ARCH 233 Chapter 5 - The Roman Empire Civic and Domestic Architecture PDF

CHAPTER 5 The ROMAN ARCH 233 - History & Theory of Architecture I EMPIRE P P R E PA R E D B Y M AYA K A M A R E D D I N E  CHAPTER OUTLINE TO PI C H I G H L I GHTS The Etruscans The Roma...

CHAPTER 5 The ROMAN ARCH 233 - History & Theory of Architecture I EMPIRE P P R E PA R E D B Y M AYA K A M A R E D D I N E  CHAPTER OUTLINE TO PI C H I G H L I GHTS The Etruscans The Roman Empire The Structural Revolution The City Planning The Forum The Public Buildings The Religious Buildings The Roman Domestic Architecture  The ETRUSCANS - PRE ROMANS During the first millennium BCE, while Greek civilization originated and flourished on the mainland and around the eastern Mediterranean, an enigmatic people, the Etruscans, were settling and developing their own culture in the area of north-central Italy now known as Tuscany. The origins of the Etruscans are not precisely understood; they are thought to have migrated onto the Italian peninsula from Asia Minor ca. 1200 BCE, after the collapse of Hittite power. From surviving inscriptions, art, artifacts, and architecture, it seems that the Etruscans drew on diverse roots: Their language was written in a script derived directly from Greek; their religion, which placed great emphasis on providing worldly goods for the afterlife, had much in common with that of Egypt. With that of the Hittites their art shares relief carvings of protective beasts at tomb entrances, and with the art of the Minoans and Mycenaeans naturalistic decorations depicting birds and dolphins. The Etruscan use of the arch and vault in monumental gateways indicates links with the architecture of Asia Minor. Even though they assimilated much from their neighbors, the Etruscans were an original people whose accomplishments left distinctive imprints on Roman civilization. ETRUSCAN IMPRINTS Our understanding of the Etruscans is limited by the lack of records. Etruscan settlements appear to have been organized into autonomous city-states rather like those in Mesopotamia and Greece, and their economy was based on agriculture and international trade. One of their cities, Marzabotto near Bologna, had a grid plan, with the main streets running perpendicular to one another and intersecting in the center of town. The Romans, who would use similar plans for their military camps (castra), labeled the main north-south street the cardo and the east-west route the decumanus. The orthogonal plan may have owed something to colonial Greek cities, known through trade. ETRUSCAN TEMPLES Etruscans borrowed the orders of architecture and the temple form from Greece, modifying them to suit their own purposes. Etruscan temples typically contained a triple cella oriented in only one direction, generally to the south. The temple was set on a high podium, covered with a gable roof, and approached through a double row of columns set at the top of a single flight of stairs. The Doric and Ionic were simplified into the Tuscan, which had the basic characteristics of the Doric but no fluting on the column shafts or sculpture on the frieze. Spacing between columns was wider, the roof pitch considerably lower, and the eave overhang greater than on Greek temples, creating a broadly horizontal emphasis. Both the columns and roof structure were built of wood, while the walls were unbaked bricks. Terracotta was employed for roofing tiles, pediment ornamentation, and sculpture. Because of the impermanence of their materials, no Etruscan temples survived.  The BEGINNING of ROME The beginning of Roman civilization was contemporary with that of the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the later Egyptian dynasties. According to legend, the city of Rome was founded by Romulus, and it was ruled from 616 to 510 BCE by members of the Etruscan royal house, the Tarquins. In about 500 BCE, the Latins overthrew the Tarquins and established the Roman republic. Unlike all of these other cultures, Rome continued to grow in importance reaching its apogee in the first and second centuries CE. In time Rome absorbed the Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians, and many lesser peoples and formed an empire with a remarkably homogeneous architectural style. Roman building practices, like Roman culture, were derived from many sources, especially Etruscan and Greek, but the forms of their architecture were in many respects original. Watch: Ancient Rome 101 | National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoEpNjgKzg  Architecture GREEK vs. ROMAN Greek public architecture was made up of sculptural Roman architecture, as Heinz Kähler has observed , is an masses set in balanced contrast to the landscape. architecture of space, enclosed internal space and outdoor space, opened on a grand scale. The Egyptians and the Greeks shaped powerfully evocative buildings, but these structures were not The public spaces are shaped in a conscious and meant to contain large groups of people, except the deliberate way to accommodate large number of people, council chambers and theaters that were open to the and this shaping of space became the essence of Roman sky. architecture. No better examples exist of the supremacy Public life was conducted in the out-of-doors, among of space than in the enormous Roman baths or the