DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42778#0066
32 THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANCIENT ROME.
over the ancient Via Tiburtina is about 25 feet) and at Prseneste ;
and the stress already begins to be distributed from one vault to
another. The progress made in vaulting under the Empire was
enormous, and it was Rome that in its turn influenced the East
(Asia Minor and Syria) in the third and fourth centuries after
Christ. In Syria the scarcity of wood led to the use of the native
basalt for almost all purposes (even for shutters) and we have re-
mains of basilicas with stone vaulting carried on transverse arches.1
The wide diffusion of the use of Roman concrete and the great
strength and durability which it possesses are due to the excellence
of the materials available—the lime, which can easily be got from
the local limestone, the absorbent volcanic stones, which, as well
as travertine and brick fragments, are used for the core ; but above
all to the pozzolana or volcanic ash, which takes its name from
Puteoli, but is not found merely within the sphere of activity of
Vesuvius and the other Neapolitan craters (Vitruvius II, 6), but
quite as much in the extinct volcanic areas of the neighbourhood
of Rome. The discovery of the red variety (far superior to the
gray in use previous to the time of Augustus) was an important
factor in the development of brick-faced concrete. The breaking up
of wall surfaces by means of doors, windows, and niches can also
be traced in Hellenistic architecture, but is believed by Delbriick
to be a still older, non-Greek (i.e., Oriental) tradition. It naturally
necessitated, in its earlier stages, a corresponding strengthening
of the walls, e.g., by the use of a stone beam framework (as in the
limestone atria of Pompeii) of relieving arches, and of buttresses
or pilasters.
We also find, in Pompeii and near Rome, the imitation of archi-
tecture with openings—above the incrustation of the first style in
the former we find galleries of small half columns, these imitating
architecture with openings in stone by means of relief : and we
also get imitations of a whole order, as in the Casa del Centauro.
Near Rome, from the second century b.c. onwards, we get similar
features—thus, the interior of the apsidal hall at Palestrina, if
reconstructed in space, would become a pseudobasilica; the archi-
tectural decoration is, however, in this case raised on a podium
(Plate XV) : and in other cases we get endless arcades represented
in relief. This hollowing out and breaking through of the wall
surfaces is a new and important feature of Sulla’s work, though
1 Stuart Jones, Companion, 59.
over the ancient Via Tiburtina is about 25 feet) and at Prseneste ;
and the stress already begins to be distributed from one vault to
another. The progress made in vaulting under the Empire was
enormous, and it was Rome that in its turn influenced the East
(Asia Minor and Syria) in the third and fourth centuries after
Christ. In Syria the scarcity of wood led to the use of the native
basalt for almost all purposes (even for shutters) and we have re-
mains of basilicas with stone vaulting carried on transverse arches.1
The wide diffusion of the use of Roman concrete and the great
strength and durability which it possesses are due to the excellence
of the materials available—the lime, which can easily be got from
the local limestone, the absorbent volcanic stones, which, as well
as travertine and brick fragments, are used for the core ; but above
all to the pozzolana or volcanic ash, which takes its name from
Puteoli, but is not found merely within the sphere of activity of
Vesuvius and the other Neapolitan craters (Vitruvius II, 6), but
quite as much in the extinct volcanic areas of the neighbourhood
of Rome. The discovery of the red variety (far superior to the
gray in use previous to the time of Augustus) was an important
factor in the development of brick-faced concrete. The breaking up
of wall surfaces by means of doors, windows, and niches can also
be traced in Hellenistic architecture, but is believed by Delbriick
to be a still older, non-Greek (i.e., Oriental) tradition. It naturally
necessitated, in its earlier stages, a corresponding strengthening
of the walls, e.g., by the use of a stone beam framework (as in the
limestone atria of Pompeii) of relieving arches, and of buttresses
or pilasters.
We also find, in Pompeii and near Rome, the imitation of archi-
tecture with openings—above the incrustation of the first style in
the former we find galleries of small half columns, these imitating
architecture with openings in stone by means of relief : and we
also get imitations of a whole order, as in the Casa del Centauro.
Near Rome, from the second century b.c. onwards, we get similar
features—thus, the interior of the apsidal hall at Palestrina, if
reconstructed in space, would become a pseudobasilica; the archi-
tectural decoration is, however, in this case raised on a podium
(Plate XV) : and in other cases we get endless arcades represented
in relief. This hollowing out and breaking through of the wall
surfaces is a new and important feature of Sulla’s work, though
1 Stuart Jones, Companion, 59.