Roman Architecture
Roman Power / Roman      Architecture
 
Many European        cities still bear reminders of the power of ancient Rome, and throughout       the      western world the influence of Roman power is still manifest. Architecture        was crucial to the success of Rome. Both  formal architecture like       temples and basilicas and in its utilitarian buildings like bridges and       aqueducts played important roles in unifying the empire. The construction       of a roads with bridges helped communication across the far       flung empire.
Aqueducts      like the so-called Pont du Gard enabled the Romans to provide adequate water          supply to its cities. City walls like the one in Autun in central France     protected  the Roman cities. Cities provided a network of administrative     centers and      acted as visible symbols of power throughout the Empire. Many European cities      and towns, most notably London and Paris, were founded by the Romans.
The        buildings in these cities directly and indirectly served Roman power.       A building      type known as the basilica served administrative functions. The basilica       acted like a town hall or court house in American cities. The so-called       Basilica       Ulpia      constructed by the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the second century       AD  can be used to exemplify this category of building. A characteristic       element      of these basilicas was a projection called an apse which served as the seat        of the magistrate responsible for dispensing the law.
Accompanying the magistrate would be an image of the Emperor, the source     of  the law. A sixth century illustration of Christ being judged shows the     seated      Pontius Pilate flanked by images presumably of the emperor. The semi-circular      line above the scene is best explained by seeing this as an echo of the     form      of the apse. For a citizen of the empire the basilica in a Roman city conveyed      the idea of Roman authority. The associations with authority was an important          rationale for the use of the basilica type as the standard form of the Christian      church from the time of the Emperor Constantine.
Many        European cities still have amphitheaters that served as arenas in which       the      Roman staged spectacles that entertained the population. Gladiatorial contests        and even sea battles were staged that imitated great Roman military victories.            The most famous and grandest amphitheater was the so-called Colosseum that        was begun by the Emperor Vespasian in about 72 AD. It was built on the       site      of a garden that had been part of the lavish palace the Emperor Nero had       created  in the center of Rome. The building of the Colosseum was clearly       a political      statement on the part of Vespasian. It conveyed to the Roman people the overthrow        of the hated Nero and Vespasian's interest in appealing to the broad mass            of the Roman people.
Triumphal      Arches like the Arch of Titus (c. 81 AD, Rome (left)) or the Arch of Trajan      (114-117 AD, Benevento
(right)) were constructed by Emperors in Rome and its      major cities to commemorate great military triumphs. They thus gave clear      testament to the great military power of Rome.
The        foundation of temples was particularly important to Emperors. Religion       and      politics were very much allied in the Roman world. The public cults celebrated        outside these temples were a significant way the population attested to       their      membership to the community and to the Empire. The building of a temple by        an emperor was a clear testament of his pietas, or his dedication        to  the traditional customs of Roman society. The Maison Carrée        from the  southern French town of Nîmes is a particularly well-preserved        example  of a Roman Temple. Roman temples, while related to the Greek        temple form in      general design and use of the Classical orders, represent a very defined        category of temple form. The distinctive elements of being raised on a        podium,        having      a front staircase, and having the columns along the sides being attached        or  engaged (pseudo-peripteral) allow for the easy identification of a        Roman temple.      For a Roman citizen from Syria to England, the appearance of this form of        temple and the cult practices associated with it provided a sense of membership        in the empire.
Basilicas        and temples regularly appeared in public squares or fora (forum sing.)       in      the center of cities. Considering the compact nature of Roman cities, the        large amounts of space dedicated to fora were a testament to imperial       authority.      Large and small cities throughout the empire had fora at their core. The       remains  of Pompeii reveal a forum with temple and basilica.
The
most      famous were the so-called Imperial Fora in Rome itself. The largest of these          was the Forum of Trajan . The use of axial planning is     a characteristic of Roman planning. It created a clear sense of order and     focus     to a building      complex. Along the central axis of the Forum of Trajan are a series of monuments          dedicated to the role of Trajan as imperator or military leader. You      entered the forum through a triumphal arch dedicated to Trajan's campaigns          in Dacia, while in the center of the large courtyard appeared an equestrian      statue of Trajan. The central axis is crossed at right angles by the so-called          Basilica Ulpia. Beyond this appeared a small courtyard flanked by two libraries,      one for Greek texts and the other for Latin texts.
At     the center of the courtyard appeared the famous Column of Trajan decorated     by a helical band of
relief sculptures illustrating Trajan's campaigns in Dacia. Trajan was originally      buried in the base of this column, and apparently after his death, a statue          of him was placed at the top of the column. The building complex was completed      by a temple dedicated to the Divine Trajan by his successor Hadrian. The       use of hemicycles flanking the courtyard was clearly done in emulation      of      the adjacent Forum of Augustus. This borrowing clearly connects Trajan to       his revered predecessor at the same time the grander scale of Trajan's      complex      would not have been missed by the Roman audience.
Analysis of this early second century building complex demonstrates how the organization            of the space and the disposition of the buildings create almost a symbolic        map of Roman power. The        constituent parts of the complex relate to  the major facets of Roman        life. The basilica with its apses allude to Roman      law; the libraries reflect the authority of classical literature and culture;         and the temple connects to the role of religion in public life. Even        the markets      added by Trajan on the adjacent hill are a clear testament to the role of         the emperor as a provider for the Roman populace. At the very center        is the      imperial axis with images of Trajan as military leader.
Influence      of Roman Architecture on Western Architecture
Echoes       of the tradition of the Roman Empire are found in cities throughout the       western     world. Nations and leaders to give visual testament to their authority and       power have emulated the distinct forms of Roman architecture. Particularly       good examples can be found in Paris.
After     Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, he set out to make Paris a new Rome.       The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 but not completed       until     1836, is the most famous example of the French borrowing of Roman formulas.
For      the Place Vendôme in Paris, Napoleon commissioned a monumental free-standing       column that was directly based on the Column of Trajan from the early second           century.
The     Vendôme column is topped by a bronze statue of Napoleon dressed in the style     of a Roman Emperor,
like     Trajan on his column. Napoleon, standing in the classical contrapposto stance,     is shown holding an orb topped by a Nike or Victory figure. The Laurel wreath     worn     by Napoleon     signifies that he is a conquering Emperor.
Napoleon      decided to build a Temple of Glory to his Army. The result was what has     now      become the church of the Madeleine. The architect Pierre-Alexandre Vignon      clearly based his building on the distinct form of the Roman Temple.
 
