Roman architecture, ancient

The Roman amphitheatre at Pula in western Croatia, on the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula.

Architecture of the Roman Empire, spanning the period 4th century BC–5th century AD. The Romans' mastery of concrete (used in combination with bricks) freed the orders (column and entablature) from their earlier structural significance and enabled the development of such rounded forms as the arch, vault, and dome.

Types of building Arches and vaults were first used in utilitarian structures; for example, bridges and aqueducts. Later they were used, together with the dome, in private and public buildings as a means of extending and altering the interior space.

Roman building types include the basilica, an oblong meeting hall with a vaulted roof, often colonnaded; the thermae, or bath houses, with their complex spatial layout; and the triumphal arch, a purely ornamental structure. Dwellings tend to look inwards towards an open atrium (inner court) and peristyle (colonnade surrounding the court).

Examples Rome has the richest collection of public buildings, notably the Pantheon (built 27 BC–AD 124), with its enormous concrete dome, the Colosseum (built AD 70–80), numerous temples, and public baths such as those of Caracalla (from about AD 215). The ruins of Pompeii at the foot of Mount Vesuvius provide the most complete view of a Roman city, which was typically planned as a series of interlinked public spaces.

Outside Rome, other important examples of Roman architecture in Italy include the amphitheatre in Verona (about AD 290) and Hadrian's villa at Tivoli (about AD 118–134). The latter offers a textbook example of Roman architectural effects in its skilful manipulation of axial symmetry, its use of curved as well as rectangular interior spaces, and its many views. Outstanding monuments were also constructed throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire, such as Diocletian's Palace (300 BC), and extensive site in Split, Croatia. The Roman architecture of France includes the beautifully preserved temple known as the Maison Carrée (16 BC) in Nîmes, France; the aqueduct, the Pont du Gard (about 8 BC), near Nîmes; and the Arch of Tiberius (1st century AD) at Orange. Remnants of Roman architecture in Britain are mainly found in certain of the major towns, such as Colchester (Camulodunum), St Albans (Verulamium), and Bath (Aquae Sulis).

Influence Roman architecture was to have an influence on many periods to follow, in particular the Romanesque style and Renaissance architecture, which amounted to a rediscovery of classical, especially Roman, building.