Roman architecture

325 Pages·2021·121.3 MB·English

by  Frank Sear

‘Sear’s unrivalled knowledge of Roman architecture allows him to present a vast array of
buildings and urban landscapes in enviably clear and concise prose. He sets developments
in buildings’ techniques, styles and functions illuminatingly in their wider historical context.
Time and again he picks out telling detail to which his sharp eye gives meaning.’
Ewen Bowie, University of Oxford, UK.
‘In this extensively rewritten and updated edition of his classic history of Roman architecture,
Frank Sear proves both an authoritative and reliable guide and one propelled by his hallmark
enthusiasm for all aspects of architecture.’
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, University of Cambridge, UK.

Roman Architecture
In this fully updated new edition, Frank Sear offers a thorough overview of the history of
architecture in the Roman Empire.
Arranged logically in six historical sections interspersed with material on Roman
architects and their techniques, the building types found in Roman cities and the different
buildings found in the Roman provinces, this volume now contains the latest insights into
Roman architecture and takes account of the past 20 years of scholarship. This seminal work
covers the architecture of the Republic, the Age of Augustus, the imperial period, Pompeii
and Ostia, the eastern and western empire, and the Late Antique period, exploring subjects
such as patronage, building techniques and materials, Roman engineering, town planning
and imperial propaganda in a concise and readable way.
Illustrated with nearly 300 photographs, maps and drawings, Roman Architecture
continues to be the clearest introductory account of the development of architecture in the
Roman Empire.
Frank Sear is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he did both his undergraduate
and postgraduate work. As a Scholar at the British School he did research on Roman Wall
and Vault Mosaics, and as a Cotton Fellow he excavated in Benghazi and Lepcis Magna,
Libya. In 1975 he took up a lecturing position at the University of Adelaide where he taught
Latin, Greek and Classical Archaeology. He has since been a visiting scholar at the German
Archaeological Institute in Berlin, a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Hugh
Last Fellow at the British School at Rome. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
of London and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He was Professor of
Classical Studies at the University of Melbourne from 1991 to 2009 and is now Professor
Emeritus. He was the co-director of the Australian Pompeii project from 1978 to 1988, and
since 1990 has directed the Australian Roman Theatres project, surveying the theatres at
Gubbio, Taormina, Benevento and Pompeii in Italy; Jerash in Jordan; and Orange in France.
He has written numerous articles on his archaeological work and published a number of
books including Roman Wall and Vault Mosaics, Roman Architecture and Roman Theatres.

