Concrete in Roman Architecture

Imperial Rome began under Caesar Augustus around 37 BCE and ultimately ended in 1453 when the city was sacked by the Ottoman Turks. When the Roman Empire began, it coexisted with many other prominent civilisations, such as the Etruscans, the later Egyptian dynasties and perhaps Rome's biggest architectural rival, the Ancient Greeks. However the Romans surpassed their rival civilisations architecturally, by extending their influence well into the next millennia, and in doing so they absorbed the Greek, Egyptians, and Etruscans, and other “lesser” contemporary civilisations. This may suggest initially that the Romans would achieve a diversity of architectural style, whereas theirs was remarkably uniform. Some of their building methods and styles were, however, obtained from other civilisations such as the Greeks and the Etruscans. Despite this, Roman architectural form remains distinctive, because of a particular reliance on recognisable geometric forms , simple structural logic and the use of simple construction materials. For example, with these, the forms of the Colosseum and the Pantheon created broad and impressive architectural spaces which continue to make an impact on architecture to this day, particularly in the area of civic buildings. What distinguishes Roman architecture is its technical advances which allowed the Romans to define space uniquely and impressively only using materials as simple as bricks and concrete.

A civilisation known for its efficiency, the Romans developed concrete as a building material as it was durable, strong and economical, and particularly well suited in the construction of large-scale buildings. Such buildings as the Temple of Diana (ca.80 CE) in Nimes used cut-stone masonry in its construction of the barrel vaulting, which was very expensive and called for highly accomplished stone carvers. Seeking economies, the Romans developed ‘a more expedient building method by using a new material, hydraulic cement,