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THE ANCIENT
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THE See also:ANCIENT See also:CITY
The See also:chief See also:building materials used in ancient See also:Rome may be enumerated as follows: (1) Tufa, the "rubes et See also:niger tophus " of See also:Vitruvius (ii. 7), varying in See also:colour from Building warm See also: 43), it is See also:fire-See also:proof, and this is also the See also:case with the See also:Alban stone. Lapis Gabinus is now called sperone. (4) Silex (mod. selce), a lava from the now See also:extinct volcanoes in the Alban Hills, used for paving roads; when broken into small pieces and mixed with See also:lime and pozzolana it formed an immensely durable See also:concrete. It is dark See also:grey, very hard and breaks with a slightly conchoidal fracture (Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 135; Vitt. ii. 7), but does not resemble what is now called silex or See also:flint. . (5) Lapis Tiburtinus (travertine), the chief quarries of which are at See also:Tibur (See also:Tivoli) and other places along the' riverAnio; a hard pure carbonate of lime, of a creamy See also: If laid horizontally it is very strong, but if set on end its crystalline structure is a great source of weakness, and it splits. from end to end. Neglect on the See also:part of See also:Roman builders of this important precaution in many cases caused a See also:complete failure in the structure. This was notably the case in the rostra. (6) Pulvis. Puteolanus (pozzolana), o called from extensive beds of it at See also:Puteoli—a volcanic See also:pro-duct, which looks like red sandy See also:earth, and lies in enormous beds under and See also:round the city of Rome. When mixed with lime it forms a very strong See also:hydraulic See also:cement, of equal use in concrete, See also:mortar or undercoats of stucco. It is to this material that the concrete walls of Rome owe their enormous strength and durability, in many cases far exceeding those of the most massive stone See also:masonry. Vitruvius devotes a See also:chapter (bk. ii. ch. 6) to this very important material. Bricks were either See also:sun-dried (lateres crudi) or See also:kiln-baked (lateres cocti, testae). , The remarks of Vitruvius (ii. 3), seem to refer wholly to sun-dried bricks, of which no examples now exist in Rome. It is important to recognize the fact that among the existing ancient buildings of Rome there is no such thing as a See also:brick See also:wall or a brick See also:arch in the true sense of the word; bricks were merely used as a facing to concrete walls and See also:arches and have no constructional importance.) Concrete (See also:opus caementicium, Vitr. ii. 4, 6, 8), the most important of all the materials used, is made of rough pieces of stone, or of fragments of marble, brick,, &c., averaging from about the See also:size of a See also:man's fist and embedded in cement made of lime and pozzolana—forming one solid mass of enormous stre'igth and coherence. Stucco; cement and Mortar (tectorium,opus hlbdrium and other names) are of many kinds; the ancient See also:Romans especially excelled in their manufacture. The cement used. for lining the channels of aqueducts (opus signinum) was made of lime mixed with pounded brick or .potsherds and -pozzolana; the same mixture was used for floors under the "See also:nucleus " or finer cement, on which the See also:mosaic or marble paving-slabs were bedded, and was called caementum; ex testis tunsis. For walls, three or four coats of stucco were used, often as •much as 5 in. thick altogether; the See also:lower coats were of lime and pozzolana, the See also:finishing coats of powdered white marble, (opus albarium) suit-able to receive See also:painting. Even marble' buildings were usually coated with a thin layer of this See also:fine white 'stucco, nearly as hard and durable as the marble itself—a practice also employed in the finest buildings of the Greeks—probably because it formed a more absorbent ground for coloured decoration; stone columns coated in this way were called " columnae dealbatae" (Cie. In Veer. ii. 1, 52 seq.). For the kinds of See also:sand used in mortar and stucco, Vitruvius (ii. 4) mentions See also:sea, See also:pit and See also:river sand, saying that pit sand is to be preferred. Marble appears to have come into use about the beginning of the 1st See also:century s.c. Its introduction. was at first viewed with great Decors- See also:jealousy, as savouring of See also:Greek luxury. The 'orator flue See also:Crassus was the first to use it in his See also:house on the Palatine, materials. built about 92 B.C.; and, though he had only six small columns of Hymettian marble, he was for this luxury nicknamed the " Palatine See also:Venus " by the stern republican M. See also:Brutus (Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 7). The temporary wooden See also:theatre of the See also:aedile M. See also:Aemilius See also:Scaurus, built in 58 B.C., appears to have been the first building in which marble was more largely used; its 360 columns and the lower See also:order of its scena were of Greek marble (see Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 5, 5o). . In a very few years, under the See also:rule of See also:Augustus, marble became very See also:common? Of white statuary marble four See also:principal varieties were used. (1) Marmor Lunense, from:See also:Luna, near the See also:modern See also:Carrara (See also:Strabo, v. p. 222), is of many qualities, from the purest creamy White and the finest See also:grain to the coarser sorts disfigured with bluish grey Streaks. 1 In less solid constructions than those which have survived. until modern times bricks Were doubtless used by themselves. 2 The oft-quoted ' boast of Augustus (See also:Suet. Aug. 29) that he " found Rome of brick and See also:left it of marble " has probably much truth in it, if for " brick " we read " peperino and tufa." In the See also:time of Augustus burnt brick was very little used, the usual wall-facings being opus quadratum of tufa or peperino, and opus reticutatum of tufa only.(Ex., the eleven Corinthian columns in the Borsa.) (2) Marmor Hymettium, from See also:Mount See also:Hymettus, near See also:Athens, is coarser in grain, than the best Luna marble and is usually marked with grey or See also:blue striations (Strabo ix. p. 399). (Ex., the See also:forty-two columns in the See also:nave of S. Maria See also:Maggiore and the columns in S. Pietro in Vincoli.) (3) Marmor Pentelicum, from Mount See also:Pentelicus, also near Athens, is very fine in grain and of a pure white; it was more used for architectural purposes than fpr statues, though some sculptors preferred it above all others, especially See also:Pheidias and See also:Praxiteles. (Ex., the bust of the See also:young Augustus in the Vatican.) (4) Marmor Parium, from the Isle, of See also:Paros,is very beautiful, though coarse in texture, having a very crystalline structure. (Ex., the nineteen columns of the round, See also:temple in the See also:Forum Boarium'.) Nine chief varieties of coloured See also:marbles were used in Rome. (1) Marmor Numidicum (mod. giallo antico; Plin. H.N. v. 22), from See also:Numidia and See also:Libya, hence also called Libycum, ColoareA is of a. See also:rich yellow, deepening to See also:orange and even See also:pink., marbles. Enormous quantities of it were used, especially f or columns, wall-linings and pavements. (Ex., seven columns on the arch of See also:Constantine, taken from the arch of See also:Trajan; the eighth See also:column is in the Lateran See also:basilica.) . (2) Marmor Carystium (mod. cipollino), from Carystus in I;uboea (Strabo x. p. 446), has alternate wavy strata of white and See also:pale green—the "undosa Carystos" of Status (Silo. i. 5, 34). From its well-defined layers like an See also:onion (cipolla) is derived its modern name. (Ex., columns of temple of See also:Antoninus and See also:Faustina. (3) Marmor Phrygium or Synnadicum (mod. pavonazzetto), from' Synnada in See also:Phrygia (Strabo, xii. p. 577; Jqv, xiv. 307; Tibull. iii. 3, 13), is a slightly translucent marble, with rich purdie markings, See also:violet verging on red. It was fabled to' be stained with the See also:blood of Atys (Stet. Silo. i. 5, 37). (Ex., twelve fluted columns in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura,.and four columns in the See also:apse of,S. See also:Paolo fuori, saved from the ancient nave of the basilica, burnt in. 1823.) (4) Marmor Iasium (probably the modern porta See also:santa), from Iasus, is mottled with large patches of dull red, See also:olive green and white. The See also:holy doors ' of the four great basilicas are framed with it, hence its modern name. (Ex.; the slabs in front of the See also:hemicycle of the Rostra and four columns in, S..Agnese fuori le Mum). (5) Marmor Chium, (probably the modern Africano), from See also:Chios, is similar in the variety of its markings to the portasanta; but more brilliant in tint. (Ex., a great part of the paving of the Basilica Julia and two large, columns in the centre of the See also:facade of St See also:Peter's.) (6) Marmor Taenarium (mod. rosso antico), from Taenarum in See also:Laconia (Strabo viii. p. 367; See also:Pliny, H.N. xxxvi. 