drawn along major natural features,
In particular, the Danube and Rhine rivers, when they did not exist, defensive constructions were erected.
The set of these constructions and the great line of defense they established is what is called limestones.
The following limes existed:

German limes.
British limes.
Rheic limes.
Limes Dacia.
Eastern and African limes although these were not defined.

The borders were made up of natural land features that protected the border in an area.
and a set of fortification facilities that extended along the strip of land that did not
could be protected by such accidents.

The essential element of the limes was a specific communication route that allowed the passage of armies.
and the constant communication between different points of the same. The elements of fortification and defense
more specific about the limes were:

artificial trench (fossatum)

Continuous wall of wood, earth or stone (vallum)
Military settlements (castra)
Small fortifications (castles)
Fortified squares (burgs and towers)
Secondary fortified cities (oppida)
All of them connected by roads and pathways.

WALLS:

Regarding the walls, the Romans introduced an important innovation in this defense system,
since until that moment the walls had consisted of the construction of a thick defensive wall

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 20

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
that surrounded a civic enclave. With the Romans, the wall became a system of
defense of an extensive territory, the Empire.

The defense and security of the borders required the establishment of boundaries and with them the construction of long
fortified lines starting from Augustus. The continuous pressure on these borders especially from
Marcus Aurelius determined the construction of real lines of walls on the limes.

Thus in 122, on the northern border of Britain, Hadrian built a wall, and later, Antoninus
Pío built another new one. There were also similar lines of walls in Africa, Syria, and the Lower Danube.

Hadrian's Wall was ordered to be built by this emperor in 122 due to the absence of borders.
natural, this limes was built artificially in its entirety. This structure occupied a strip of 3
km wide, in which the main element was a continuous stone wall 130 km long.
It was 3 meters thick and 5 meters high. The wall was preceded by a moat and behind it another one
larger dimensions reinforced by an earth embankment made with the soil extracted from the ditch. In
A series of small and large camps were built near the wall for its guarding.
the defensive line.

Parallel to the wall on its south side, a road was laid out that allowed for the rapid movement of troops.
At certain distances, doors were placed in the wall defended by small fortifications, and between
door to door, watchtowers with a separation of 500 meters.

Antoninus Pius modified that northern border and moved it 120 km further north, building a wall.
and similar characteristics but of 58 km. Rome eventually had to give up on that expansion
borders in 163 moving the border back to Hadrian's wall, that is, demolishing the new one to
to prevent its use by indigenous tribes.

CITIZEN WALLS:

Despite the defensive fortifications of the borders, the practice of walling off was not abandoned.
cities. Rather the opposite, those newly established were fortified, forming the
wall part of the urban planning; based on the organization of military camps, it had
regular, square or rectangular shape and was carried out in the initial phases of its construction.

In the native population centers that were urbanized as Roman cities, the wall was
behind the city, so they had to adapt to the existing shape.

In the 3rd century, the decline of the Roman Empire begins due to the inability to maintain, in the face of the
pressure from the barbarian invasions, the borders of the Rhine and Danube. A process then begins
generalized construction of walls in cities that were not fortified, and of strengthening
of the existing ones.

These cities, which significantly reduced their size, ended up becoming mere
defensive fortresses. A massive exodus of the population to the countryside led to the conclusion of the empire.
with a process of de-urbanization and ruralization that will lay the foundations of the social and political structure
from the Middle Ages.

WALLS OF THE CITY OF ROME:

The first walls of Rome correspond to the Palatine Hill, the site of the city.
older, although its position on steep slopes served as defenses by itself.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 21

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
The first walled enclosure of Rome as such is attributed to Servius Tullius, which are known as
Servian Walls. They were built in the 6th century B.C., coinciding with the first Etruscan urbanization.
This wall surpassed the limits of the Palatine, encompassing the seven hills and remained until the construction
from the mral of Aureliano. Between 378 and 352 BC, in response to the looting of Rome carried out by the
Halls, the Servian wall was rebuilt, this modification being known as the Republican wall.

Hadrian's Wall was built between 272 and 280 AD in response to the barbarian invasion of 271.
the growing threat of aggression. It encompassed the entire core of ancient Rome and is currently preserved.
it integrates its perimeter, totaling about 19 km in length. In front of the ancient Servian walls
built with stone blocks, the aurelianos are built with a concrete core covered with
brick, they have a thickness of 4 meters, plus a 5-meter track inside and an external area
cleared to a width of 10 meters for defensive purposes. In each section, large towers were erected.
square and features numerous and very different doors from various eras. They took advantage
natural disasters and the large works already constructed.

CAMP

To impose and maintain their authority throughout the empire, the Romans built numerous
fortified legionary camps called castra; many of them were built only as
temporary centers, while others eventually became permanent cities. These
Debian camps to be operational in a minimal time and follow the laws of encampment, therefore
which were invariably laid out according to a grid pattern within a defensive perimeter established
default.

According to Polybius, every camp was built according to the same master plan: generally
on flat land, although sometimes natural accidents were part of the fortification. They had shape
square, with dimensions of 656 meters per side. An open space rose on the lower side.
protection of throwing weapons for the stores. All the elements that made up the camp
they always occupied the same location.