vast these sculpted architectural objects. interior of the Pantheon in Rome, its concrete dome The buildings’ interiors were the domain of a priestly arching over a clear span of (43.4 m). and social elite. Roman architecture was very extravagant. THE GREAT ROMAN BUILDERS The Romans used their technical skills in building to provide The Romans were inherently pragmatic and realistic, unlike the speculative and comfort. They invented idealistic Greeks. underfloor central heating for houses in colder climates, What the Romans produced in abundance were engineers and builders who developed and they built large heated architectural forms on a scale that the earlier Greeks could never have conceived. baths for public use in all their cities. They also They constructed durable roads and bridges across the length of their empire, they enjoyed public amusements brought clean water into cities through a series of aqueducts, and they carried away and spectacles, and their waste water in underground sewers. They also created impressive buildings, making architects developed extensive use of the decorative orders on temples and other public structures, and amphitheaters and stadiums constructed some of the most awe-inspiring interior spaces in the Western world. to accommodate crowds for athletic events, gladiatorial Roman engineers built a network of roads linking all parts of the empire, from the contests, and pageants. Portuguese coast to the ends of Turkey and Syria; if a stony mountain outcrop appeared in the way of a road, they simply cut through it. They captured streams and conducted The Romans built much, and the water more than 30 miles (48.3 km) to the cities, tunneling through hills and lifting they built well. the aqueducts over valleys on bounding arcades.  ROMAN STRUCTURAL REVOLUTION Roman construction exploited structures built in compression: the arch, the vault, and the dome, techniques developed by other civilizations but used in a very limited fashion. In Roman hands, however, these became the basis for unimagined structures on a scale not possible with post-and-lintel construction. By using arches, vaults, and domes, the Romans could enclose large areas with small sized stones cut carefully to shape. The space between supports, could now be made much larger. There is a price for this stability. The weight of the masonry in vaulted construction pushes downward and outward on the walls or columns on which it rests, and this overturning force must be countered by massive supports. Vaulted construction thus requires walls or piers that are much thicker than those used in post-and-lintel buildings. ROMAN MATERIAL INNOVATION Relatively little of Roman vaulted construction is made in cut-stone The Romans gained experience in building with masonry, because it was costly and required skilled workmen. The concrete. They placed a liquid mass composed efficient Romans developed a more practical building method by of pozzolana, sand, water, and lime in horizontal using a new material, hydraulic cement, derived from volcanic courses over rough-laid rubble, which served deposits named pozzolana. both as aggregate in the wall and as an enclosure or formwork for the concrete. The mixture What the Romans discovered was that when pozzolana was mixed solidified into a monolithic material that behaved with lime, rubble, and water, the mixture reacts chemically and like solid masonry. hardens to a stone-like consistency, even if under water. It is much stronger than traditional mortar. Curves and irregular shapes were of course much easier to achieve in Vitruvius noted it as "a kind of natural powder which from natural concrete than in cut-stone work, but causes produces astonishing results." the resulting walls were generally not handsome, so the Romans became adept at nonstructural wall finishes such as stucco, mosaic, and marble veneer. Opus incertum (“irregular work”) Opus reticulatum (“reticular work”) Opus latericium (“brickwork”) Opus mixtum (“mixed work”)  Julius Caesar (c. 100 BC – 44 BC): His rule marked the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD): POLITICAL SHIFT Initiated the construction of the Roman Forum and the Temple of Mars Ultor. FROM REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE Nero (54 – 68 AD): Initiated the construction of the Domus Aurea (Golden House), Julius Caesar was a military general and statesman who played a critical role a vast palace complex in Rome. in the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Vespasian (69 – 79 AD) and Titus (79 – 81 AD): Vespasian initiated the construction of the Colosseum in Rome. Roman Empire. Before Caesar, several notable figures played crucial roles in The construction was completed under Titus' reign in 80 AD. the Roman Republic, but the Republic's political structure was different from Trajan (98 – 117 AD): the later imperial system, where rulers had more centralized and absolute Constructed Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Column during his reign. power. Oversaw the completion of the famous Trajan's Market in Rome. Rome’s shift from republic to empire coincided with the trend of Hadrian (117 – 138 AD): deifying rulers. Caesar was the first to experience such a deification; Known for building Hadrian's Wall in Britain, a defensive fortification. after