158), is a very See also:close-grained marble, of a rich deep red, like blood. As a rule it does See also:net occur in large pieces, but was much used for small cornices and other See also:mouldings in interiors of 'buildings: Its quarries in See also:Greece are still worked. (The; largest pieces known are the fourteen. steps to the high See also:altar of S. Prassede and two columns nearly 12 ft: high in the Rospigliosi See also:Casino dell' See also:Aurora.) (7) The name Marmor Taenatium is also applied by the ancients to a black marble (See also:nero entice) now no longer quarried. It is mentioned by See also:Tibullus (iii. 3, 14) in See also:conjunction with Phrygian and Carystian marbles; see also Prop. iii. 2, 9, and Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 135. (Ex., two columns in the See also:choir of S. Giovanni in Laterano.) (8) Lapis Alydtius (verde antico), found at Atrax in See also:Thessaly, was one of the favourite materials for decorative See also:architecture; it is not strictly 'a marble (i.e. a calcareous stone) but a variety of " See also:precious See also:serpentine," with patches of white and brown on a brilliant green ground. It seldom occurs in large masses. (The finest known specimens are the twenty-four columns beside the niches in the nave of the Lateran basilica.) (9) The hard See also:oriental See also:alabaster, the " See also:onyx or " alabastrites " of Pliny (H.N. xxxvi. 59i See also:xxxvii. 109); its chief quarries were on the See also:Nile near See also:Thebes,' in See also:Arabia and near See also:Damascus. In Pliny's See also:age it was a great rarity; but in later times it was introduced in large quantities, and fragments of a great many columns have been found on the Palatine, in the See also:bath§ of See also:Caracalla and elsewhere. It is semi-transparent. and beautifully marked with concentric nodules and wavy strata. An immense number of other less common marbles have been found, including many varieties of See also:breccia, whose ancient` names are unknown.' From the latter part of the 1st century s.c. hard stones—granites and basalts—were introduced in great quantities. The basalts--i basanites "of Pliny,(xxxvi. 58)—are very refractpry, and Granites can only be worked by the help of See also:emery or See also:diamond dust. and The former was obtained largely at See also:Naxos; diamond- See also:basalt& dust drills are mentioned by Pliny (H.N. xxxvii. 200), The basalts are black, green and brown, and are usually See also:free front spots or markings; examples of all three exist, but are See also:corn, paratively rare. The red variety called " See also:porphyry " was used in enormous quantities. It is the " porphyrites" of Pliny (H.N. These Nile quarries were worked during the 196 century, and many blocks were imported into Rome for the rebuilding of S. Paolo fuori le Mum. ' On the subject of Roman marbles, see Corsi, Delle pietre antiche (ed. 3, 1845), and Pullen, Handbook of Roman Marbles (See also:London., 1894) ; also,See also:Brindley in Transactions of the Royal See also:Institute of See also:British Architects (r887) A collection of moo specimens, originally formed by Corsi, is preserved in the museum at See also:Oxford. 586 xxxvi. 57), and was brought from See also:Egypt. It has a rich red ground, covered with small specks of white See also:felspar; hence it was also called " leptopsephos." A large number of columns of it exist, and it was much used for pavements of opus Alexandrinum. A rich green porphyry or basalt was also largely used, but not in such great masses as the red porphyry. It has a brilliant green ground covered with rectangular See also:light green crystals of felspar. This is the lapis Lacedaemonius (wrongly called by the modern Romans " serpentino "), so named from its quarries in Mount See also:Taygetus in Lacedacmonia (Paus. iii. 21, 4; Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 55; Juv. xi. 175). It appears to have been mostly used for pavements and panels of wall linings. The granites used in Rome came mostly from near See also:Philae on the Nile (Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 63). The red sort was called lapis pyrrhopoecilus and the grey lapis psaronius. The columns in the Basilica Ulpia are a fine example of the latter; both sorts are used for the columns of the See also:Pantheon and those of the temple of See also:Saturn in the Forum. Gigantic See also:ships were specially made to carry the obelisks and other great monoliths (Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 2, 67). The See also:style of architecture employed in ancient Rome (see ARCHITECTURE, See also:section Roman, and ROMAN See also:ART) may be Arch,- said to have passed through three stages—the tecturst See also:Etruscan, the Greek and the Roman. During the styles• first few centuries of the existence of the city, both the methods of construction and the designs employed appear to have been purely Etruscan. The earliest temples were either See also:simple cellae without columns, or else, in the case of the grander temples, such as that of Capitoline See also:Jupiter, the columns were very widely spaced (See also:araeostyle), and consequently had entablatures of wooden