View Larger Map
The tradition      of Roman architecture has had an important influence on American architecture.      For example, many courthouses throughout America can be seen to be based on      Roman architecture.
A      particularly striking example is the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washingon.      Designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1935, the core of the building can      be seen to be directly based on the Roman Temple type including the characteristics      of being raised on a podium and approached by a formal front staircase. Like      Roman temples, the free-standing columns only appear on the front of the Supreme      Court building. Like many of the other major public buildings in Washington,      the exterior of the Supreme Court is dressed in white marble. The choice of      marble was deliberate to echo the authority of Greek and Roman formal architecture.      The biography of Augustus describes how when Augustus transformed Rome from      a city of brick to a city of marble. The decision to base courthouse designs      in America on Roman temples is understandable when it is remembered that our      legal system traces its authority back to the tradition of Roman law. Latin      is still the language of legal authority.
Monuments      directly derived from Roman forms embellish many American cities. For example,      in New York City there is the Washington Square Arch derived from the tradition      of Roman Triumphal Arches.
Baltimore's      Washington Monument was clearly based on the form of the Column of Trajan.      Consider the prominent position in American cities given to equestrian statues      of great Revolutionary or Civil War generals.
 
When      l'Enfant laid out the plans for Washington, D.C.,
he      clearly based his plans on Roman planning. The Mall with its axial planning      that leads from the Capitol building down through the Washington Monument      and Lincoln Memorial is clearly based on the design of Roman fora. Journal      Assignment: Compare and contrast the plan of the Mall with the forum of      Trajan discussed above. Note what is included and also what is excluded from      the Mall.
The      Rockefeller or
Empire Plaza in Albany likewise reflects the same tradition of architecture.
 
 
The      Pantheon of Hadrian and Its Progeny
The Emperor       Hadrian who reigned from 117-138 AD was responsible for the Pantheon, one       of the most influential buildings in western architecture. In what has       been     called an architectural revolution, the architect's of Hadrian transformed       the traditional Roman temple plan into a centrally plan structure employing       vaulted architecture and concrete as well as more traditional building       materials.     It best exemplifies the importance of space in Roman architecture. Hadrian,       who was strongly influenced by Greek culture, dedicated the temple to "All        Gods" using a Greek (Pan=All; Theon: Gods) rather than Latin name.        With its hemispherical dome and orderly division of the interior walls        into        different        levels,        the Pantheon     becomes an architectural embodiment of the Greek idea of cosmos. The dome     with its central oculus and original bronze rosettes in the coffers was understood     as the vault of heaven. The universal aspects of this design and dedication     appealed to Hadrian's conception of the Empire as embracing all the lands     under the heavens.
William       L. MacDonald in his book on the Pantheon has written:
Hadrian's         Pantheon is one of the grand architectural creations of all time: original,         utterly bold, many-layered in associations and meaning, the container             of a kind of immanent universality. It speaks of an even wider world         than that of imperial Rome, and has left its stamp upon architecture             more         than any other building. Its message, compounded of mystery and fact,             of stasis and mutability, of earth and that above, pulses through             the architecture         of western man [sic]; its progeny, in both shape and idea, are all about.               The force of its planetary symbolism still works irrestibly upon               the visitor who, passing through the bronze doors into the enclosing         rotunda, experiences the awesome reach of its canopied void [p.11].
...[A] domed rotunda       is a place where one can partake, symbolically, of the immutable laws and       hoped-for tranquility of the universe. There the lower order is united       with the higher, the unity of which Hadrian dreamed. A Pantheon is neither       sacred nor secular, but a place of man and nature, of man and the forces       the ancients called the gods [p. 132].
 
The       following gallery of images is intended to demonstrate the direct and indirect       influence       of the Pantheon on western architecture. Consider how the form and meaning       of the Pantheon are integrated in these later buildings.