The purpose of the camps was fundamentally more offensive than defensive; they were points of
supply for armies in constant motion or troop concentration camps. Because of this
the need for them to be located in easily accessible places such as flat land or roads
communication. In this, the Romans abandon the practice of earlier peoples (Celts, barbarians) of
to settle their camps in high or easily defensible areas due to their defensive nature.

The cities developed from these castra located in favorable sites are the ones that
they survived more easily in the centuries of the Early Middle Ages.

Una vez realizada la conquista del territorio, muchos de estos castra se mantenian transformandose en
an infrastructure occupied by civil society. In areas of the empire that had not existed
previous urban settlements, or unimportant, these well-located and perfectly situated camps
Planned, they were used as the basis for new cities.

Sometimes they were occupied under military surveillance by subjugated indigenous tribes, and other times they were used.
for Roman immigrants. This policy was developed in Italy during the early phases of expansion, such as
It was the case of Aosta, which after the defeat of the local tribe, established a strategic camp at the foot of the
Alpine ports, which Augustus later granted the status of a colony, fortified, and populated with
3000 discharged legionaries and their families. A similar case is in ancient Lusitania the case of Emerita.
Augusta.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 22

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
23.2 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS:

Roman roads show the great advance made by the Romans in the field of engineering.
they apply not only the knowledge of construction, the available materials in each area and
endowing them with a solidity that has allowed many to remain in use until the 20th century, but, and about
everything, the application of deep geographical knowledge, planning and engineering, with which
they ensured that each route had the most rational layout and the most effective communication between all
points of the Empire.

They were built with strong compounds made of four layers: a bottom layer of stone, the two
following various qualities of cement and the superior of basalt slabs or similar material as a layer
of road surface. Its width ranged between 4.5 and 6.5 meters, although the criteria were followed.
marked by the Law of the Twelve Tables.

Each roadway was lined with the so-called mansions, places where the traveler could stop.
separated by the distance that could be traveled in a day. Sometimes they coincided with a
population, others were simple inns that could eventually generate a population. The roads were
provided with indications between mansion and mansion called mile markers.

The Roman roads were essential in the development of the empire, as they formed an important basis of
maintenance of it was its ability to communicate all the regions that composed it, both by
maintenance of exercise as well as the exploitation of resources and establishment of a system
viable economic.

From the early years of the expansion in the Italian peninsula, the construction of roads was understood
as one of the great elements that would allow the strengthening of the territories. Each new
the conquered territory quickly became a Romanized place, due to the fact that it
consolidated the Roman presence in these territories through a perfectly structured communication network.
vertebrate.

Ultimately, the roads served for the mobility of the armies, exploitation of the territory, and in general
the diffusion of Roman culture (Romanization).

The layout of these roads was consistent with the conquest, so the first ones projected correspond to
the Italian peninsula with the aim of uniting Rome with the rest of the territory.

The first built and the best known is the Appian Way, whose purpose was to connect Rome with the coasts of
Latium and the Adriatic (Abulia, Calabria). It became one of the most important arteries of the
Italian Peninsula. Its construction began in 312 BC by the consul Appius Claudius.

Later, with the expansion of the Empire beyond the Italian peninsula, the roads were extended.
towards new territories, being the first built outside of Italy the Via Egnatia located in Greece and
that united the Italian Adriatic with the Bosporus and the Black Sea.

The longest road in the entire empire was the Via Augusta, which connected Rome with Gades.

In addition to these roads that connected the different parts of the Empire, each province had a thick network.
road network composed of main roads, secondary branches, and paths, a network that allowed the
communication of all points of the empire and above all allowed control over the entire vast
territory, its colonization and Romanization. For example, a provincial road was the Via or
Silver Route, which connected Emerita Augusta with Asturica Augusta.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 23

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME COURSE 2004/2005
BRIDGES:

One of the great contributions of the Roman world to the history of art is the development of the arch and its
systematic employment in architecture. Roman architects overcame the limitations imposed by
the horizontal structures, used up to that moment, and develop new formulas to cover
spaces based on the arch, the vault, and the dome, which make it possible to construct enormous
completely transparent surfaces.

Reaching that new way of building was possible thanks to the development of arches or archery in the works of
engineering such as bridges and aqueducts where Roman engineers encountered the problem of
to save large lights with supporting elements of reduced sections. It was the use of voussoirs that
allowed the development of these arches. The Romans followed the techniques of the ancient Etruscans although the
they were maximally developed, in some cases joining the voussoirs with mortar or clamps, which allowed it to shine.
elders.

Construction problems are increasing in bridges, unlike aqueducts or arches of

triumph, it is not possible to choose the width of the opening as it is determined by the flow and intensity of the
current. It was necessary to launch large arches that covered the entire riverbed and if it was not possible to support them on
sturdy stone pillars sometimes set on the riverbed.

It was in the very city of Rome where the possibilities of the arch began to be experimented with.
bridges, as the heavy traffic between both banks of the Tiber soon required the construction of bridges. The
The first stone bridge known in Rome was the Pons Aemilius, built between 181 and
179 BC on the banks of the Forum Boarium. Later, in the time of Pompey, two were built in Rome.
bridges supported on Tiber Island: Fabricius and Cestius.

ARCHITECTURAL TYPOLOGIES IN ANTIQUITY JOSE MIGUEL CALPE CETINA 24

DIDACTIC UNIT V. ROME SCHOOL YEAR 2004/2005