Paper Topic:

Roman Architecture

Roman Architecture

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Date The Pantheon Picture Courtesy www .crystalinks .com /romearchitecture .html

Preface

Some 2 ,025 years ago , an aged Roman architect named Vitruvius wrote all he knew on architecture on 10 scrolls and presented it to Emperor Augustus in the hope of developing this dying art . Known as the , `Ten Books on Architecture ' this piece of antiquity is the only such work to survive through medieval times , and continues to be an important resource for architects today

Prof

. Thomas Gordon Smith , Viturvius on Architecture

The early Christian church was spectacular in architecture . They were an end-product of a combination of assimilation and rejection of precedents , such as the Greek temple , the Roman public building , the private Roman house , and the synagogue . The Early Christian church (the Basilica church ) architecture developed from Roman secular basilica a centralized type from Roman tombs (Early Christian Architecture , Ch .4 br

.159-169 , n .d

Introduction

Roman architecture dates back in time when Greek architecture was at its best . Many of the Greek style have been perfected by the Romans and this can be seen in the architectural brilliance in their churches to date The Pantheon is a prime example of architectural brilliance . The Pantheon was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the Roman state religion , but is now a Christian church since the 7th century . Such is the construction that it remains the best-preserved and the oldest important Roman building in the world What 's more , this building has its original roof intact . It remained in use throughout its history (Architecture , chapter four , pp . 159-169

2 .1 History

The Pantheon was built as early as 27-25 BC during the third consulship of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa . As testimony stands the inscription of his name on the portico of the building , which reads `M ?AGRIPPA ?L ?F ?COS ?TERTIUM ?FECIT ' It was originally built with adjoining baths and water gardens , but this structure lay destroyed by a raging fire in AD 80 , only to be rebuilt around 125 during the reign of the then Emperor , Emperor Hadrian . On reconstruction , the text of the original inscription of Agrippa was added a practice followed during Hadrian 's rebuilding processes all over Rome . The building went through subsequent repairs under Septimius Severus and Caracalla

In 609 the Byzantine emperor Phocas presented the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV , who reconsecrated it as a Christian church , the Church of Mary and all the Martyr Saints

The building 's consecration as a church saved it from the abandonment which befell the majority of ancient Rome 's buildings during the early mediaeval period . The building however lost some of its external sculptures above Agrippa 's inscription . The marble interior and the great bronze doors have survived , although the doors came in for repair works several times

Since the Renaissance the Pantheon was used as a tomb , and those buried here were the late painters , Raphael and Annibale Caracci...

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