beams. The architectural decorations were more generally in gilt See also:bronze or painted terra-See also:cotta than in stone, and the paintings or statues which decorated the buildings were usually the See also:work of Etruscan artists., The Greek See also:influence is more obvious; it is found in the period following the Second Punic or Hannibalic See also:War, and almost all the temples of the earlier imperial age are Greek, with certain modifications, not only in See also:general See also:design but in details and ornaments. Greek architects were largely employed, such as See also:Apollodorus of Damascus, who designed Trajan's forum and other buildings; on the other See also:hand, a Roman, Cossutius, was employed on the building of the Olympieum at Athens, in the 2nd century B.C. Roman architects such as Vitruvius and C. Mucius in the 1st century B.C., See also:Severus and Celer under Nero, and See also:Rabirius under See also:Domitian, were Greek by See also:education, and probably studied at Athens (see Vitr. vii. Praef.; Hirt, Gesch. d. Baukunst, ii. p. 257).2 The Romans, however, though far below the Greeks in See also:artistic originality, were very able See also:engineers, and this led to the development of a new and more purely Roman style, in which the restrictions imposed by the use of the stone See also:lintel were put aside and large spaces were covered with vaults and domes See also:cast in semi-fluid concrete, a method which had the enormous See also:advantage of giving the arched form without the See also:constant thrust at the springing which makes true arches or vaults of wide span so difficult to See also:deal with. The enormous vaults of the great thermae, the basilica of Constantine, and the like, See also:cover their spaces with one solid mass like a See also:metal lid, giving the form but not the principle of the arch, and thus allowing the vault to be set on walls which would at once have been thrust apart had they been subjected to the immense leverage which a true arched vault constantly exerts on its imposts.' This is a very important point, and one which is usually overlooked, mainly owing to the Roman practice of facing their concrete with bricks, which (from an examination Pliny (H.N. See also:xxxv. 154), quoting Varro, says that the decorations in painting and See also:sculpture of the temple of See also:Ceres near the See also:Circus See also:Maximus were the work of the first Greek artists employed in Rome, and that before that (c. 493 B.C.) " all things in temples were Etruscan." Vitruvius (iii. 3) says, " Ornantque signis fictilibus See also:aut aereis inauratis eorum fastigia Tuscanico more, uti est ad Circum Maximum Cereris, et Herculis Pompeiani, See also:item Capitolii " (cf. iv. 7, Vi. 3). 2 The frequent use of engaged columns is a peculiarity of Roman architecture, but it is not without precedent in Greek buildings of the best period, e.g. in the temple of See also:Zeus at See also:Agrigentum. See also:Surface enrichments over the mouldings were used far more largely by the Romans than by the Greeks. 2 In the beautiful drawings of See also:Choisy (L'Art de btltir chez See also:les Remains, See also:Paris, 1873) the structural importance of the brick used in vaults and arches is very much exaggerated.[THE ANCIENT CITY of the surface only) appear to be a principal item in the construction. The walls of the Pantheon, for example, are covered with tiers of brick arches, and many theories have been invented as to their use in distributing the See also:weight of the walls. But a recognition of the fact that these walls are of concrete about 20 ft. thick, while the brick facing averages scarcely 6 in. in thickness, clearly shows that these " relieving arches " have no more constructional use as far as concerns the pressure than if they were painted on the surface of the walls. The same applies to the superficial use of brick in all arches and vaults. Although, however, the setting of the concrete rendered the brick facing superfluous, it played its part in sustaining the fluid mass on its centring during the See also:process of solidification. At first tufa only was used in opus quadratum, as we see in the so-called wall of See also:Romulus. Next the harder peperino began to be worked: it is used, though sparingly, in the "Servian " Opus wall, and during the later See also:Republic appears to have been guad- largely employed for exterior walls or points where there ratum. was heavy pressure, while other parts were built of See also:tula. Thirdly, travertine appears to have been introauced about the 2nd century B.c., but was used at first for merely ornamental purposes; very much as marble was under the See also:Empire; after about the See also:middle of the 1st century A.D. travertine began to be largely used for the solid mass of walls, as in the temple of See