5605ar Ancient Civ

Ancient Rome: Architecture

Alex Rishty

Reading and Language Art 289, Semester 4, Class 5B,6 Mister Keith Schoch June 7, 2012 

Think about Rome. Who or what are you thinking of? Roma is named after Romulus, Roma is Rome in Latin (Chandler 11). The Roman Empire spanned from eastern Europe to Mesopotamia to northern Africa (http://tinyurl.com/ydsmzu7). The Roman Empire lasted from 573 B.C.E. to the 1300s C.E. (Lassieur 6). We remember Ancient Rome for it conquering armies and the vast empire. An equally important and fascinating part of the Roman Empire; however, was its  architecture. Architecture was important to the Romans for many reasons, The Coliseum brought entertainment, the aqueducts brought resources they did not have, the arches brought building strength. We can learn more about this cultural aspect by looking at the Roman Empire’s Coliseum, its aqueducts, and its arches.

The Coliseum was built for entertainment. The Coliseum was made of limestone and concrete. Concrete was used foundation and walls. Roman citizens went to the Coliseum for entertainment (Mann 22, 23). There are eighty entrances: two for Gladiators, one for alive the other for dead ones, and two for emperors, the rest are for citizens. (Mann 20). The Coliseum was able to be flooded to watch ships fight (Young 10). The Coliseum brought the Roman citizens together. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The aqueducts were built to bring water to the city by <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">bringing melted snow from the mountains. In the areas <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">that the Roman Empire conquered, they built more <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">aqueducts (Lassieur 68). Three layers made the <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">aqueducts the strongest compared to one or two <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">arches.(Young 11). The aqueducts provided life for the cities with contaminated rivers.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Arches were built in the Coliseum and aqueducts to give these buildings strength. When building an arch, the builders built the side walls. Next, they built a wooden frame to lay the <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">bricks on. Then, they laid the bricks in place. Finally, they hammered the keystone in <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Young 11). If built correctly an arch could last for thousands of years.

<span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">After the Roman Empire ended, Italy was formed with the city of Rome as its capital. We <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">still use arches to make buildings stronger. The Romans reused the marble in other <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">buildings, so they did not have to get more marble. <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> ** Glossary  **
 * aqueducts - structures built to bring water to the cities **
 * Coliseum - place where gladiators fight **
 * Roma - The name of the empire **

** Image Credits  **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] **

** Works Cited  **


 * Chandler, Fiona, Jane Bingham, and Sam Taplin. The Usborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of the Roman World. London: Usborne, 2001. **
 * Lassieur, Allison. The Ancient Romans. New York: Franklin Watts, 2004. **
 * Mann, Elizabeth. The Roman Colosseum. New York: Mikaya, 1998. **
 * <http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/media/romanmap.gif>. **
 * <http://www.traveltop.net/wp-05/the-coliseum-at-night-rome-italy.jpgcontent/uploads/2012/>. **


 * Young, Caroline, Colin King, Steve Page, and Mike Pringle. Castles, Pyramids and Palaces. Tulsa, OK: EDC Pub., 1989. **