that, it became common practice for emperors to be equated Commissioned the construction of the Pantheon in Rome, one with divinity. of the most well-preserved ancient Roman buildings. Emperor Augustus, who followed Caesar, changed Rome. It is said Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180 AD): Associated with the construction of the Column of Marcus that he found Rome a city of brick, but that when he died, he left it a Aurelius in Rome. city of marble. Diocletian (284 – 305 AD): Initiated the construction of the Palace of Diocletian in Split, Croatia, which served as his retirement residence. Constantine the Great (306 – 337 AD): Built the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), which became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constructed the Arch of Constantine in Rome. ROMAN CITY PLANNING City planning practices in ancient Greece and in Rome had striking similarities. Both Athens and Rome, the cultural centers, grew without preconceived overall plans, while the colonial cities established by each were generally provided with orthogonal plans. Greek foundations might become Roman settlements later, as was the case with Pompeii, one of the best-preserved examples of a Roman provincial town because it was buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Some Roman cities began as military garrisons (castra) as a means of defense or colonial cities bringing civilization to new territories. For these, the Romans had a standard plan: 1. Basic plan was rectangular or square, with two main roads, the Cardo and the Decumanus, crossing at right angles in the center of town. 2. The forum and military headquarters were usually located at the intersection in the center of town. 3. Residential sectors were laid out in square or rectangular blocks, with land reserved for neighborhood markets and recreational facilities as the town grew. Streets could be numbered sequentially so that a stranger in town could find any given address easily. 4. Large public buildings, such as baths and theaters, served the whole community and were located across the city. ROMAN AQUEDUCTS, BRIDGES & WAREHOUSES Roman civilization was primarily a society of cities, and cities need a steady supply of fresh water. Most Roman cities quickly outgrew their local water supply and came to depend on springs in distant hills. The problem was how to bring the water over those hills down to the city? The Romans relied on gravity to move their water supply. The water had to be channeled gradually down a very slight incline, just enough to keep it moving. Therefore, aqueducts were created with a continuous line of descent, sometimes over distances of many miles: as much as possible, the water channel or aqueduct followed the contour of the land, but where it had to cross valleys, it became necessary to elevate the conduit above the land to preserve the constant slope of the supply line. The earliest Roman vaults were built for utilitarian structures such as aqueducts. The Romans erected handsome arched structures for this purpose. ROMAN AQUEDUCTS, BRIDGES & WAREHOUSES Aqueducts are very much like bridges: the same technique of arch construction was applied by the Romans to both. The Romans not only moved water, they used the water to move other things. The city of Rome was a great port, and a port must have warehouses. Among the finest was porticus Aemilia, a vast construction built as an early example of modular planning. The module consisted of a barrel vaulted unit, and an immense covered area was created by simply multiplying such units in rows, set stepwise at different levels to allow light to reach the interiors. The barrel vaults were supported piers, permitting circulation between the rows. ROMAN FORUM & POLITICAL LIFE The Roman forum was the descendant of the Greek agora. Both began simply as centrally located, open-air marketplaces and developed into elaborate architectural ensembles. But despite superficial resemblances, the differences are profound. The agora had an informal architectural nature. It tended to be a loosely shaped space framed by stoas, never dominated by a monumental building such as a temple. It was never closed on all sides or disposed with axial symmetry. The Roman forum became all things the Greek agora was not: strictly ordered, generally as a rectangle, surrounded by porticoes, dominated by a large temple at one end. The Greeks felt the need to set their shrines apart from the bustle of everyday affairs. Roman state was closely connected with the gods, that the temple had to be in the civic center. Despite its tendency toward a common, basic program, the Roman forum assumed a variety of shapes, and no two were alike. ROMAN FORUM & POLITICAL LIFE Gateway into the forum Taken as a whole, the imperial forums constitute a remarkable urban composition. Civic life in Rome focused on the Forum Romanum. There are no streets and no spatial connections between the spaces. The elements are simply bonded to each other to create a sequence of open, colonnaded, and enclosed spaces. The use of colonnades linking most of the buildings gave the forum architectural consistency. Conveying unity within such a diverse grouping of buildings constructed over three or more centuries is no insignificant accomplishment, and it indicates the high quality of Roman design attained in provincial centers. On the main axis just behind the basilica stands Trajan’s Column, with a spiral sculptural relief reading from the bottom to the top that depicts the various important events of Trajan’s campaign in Dacia. At the top was a bronze statue of Trajan himself.  