Roman Architecture and Art

The Roman Empire in Rome lasted from 509 B.C. to 330 A.D. and during this time, the Roman architecture and Roman art expanded and became very well known by other countries and different places around the world because of its originality and classic look. As the Roman Empire expaneded, a discinct Roman art emerged. The art and architecture had pictures of people from different classes, such as emperors or slaves. The Roman art and architecture was built around their rituals. This means that the Ancient Roman architecture was built by their custom of a system of rites. (book source 1)

The very first Roman architects were priests. When they would go and look for a good piece of land to build something on, and they found one, they would build whatever it was they were building for the gods. They wanted to live lives that were pleasing to the gods, so even when they built a building, they dedicated it to the gods.

During the classical architectural period for the Greeks, they built in only three orders. These three orders were Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. These different styles consisted of mostly the columns on the buildings and temples. The Doric style was the simplest one of the three. The comumn is very sturdy and the peak or top of the column is very plain and simple. It is also the widest column of the three. This style was used in mainland Greece and the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. The Ionic column is the skinniest column of the three. It is a very elegant column that was skinny. The peak was shaped more like a scroll than anything else. The Ionic style column was used mostly in eastern Greece and the islands. The Corinthian style column was the most decorated column of the three. The column in general was very fancy and decorated. The peak of this column was very elaborate and decorated with acanthus leaves. The Corinthian style column was used in the Greek world, but often seen on Roman temples. (book source 2)

Something else that struck me was the public baths that the romans built. These baths were in public, so after the Romans had finished there daily duties, they could go to these baths to not only bathe, but to exercise and meet with friends. There was an area where all of these baths went in, kind of like a country club, but with baths. These baths had hot, lukewarm, and cold pools, towels, steam rooms, saunas, and exercise rooms.

Out of all the Roman buildings, my favorite would have to be the Colosseum. It is such an enormous building and the architecture is beautiful. In this building, long ago, the Romans played all kinds of games and held many shows in the Colosseum, so not only is this building beautiful, it holds all kinda of history.

BOOK SOURCES :)

Frank Edward Brown and G. Braziller. Roman Architecture. University of Michigan. 1961.

Robert Chitham and Calder Loth. The Classical Orders of Architecture. 2005