Roman Architecture
Second edition
Frank Sear
Second edition published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Frank Sear
The right of Frank Sear to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by B. T. Batsford Ltd 1982
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 9781138543720 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781138543737 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781351006187 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of figures viii
Preface xvi
Acknowledgements xviii
1 Republican Rome 1
2 Roman Building Types 26
3 The Age of Augustus 49
4 Roman Architects, Building Techniques and Materials 69
5 The Julio-Claudians 91
6 Two Roman Towns: Pompeii and Ostia 107
7 The Flavians 135
8 Trajan and Hadrian 157
9 North Africa 186
10 The European Provinces 212
11 The Eastern Provinces 236
12 The Late Empire 260
Glossary 283
Authors and passages cited 288
Select Bibliography 291
Index 298
Figures
1.1 (a) Rome, Capitoline Temple: plan. (b) Typical Etruscan temple: drawing. 2
1.2 (a) Perusia (Perugia), Tomb of the Volumnii, second century bc: plan. (b)
Pompeii, House of the Surgeon, fourth/third century bc, plan. 2
1.3 Central Italy showing the position of Rome and the rivers Anio and
Tiber: plan. 3
1.4 Rome showing the hills, the Tiber and the roads leading out of the city: plan. 4
1.5 Rome, so-called Servian Wall, c. 378 bc. 7
1.6 Arpinum, polygonal walls and corbelled gate, c. 300 bc. 8
1.7 Ferentinum (Ferentino), the citadel, mid second century bc. 9
1.8 Cosa (Ansedonia), Capitolium, c. 150 bc, elevation and plan. 10
1.9 Cosa (Ansedonia), buildings on the north side of the forum as they
appeared in the late second century bc, plan. 10
1.10 Rome, Via Appia, 312 bc onwards: the first few kilometres of the road. 11
1.11 R ome, Pons Fabricius, 62 bc. 13
1.12 Falerii Novi (S. Maria di Falleri), gate, c. 240 bc. 14
1.13 Rome, Porticus Aemilia, 193 bc, restored in 174 bc: axonometric plan. 15
1.14 Rome, The Forum in the second century bc: plan. 15
1.15 Ferentinum (Ferentino), shopping arcade, c. 100 bc. 17
1.16 Rome, Temple of Hercules Victor, c. 120 bc (left) and Temple of
Portunus, late second century bc (right). 20
1.17 Tibur (Tivoli), Temple of the Sibyl, early first century bc. 20
1.18 Cora (Cori), Temple of Hercules, c. 100 bc. 21
1.19 Praeneste (Palestrina), Temple of Fortuna Primigenia, late second century
bc: axonometric plan. 21
1.20 Praeneste (Palestrina), Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, late second
century bc, one of the two hemicycles with Ionic columns supporting a
coffered concrete barrel-vault. 22
1.21 Tibur (Tivoli), Sanctuary of Hercules, c. 50 bc: detail of the arcade
flanking the temple. 23
2.1 Augusta Raurica (Augst, Switzerland), restored view of the centre of the
town, mid-second century ad with later modifications. 27
2.2 Nemausus (Nîmes, France), Maison Carrée, begun c. 19 bc. 28
2.3 Pompeii, basilica, 100–90 bc. 29
Figures ix
2.4 Pompeii, Pompeii, bar where hot food and drinks were sold (thermopolion). 30
2.5 Pompeii, House of the Painted Capitals, second century bc: plan. 32
2.6 Pompeii, Stabian Baths, second century bc: plan. 35
2.7 Diagram to illustrate the heating system of a Roman bath. 36
2.8 Bostra (Bosra, Syria), Roman theatre. 38
2.9 Lepcis Magna (Libya), circus or hippodrome, second century ad: restored plan. 40
2.10 Arausio (Orange, France), ‘Arch of Tiberius’, c. ad 19. 41
2.11 R ome, Arch of Constantine, ad 312–315. 42
2.12 Borcovicium (Housesteads, England) Roman fort, second to fourth
century AD: plan. 45
2.13 Rome, Pyramid of Cestius, c. 18–12 bc. 47
3.1 Rome, Tabularium, c. 78 bc. 50
3.2 Rome, Imperial fora: plan. 51
3.3 Rome, Forum of Julius Caesar, showing the columns of the flanking
porticoes, and three columns of the Temple of Venus Genetrix. Planned
c. 54 bc and completed by Augustus. Rebuilt by Trajan. 52
3.4 Rome, Forum Romanum looking SE. From left to right: (foreground)
Arch of Septimius Severus, steps of the Rostra with the column of Phocas
behind, Basilica Julia, Temple of Saturn and Temple of Vespasian and
Titus; (middle distance) the podium of the Temple of Deified Julius
Caesar; (to the right of it) the three columns of the small circular Temple
of Vesta, the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the
Palatine Hill; (far distance) the Arch of Titus. 52
3.5 Rome, Forum Romanum: plan. 53
3.6 Rome, Forum Romanum, looking north. From left to right: (foreground)
Basilica Julia, the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux,
Temple of Deified Julius Caesar, with the small circular Temple of
Vesta in front, and the Regia, under the roofing; (middle ground) Arch
of Septimius Severus, Curia Julia, Basilica Paulli, part of the Temple of
Antoninus and Faustina; (in the distance) Trajan’s Column (behind the
Curia), three columns of the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus. 55
3.7 Rome, Basilica Paulli, after 14 bc. Drawing by Giuliano da Sangallo. 58
3.8 Rome, Arch of Augustus, 19 bc: restored elevation. 59
3.9 Rome, Theatre of Marcellus, dedicated in 13 or 11 bc. To the right is the
Temple of Apollo in Circo (Sosianus) begun 34 bc and finished before 20 bc. 61
3.10 Rome, Forum of Augustus, showing the surviving columns of the Temple
of Mars Ultor. 62
3.11 R ome, restored view of the Temple of Mars Ultor, dedicated in 2
bc, and part of the Forum Augustum. 63
3.12 Rome. Forum of Augustus, c. 10–2 bc: Caryatids from the
flanking colonnades. 63
3.13 Modillions: (a) the lower order of the Basilica Paulli, Rome; (b) the
Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome; (c) the Temple of Concord, Rome; (d) the
north doorway of the Erechtheum, Athens. 65