ROMAN VERTICAL SURFACE & THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH Since the Egyptians covered their temple walls with images, there was no opportunity for architects to think of the wall as anything other than a definer of space. In Greek architecture, walls were often hidden behind columns, they never saw the wall as anything other than a wall. But the Roman architects experimented with complex articulations of the vertical surface. For the first time, the wall became an architectural element per se. They invented the technique of framing arches within engaged half-columns supporting an entablature, called the fornix system of ornamentation (fornix meaning “vault” or “arched room”). The Romans also invented the aedicule , a combination of niche with flanking columns connected by either a pediment or arch. In addition, they developed the dado, a boxlike stone under the column that allows it to be elevated. These surface articulation techniques are used in the design of the Triumphal Arches.  THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH The Triumphal arches are freestanding monuments generally built to commemorate a military victory. They add grandeur to the public realm by serving as reminders of civic greatness. Many survived in Rome and outside Rome. Overall, they are tripled arched structures with the central arch larger than the sides. It includes an entablature that is embellished with carved relief panels depicting the particular military victory for which the arch was constructed.  THE TEMPLES Because of the importance of religion in Roman life, temples were built during every period, on a great scale and at high expense. They were strongly dependent upon Greek prototypes- the temple was the most Greek of all Roman architectural forms. In general, the Romans did not build temples as isolated structures as had the Greeks. Roman temples were axially approached buildings in an urban setting. They stood on high podiums, with a frontal flight of steps without a specific orientation. The side columns were engaged with the cella wall and not freestanding. The cella was expanded laterally to the very edge of the temple plan, providing a large interior space and reinforcing the axiality of the building. THE TEMPLES  The greatest circular-plan Roman temple is the Pantheon THE TEMPLES: THE PANTHEON in Rome (118-28 CE), considered by many to be the most influential building in Western architectural history. Its size, the boldness of its design, and the technical accomplishment of its construction combine to make it a memorable work. Dedicated to seven planetary deities, the Pantheon was constructed in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, who is reputed to have been its architect. It survived largely because it later served as a church. Although it has lost its original marble cladding and lacks the impressively dimensioned court that once framed the entrance of its facade, it is still an impressive building. However, what one sees today from the outside is nothing like the original, which was not a freestanding building but embedded in the urban fabric. Its principal view would have been from within a long, colonnaded forecourt. The building has three parts: an immense domed cella; a deep, octastyle Corinthian portico; and a blocklike intermediate structure.  The entrance is an enormous portico with twenty Corinthian columns that originally supported bronze THE TEMPLES: THE PANTHEON roof trusses (since removed). At its facade, there was little to prepare the visitor for the interior. Passing through the 25m high porch, the visitor came up to the giant, single doorway, about 6m wide and 12m high. Entering, he or she found himself-and still does today- in one of the most breathtaking interiors the world of architecture has to offer.  While the classical cella had always been a dark and THE TEMPLES: THE PANTHEON mysterious place oriented east to the rising sun, this building rejects that tradition. Its bold, domed interior space was, for the Romans, an innovation. The bottom half of the cella is a cylinder on which rests a hemispherical dome, with a circular opening or oculus, 8m in diameter at the top to let in light and air. The contrast of the interior to the exterior is breathtaking. The cylindrical cella wall is visually divided into two stories, a ground-level Corinthian order of fluted columns and pilasters supporting an attic story with rectangular openings resembling windows set in a patterned marble wall. The lower story is varied by niches, alternately semicircular and rectangular, set at quarter and eighth points around the circumference. Articulation in the dome is accomplished by five tiers of diminishing square coffers, designed with exaggerated perspective to enhance the sense of depth. The light pouring in from the oculus emphasizes the depth of both the ceiling coffers and the eight niches below. THE TEMPLES: THE PANTHEON Coffers were used to lighten the weight of a ceiling to enable stronger building