Summary

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Lauren's Summary:
__Architecture in General:__ Roman architecture was a fantastic advancement that lead to some of the most famous buildings known today such as the U.S. Supreme Court (Washington). The Roman architecture included arches and columns. Although, before the ideas of the Roman architectures began, the building styles were mainly post and lintel. These ways of building were limited in many ways including the amount of weight it could hold. Not only had the ideas of Roman architecture advance building, but it also helped the success of Rome. Each specific architecture, such as temples and basilicas, served a role in helped the empire succeed by advancing things such as transporting, and communication. Not only did artists or builders build these magnificent architectures, emperors also created them. When an emperor creates something such as a temple, it signifies that that emperor was dedicated to the traditional customs of Rome. Not only were temples built by the emperors, but also arches and the Colosseum. __Arches:__ Roman arches were used to support buildings along with columns. Although, they were also used for visual purposes. The idea of arches eventually lead into the idea of domes. The Pantheon was the largest dome built. __Columns:__ Roman columns weren't just one type of column, there were three types. The Doric style, the Ionic style, and the Cornithian type. The very first was the Doric style. It was the most basic, and not as detailed nor attractive as the others. Although, its use was just as good as the others. The second style was the Ionic. The ionic was more detailed and decorative at the base and the top, and had the same purpose as the Doric, which was to hold up the heavy buildings that surrounded Rome. The last, but not least style was the Cornithian. This was the "king of all columns". The Cornithian style had very fine details that made the other two styles look very plane and ordinary. __The Pantheon:__ Hadrian, the emperor at the time, was the creator of Pantheon. he dedicated the temple to "All Gods". It has a hemispherical dome, different levels of teh inside walls, and a central oculus. __The Colosseum:__ The Roman Colosseum was begun in 72 AD by Vespasian, the emperor. __Influence on later societies:__ The Roman architecture influenced many major cities. One example would be in Paris, the Vendome Column. This column was based off of the Column of Trajan. Not only had Paris used the ideas, but also the Americans. The U.S. Supreme Court (Washington) was also very much based off of Roman Architecture. The characteristics matched up to the Roman temples. Being raised on a podium, a formal front staircase approaching the building, the columns only being in the front of the building, and white marble on the outside.

Devin's Summary:
The Roman people always had a purpose, for architecture they had a purpose to create strong, well-built buildings while remaining pleasing to the eye. The Romans were highly influenced by the Greeks and Etruscan’s and a lot of their architecture is based off the Etruscans. The Etruscan’s brought in the idea of concrete, brick, and the knowledge to make arches as well as other architectural innovations. The Romans seized these ideas and made them even better. Roman buildings were built mainly to last, decoration could be added later, but as the Roman’s saw it what good is a beautiful tower or stadium if it collapses after 100 years. For this reason the Romans always used concrete for the core of their buildings. The Etruscan’s taught them to make the mixture with water, limestone, sand and stone. The builders would then pour it into wooden frames and let it harden. Roman architects loved concrete and said it let the building to, “flow” instead of being built in blocks. The concrete would be covered with thin marble tiles or layers of stucco and paint it for appearance’s sake. Later a victorious general brought back the conquered idea of mosaics which were very popular. The Romans picked up the Greek style of columns. These were Doric, Ionic, and Cortinthian. Doric columns had no base and were plain except for a divided frieze at the top. These columns were used in government buildings to represent jutsice and incorruptibility. The ionic colums were slightly more elaborate. These colums had decorated bases and tops, usually with scrolls and had a continuous frieze. These were used for learning centers or religous buildings to profess knowledge. The corinthian columns are the fanciest of all. These are the sameas the ionic but instead of scrolls at the top there is a canthus. These styles of colums are used on the columns of the arches for certain buildings. For example, the Coliseum's lower level is doric, then ionic, then corinthian. These styles were used to represent many different things and were evident in Roman arhcitecture. The arch is considered to be one of Rome’s greatest architectural contributions. The arch has extremely good structural support, can be used as a doorway, and looks appealing. Arches were used in many buildings such as the Coliseum and aqueducts. An aqueduct is a long system of tiered arches that runs from a source of water to a town. The aqueduct was built with large arches on the bottom tier, next smaller arches were stacked on top, and then a final, smallest tier that had a trough cut out and lined with lead. Water would then flow from the mountain springs to the villages pulled by gravity. The Romans also turned arches into domes. Domes were mainly used in religious buildings to allow the space needed for religious ceremonies and statues. Roman architectural ingenuity was evident even in housing. Architects discovered a method of in-floor heating called hypocaust and developed buildings similar to apartment complexes called insulae. These multi-storied buildings were used to accommodate many people however they were unhealthy and dangerous places because so many people were crammed into one area and they were prone to catch on fire. Public buildings were constructed as well. Large bath houses, the Coliseum and other amphitheatres for entertainment, the Parthenon and other religious buildings, and victory arches. These buildings are marvels of architectural technology because most of them still stand today and are beautiful in a simple sort of way. Every building had a purpose and symbolized something. For example every time a major victory was won an arch would be built and named after the genral commemorating the vicotry. Roman architecture was highly influenced by the Greeks and the Etruscans. They used the etruscan ideas of concrete and the arch to build many amazing things such as aqueducts, insulae, the Parthenon, and the Coliseum and the Greek styles of architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corithinan for decoration. These buildings were represent the Roman mindset as strength and endurance come before beauty and grace but they are still amazing buildings.

Matt's Summary:
Roman architecture influenced many aspects of the architecture we have today. Amphitheater These are big stadiums made for watching gladiator fights or other sporting entertainment. Example is the coliseum. Amphitheater means theater in the round. Amphitheaters were the largest entertainment centers in Rome. Arch The Romans were the first group to apply the arch to many pieces of architecture like aqueducts, bridges, places, and pathways. An arch is a structure that spans a space while supporting weight (definition) Theaters Roman theater was made to serve as entertainment for the Romans. Not to be confused with amphitheaters, theaters were places served for putting on plays, shows, and musical performances. These were shaped with a half circle of stands and or an orchestra pit in front of the stage. Because of lighting and sound echo problems, these theaters were placed outdoors. \ Aqueduct These structures were made to bring in large amounts of fresh water into Rome from rivers and others bodies of water. The romans were famous for their aqueducts because of the amount they had and how big they were. They were built in two pieces the first set of arch’s connected together on the bottom, and then the second set connected at the top. Temples These are used for religious ritual and praying. They are either rectangular or circular. The roof is held up by a series of pillars. Some modern day architecture examples of these are the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial Columns The roman columns were based off of the Greek columns. The five main categories were Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. The difference of these columns was mainly at the top. Doric columns were simple columns with a flat, non decorated base. Ionic columns had a swirl at the top before the flat base, and Corinthian columns had decorations, usually of leave or flowers, sticking out before the base.