Ancient Roman Concrete

Print. While we may marvel at the Colosseum or the Roman aqueducts, what do we know about the daily lives of those who designed and forged them? What did they eat or wear? What were their daily lives like? What did they do for fun?

Many American architects in the 18th and 19th centuries looked to classical Roman architecture as a source of inspiration for their own designs. The White House and U.S. Capitol share similar architectural styles to that of Roman buildings like the Coliseum which has been standing for nearly 2000 years, and the Pantheon. “More recently, many official buildings built in the US are very strongly influenced by Roman architecture. The most obvious is the White House, which displays Roman influences in the arches and columns on the exterior” The Romans were skilled engineers and builders. They used advanced construction techniques such as arches, domes, and vaults to distribute weight and stress evenly throughout a building, which helped to prevent collapse.

Ancient Rome’s art consisted of many buildings with concrete-domed roofs. Roman pride and moralism are interestingly combined in their approach toward architecture. For instance, historians emphasize the size and grandeur of Rome's architecture and describe it as conquering the globe.5 This shows how impressive the architecture of Rome was. These buildings were especially hard to make because at the time it would take hundreds of Romans three months to complete one piece of architecture.

During the time of ancient Rome, many great accomplishments were achieved and these accomplishments did influence a number of cultures. Various Governments have indeed adopted elements of the Roman Law, including the United States Government. The Aenid, which is one of Roman Literature, is still being read to this day. In this paper, I will discuss the development of both concrete and the arch. In addition, I will include the importance of each in the life of Rome and the results of their use.

The Pantheon and Brunelleschi 's Dome in Florence both share a common idea of the dome in ancient history. They were built and different times, the Pantheon and Brunelleschi 's Dome differ in both design and architecture. This paper is going to analyze the Pantheon in Rome and Brunelleschi 's Dome in terms of their constructional and design techniques, and their historical circumstances of the construction of them both. The Pantheon is one of the remaining and properly maintained buildings of the first century.

Have you ever wondered how we got the ideas to build the amazing Architecture of the world today? It all originated from one of the greatest Roman legacies. The quote "Rome fell but it's legacy lived in" was said to explain the situation Rome had been in thousands of years ago. To go further into detail, this quote is saying, that although when the once great empire Rome had fell, it's legacies had lived on. The legacies that we were fortunate enough to still continue and perfect, still strive today.

Document 6, written by a high official of Rome, emphasizes the brilliance it took a man to construct roads that had “grace and beauty” (Doc 6). This document summarizes how the Romans viewed technology like roads with practical uses, but they cared more about the beautiful architecture of it and how it enhanced the character of Rome. Another piece technology that the Romans valued was the aqueducts as shown by document 8. A Roman general, governor, and water commissioner reports the use of their aqueducts and marvels in the water production compared to other civilizations. The Romans are rarely interested in the improvement of technology unless it benefits and brings pleasure to the entire society, or mainly the upper class.

Many of the important statues or monuments we have in America are based off of the Roman designs. Many of the designs include arches, domes, and arched vaults. Arches are more cost efficient because they save material, they take up less space, they are stronger, look more beautiful, and they represent power, triumph, and prestige. Domes also create more space. Concrete is a mixture of broken stone, sand, cement and water, which is very strong.

The Romans built the most sophisticated system of roads the ancient world had ever seen. These Roman roads—many of which are still in use today—were constructed with a combination of dirt, gravel and bricks made from granite or hardened volcanic lava. These roads were often managed in the same way as modern highways. Stone mile markers and signs informed travelers of the distance to their destination, while special complements of soldiers acted as a kind of highway patrol. Roman Arches Vanni Archive/Corbis Arches have existed for roughly 4,000 years, but the ancient Romans were the first to effectively harness their power in the construction of bridges, monuments and buildings.

The Industrial Revolution took place from the late 18th to mid 19th century. It was a time during which rural societies in Europe and America became urbanized and industrialized. Preceding the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing was mostly done in people’s homes, using handtools and simple machines. Industrialization was characterized by powered, specialized machinery, factories and mass production. Most notably, during the Industrial revolution, iron and textile industries boomed, the steam engine was developed, and improved systems of transportation, communication and banking arose (Calvert 5).

By using natural elements, the Greeks were able to construct an area made for acoustics that would be able to reach everyone in the audience. This ingenious creation was then perfected by the Romans as they introduced more aspects to the theatre like the Scaenae Frons and Velas. The Romans decided to take a more complex approach than that of the Greeks and because of this new features were born. By by building off what the Greeks started it was possible for Vitruvius and other architects to enhance the properties of the theatre, use concrete to connect all aspects of the building and to allow for the best experience to be had by their

Concrete materials are still a dominant material for construction due to its advantages suchas workability, low cost and fire resistance as well as its low maintenance cost. It is formed from a hardened mixture of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water and some admixture. Massive exploration of the natural resources for producing concrete affect to the environment condition and global warning. We have responsibility to reduce the effect of the application of concrete materials to environmental impact. The concrete should be used as efficient as possible.

But when the Romans built the Pantheon , they used the Corinthean order for it's columns . The Greeks used the post and lintel , or the trabeated system many times , but the Romans relied on the arches , and made them more perfect than the Greeks did . Also the material used in the construction of their buildings were different depending on the available and more reliable material . So the Greeks tended to use the well carved marble , granite and limestones in building , but for the Romans these material wasn't commonly used , or wasn't used to build th structure itself but could be used for decoration , they rather used the concrete and mud bricks and that helped them in the construction of arches . According to the geographic difference between them , the way they constructed their cities varied .

Its name derives for the use of roman semicircular arches use in most doors and windows. The architects encountered a construction problem since they wanted to use masonry for the ceiling instead of wood. It made it more complicated since they now needed a stronger support for the ceiling. In order to find a practical solution, most of its buildings rely on the mass of the walls to support the heavy ceiling. Also, the use of arches tunnels for the roof made it more secure preventing it to fall which created what is called a vault.

The bath houses used arches, domes and vaults to make them both aesthetically beautiful and to work as functional spaces. The Romans also made spectacular private homes for those who could afford them, and designed and built innovative apartment type buildings for those who couldn’t afford a private residence. As with the Greeks, the Temples of Rome were a great architectural achievement. These temples are a significant source of their architectural history and still today are some of the most visible remains from their culture. Unlike the Greeks who believed in having an equal emphasis in their design on all sides of their temples, the Romans put the emphasis on the front of their buildings.