construction. THE TEMPLES: THE PANTHEON The hemispherical dome has the skylight oculus of approximately 8m in diameter, which brings the silent light to the real wall and it moves in the time and the space. The floor is paved by the marble with circular and cubic pattern. The wall is covered with marbles which colors are basically yellowish brown, white, green and reddish-brown. BASILICAS Among the most important categories of Roman ar- chitecture was the basilica, a form that was an indispensable part of any Roman civic center. There are no pre-Roman basilicas. The genre is clearly Roman, but just what was a basilica? The name could be applied to practically any Roman civic building, but it generally meant a roofed hall, rectangular in plan, sometimes with an apse. Colonnades usually divided the interior into central nave and smaller side aisles. The function of the basilica was reminiscent of the Greek stoa, providing a sheltered area at the main town square for the townspeople to conduct their daily business affairs. Judges, who from the earliest time had held court in the open air, moved into "tribunal" areas set aside for them in the basilica, generally in the form of an apse opposite the main entrance, with seating and a sacrificial altar set before it. BASILICAS Rather than surrounding the exterior as in a stoa, the basilica's colonnades define the interior aisles and enclose the central space or nave, as is consistent with the Roman emphasis on internal space. The basilica at Pompeii is the oldest known Roman basilica. While legal activities were its main function, it also served as a gathering place for social and commercial functions, as did the colonnades of the Greek stoas. Entrance to the basilica at Pompeii was primarily from the short side adjacent to the governmental offices, but there were lesser entrances on both long sides. Opposite the entrance was the tribunal seat of honor, terminating the longitudinal axis established by the colonnades. The stucco-finished brick columns separating the nave from the aisles on either side probably once supported a wooden gabled roof.  Trajan's Porum in Rome contained the more extensive Basilica Ulpia, which measured 60 by 120 m excluding the curved end sections (apses). Here the entrances were placed on the long facade because the basilica completes one side of the forum. BASILICA ULPIA On the interior, double colonnades created two aisles on either side of the nave, and there were triple colonnades across the short sides in front of the semicircular apses there. Architectural restoration drawings show the interior with second-floor galleries over the aisles and clerestory windows illuminating the nave. As at Pompeii, a gabled timber roof covered the building. Luxurious materials were employed in the construction: marble on floors and walls, bronze gilding suspended from the roof trusses on the coffered ceiling, and Egyptian granite for the columns. Impressive size, rich finishes, and dramatic lighting combined here to create Must watch: https://youtu.be/tZQJgqBcyw4 a setting fit for the dispensation of imperial justice.  Not all basilicas were timber-roofed. The Basilica Nova (also known as the Basilica of Constantine) in Rome, BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE had three great groin vaults over its nave, supported by three barrel-vaulted bays comprising each side aisle. The central nave is 80m long by 25m wide roofed with groined concrete vaults reaching no less than 35m. From the straightforward linearity of Pompeii, the basilica form has been manipulated into one of dynamic complexity, with cross axial interplay between aisles and nave. PUBLIC BATHS Although wealthy Romans had baths in their townhouses and country villas, many public bathhouses were available in cities and towns throughout the empire. These baths, called thermae, were owned by the state and often covered several city blocks. Roman baths (thermae) were primarily hygienic facilities, but they also provided for exercise, relaxation, reading and informal socializing, activities more commonly associated with modem spas or health clubs. Such an array of activities required multiple spaces: changing rooms, latrines, rooms for hot, warm, and cold baths; exercise facilities, relaxing areas, and gardens if possible. Because bathing was a healthful diversion for the large urban Adequate water supplies were essential. The Romans population, the later emperors vied with one another to build ever used mineral springs when available and heated the more elaborate complexes in Rome. water if the supply was not naturally warm.  