Classical Rome

Classical Rome served as a catalyst in spreading art and civilization. In its prime, it was the greatest power west of China. Rome extended from the Persian Gulf to Spain and from North Africa to Britain. The Romans were masters of road construction and architecture. The added to the classical order of columns. They used extravagant ornamentation in their furniture. They are credited with the invention of the arch, the barrel vault, and domes. A major building from the Romans is the Colosseum. It seats at least 50,000 people and was the center of entertainment. It it what a modern day sports arena would be considered. The building includes 3 of the 5 classical orders and each level has a podium, column, and entablature. It was constructed in 80 AD. The Pantheon is another grand peice of architecture. Built in 126 AD, it was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa. It is a round temple with a dome and includes a 142 ft high and 142 ft in diameter oculus at the top. Some of the residential building include an Insula, like a modern day apartment building, 5-6 stories with balconies and the ground floor was a shop. They were often where the poor lived and some stories were added with wood which made them susceptible to fire. Another is a Domus. It had an atrium with a slanted roof and a pool below to catch water. A Tablinum held important family records, and a peristyle was a columned porch or courtyard, The Domus also included private rooms. The interiors were docated with mosaics, stucco, and frescoes.

Ancient Design

Room in Pompeii

Slanted roof with pool below

Decorative ceilings and use or arches

Modern

Use of columns and arches


Peer review
Cally: I liked how she really went into the detail about the background and broke everything up into separate paragraphs for painting and sculpture and architecture, etc. She had lots of lovely examples as well.
Karri: I liked how her pictures were placed within the text and not just at the end. She had wonderful pictures that really gave a good visual of what she was talking about in her blog.

Colosseum
Dome