also:Vespasian and the Colosseum. The tufa or peperino blocks were roughly 2 (Roman) ft. thick in See also:regular courses (the " isodomum " of Vitruvius) by 2 ft. across the end, and under the Republic often exactly 4 ft. See also:long, so that two blocks set endways ranged with one set lengthways. They were arranged in alternate courses of headers and stretchers, so as to make a good See also:bond ; this is the " emplecton " of Vitruvius (ii. 8). The so-called See also:Tabularium of the Capitol is a good example of this. The harder and more valuable travertine was not cut in this regular way, but pieces of all sizes were used, just as they happened to come from the See also:quarry, in order to avoid See also:waste: blocks as much as 15 by 8 ft. were used, and the courses varied in thickness—the " pseudisodomum " of Vitruvius. When tufa or peperino was mixed with the FIG. ,.—Example of Construction in which travertine, it was cut so as to range with the irregular courses of the latter. It is interesting to See also:note the manner in which the Roman builders mixed their different materials according to the weight they had to carry. While tufa was frequently used for the See also:main walls, peperino (e.g. in the Servian " wall on the Aventine) or travertine (e.g. in the forum of Au- many materials are used; upper part of one of the inner radiating walls under the cunei of the Colosseum. A, A. Marble seats on brick and concrete core, supported on vault made of See also:pumice-stone concrete (C). B. Travertine arch at end of raking vault (C). D. One of the travertine piers built in flush with the tufa wall to give it extra strength. E, E. Wall of tufa concrete faced with triangular bricks, carrying the vaults of pumice concrete which support the marble seats. F. Travertine See also:pier at end of radia- ting wall. G. Brick-faced arch of concrete to carry See also:floor of passage. H, H. Tufa wall, opus quadratum. J, J, J. See also:Line of steps in next See also:bay. K, K. Surface arches of brick, too shallow to be of any constructional use, and not meant for See also:ornament, as the whole was stuccoed; they only See also:face the wall (which g u s t u s and the is about 4 ft. thick) to the See also:average See also:depth of temple of See also:Fortuna 4 in. Virilis, so called) was inserted at points of See also:special pressure, such as piers or arches (see fig.). The Colosseum is a particularly elaborate example of this mixed construction with three degrees of pressure supported by three different materials. A The use of mortar with opus quadratum is a sign of a comparatively 1 early date. It occurs, e.g. in the "Servian " wall on the Aventine Mortar and in the Tabularium. Under the Empire massive blocks, whether of tufa, travertine or marble, are set without any mortar. It must, however, be observed that in these early instances the " mortar " is but a thin stratum of lime, little thicker than stout See also:paper, used not as a cement to bind the blocks together, but simply Clamps. binding to give the See also:joints a together was done smoothly cfitting surface. The actual lamps and dowels, as well as by the mass and weight of the great blocks used. Except in the earliest masonry, each See also:block was very carefully fastened, not only to the next blocks on the same course, which was done with See also:double See also:dove-tailed dowels of See also:wood, but also to those above and below with stout See also:iron clamps, run with See also:lead (Vitr. ii. 8).' In more ornamental marble work bronze clamps were often used. Concrete is rarely found in connexion with opus quadratum; part of the " Servian " wall on the Aventine received a backing of concrete at a relatively See also:late period Up to the 1st century B.C. it was faced with opus incertum—small irregularly shaped blocks of tufa, 3 to 6 in. across, with pointed ends driven into the concrete while it was soft, and worked smooth on the face only (see fig. 2). From the beginning Opus of the 1st century B.C. Opus reticulatum,' formed of rectangular tufa prisms laid in a See also:regula: See also:pattern like a reticu" net (whence the name), is found. It is very neat in ]See also:atom. See also:appearance, and is often fitted with great care,though it was generally covered with stucco. The so-called " house of Livia " on the Palatine is a good example of the earlier sort, when the See also:quoins were made of small rectangular blocks of tufa. Under the Empire brick quoins came into use (as may be seen, e.g. in the so-called See also:palace of Caligula). Though in Rome opus reticulatum was almost always made of tufa, in the neighbourhood of the city it was sometimes of peperino or even lava, where these materials were found on the spot. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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