The Baths of Diocletian (298-306 CE) comprised the largest bath complex in ancient Rome, with the capacity for 3000 people. The entire complex was symmetrically designed, with BATH OF DIOCLTIAN the principal sequence of rooms within the bath building placed on an axis. From the center of the south facade, these included the groin-vaulted hot baths (caldarium), domed warm baths (tepidarium), cruciform cool baths (frigidarium), and open-air swimming pool (natatio). On either side of this central suite were changing rooms and unroofed rectangular exercise courts surrounded by service rooms. Interiors were finished with sumptuous materials, marble veneers and mosaics; statues were placed both inside and out; and the grounds were landscaped with trees and gardens to create a congenial environment for exercise, conversation, and relaxation. A large exedra in the south exterior wall was fitted with tiered seats for use as a theatre or stadium. Rectangular rooms to either side may have contained libraries. THEATRES/AMPHITHEATRES Athletic competitions and dramatic performances were part of the culture of ancient Greece. The Romans, who inherited these traditions and added to them the gladiatorial combats of the Etruscans, needed theaters and stadiums in which to stage these events. Greek building practice was to carve the shape of theaters or stadiums out of hillsides, thus adapting the natural setting for human use, but the Romans chose to construct their facilities whether the terrain was favorable or not, so they developed great vaulted structures to create the slope needed for spectator seating. The design of theaters inspired that of amphitheaters, which were circular or oval in plan, with raked seating on all sides.  An early example was the Theater of Marcellus Stacked radial (completed 13-11 BCE) in Rome, where a great barrel vaults made semicircle of 11,000 seats rising in three tiers of cut stone and THEATER OF MARCELLUS focused on a rectangular stage building that formed concrete extended the backdrop for the drama. outward to a massive two-level circumferential ring of barrel vaults containing entrances and internal circulation corridors. A third- story perimeter wall upheld one end of the timber supports for the highest tier of seats.  Except for this top level of seats, which rested on wooden supports, the entire building was masonry, a combination of cut stone and concrete resting on carefully laid foundations. THE COLOSSEUM Under the seating was an intricate network of structural supports, horizontal passageways, ramps, and stairs to accommodate the crowds attending spectacles in the building. The area under the arena floor, an oval measuring 79 x 45 meters, was a labyrinth of passageways and chambers for gladiators, beasts, and hoisting Greatest of all was the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, more commonly known as the machinery to service the Colosseum, completed in 80 CE. Although the building's plan is the familiar oval and spectacles staged above. its structure is similar to the Theater of Marcellus, the novel element here is size. The exterior of the oval measures 510 by 615 feet, with seats for 50,000 people. The total height of the construction was approximately 48 meters with each floor height ranging between 10 and 13 meters. It has a total of 76 entrances and 4 additional entrances for the emperor, other VIPs and the gladiators. The entire audience could exit the building in five minutes. The audience, upon entering, climbed sloping ramps to their seats, according to gender and social class. The exterior was clad in travertine, usually a cream-colored marble. Stacked engaged columns in the Roman Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders combined with arches of the supporting barrel vaults to create three stories of the facade. A fourth level of Corinthian pilasters without arches completed the elevation around two upper galleries (reserved for women and slaves). Attached to this wall were brackets for the poles that some historians believe to have been supports for a canvas cover providing shade for spectators. CIRCUS Circus Maximus A large, oval track where the chariot races took place. The chariots were open, two or four- wheeled vehicles pulled by horses and used for hunting, battles, racing, and processions. The Romans loved the races as they were very exciting with many spills and crashes. Often charioteers were killed. However, if they were good, they might become popular heroes. DOMESTIC ROMAN ARCHITECTURE: Domus Italicus  TYPICAL ROMAN HOUSE THE PERISTYLE ATRIUM HOUSE THE PALACES OF ROME THE PALACES OF ROME THE ISULA THE TRANSFORMATION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE We sometimes speak of “the fall of the Roman Empire,” as though, on a particular day, there was a sudden collapse. In fact, it was more a gradual transformation, occurring over more than a century, marking the change from a pagan empire to a Christian empire. Constantine’s relocation of the entire imperial bureaucracy of the old Rome on the Tiber to the New Rome at the mouth of the Black Sea in 330 was symbolic of a number of sweeping changes in the Roman world. It was no longer the old Rome, as that term had been used before. The other change, and the one that had the most far- reaching effect, was the impact of the new religion: CHRISTIANITY. This change in the hearts of the believers was so all- embracing that, when they went to carve the date of building on the walls of their new houses of worship: “A.D.” for anno domini , the year of the lord. CHAPTER REFERENCE & READINGS All the information listed in this chapter along with images, unless listed differently, are based on the book: Roth, L.M. & Clark, A.C.R. 2014, Understanding architecture: its elements, history, and meaning, Third edn, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. Chapter 12 Fazio, M., Moffett, M., & Wodehouse, L. (2009). A world history of architecture Chapter 5 Glancey, J., (2006). Architecture: Eyewitness companions. What’s next?