Spatial Dominion in Early Roman Architecture

Pompeii, Italy, city plan, esp. the forum and the basilica, 1st cen. BC to 1st cen. AD

I. City plan of Pompeii: an admixture of Italic, Greek Hippodamian, and Roman urbanism

Pompeii

Mt. Vesuvius

Naples

Pompeii, Italy

I.

I. A. What street patterns indicate the early Oscan and the Greek settlements?

Pompeii

Greek

Oscan

6.

I. B. What neighborhood and large public spaces were added by the Romans in 80 BC when they decided to make Pompeii a retirement city for their military veterans?

Pompeii

I. B.

Pompeii’s AmphitheaterPompeii’s Theater

Theater and Odeon

3.

The Basilica on the Forum at Pompeii

II. The Forum: A consensus-building space in the Roman Republic A. What public buildings would one find on a Roman forum? 1. a basilica

The Basilica on the Forum at Pompeii

II. A. 1. a. What are the components of the Roman basilica architecturally?

9.

II. A. 1. a.

The Basilica on the Forum at PompeiiGreek stoas

Hypostyle market hall, 210 BC at Delos, Turkey

The Basilica on the Forum at PompeiiStoa of Attalos at Athens

II. A. 1. c. What Greek building is a basilica most similar to in terms of function?

Council buildings on the Forum at Pompeii

II. A. 2. Council halls, courts, treasury (and the Senate in the city of Rome)

Commercial buildings on the Forum at Pompeii

II. A. 3. Commercial and civic buildings (some donated by prominent citizens: the Eumachia)

II. A. 4. Urban temples

Forum of Pompeii – Two Temples

Forum at Pompeii

II. B. In what two ways did Romans circumscribe space and forge consensus in a Roman forum?

8.

colonnaded Forum at Pompeii

II. B.

(Shaping space to foster consensus)

II. B. 2. How did the position of the main temple in a forum contribute to spatial hierarchy and clarity?

Forum at Pompeii – Temple of Jupiter

Temple of Portunus, Rome, 75 BC

Temple of Hercules Victor, Romelate 2nd cen. BC

Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, Italyearly 1st cen. BC

Temple of Hercules at Cori, Italylate 2nd cen. BC

III. Roman pseudo-peripteral temple: Republican forging of concensus in building design

Roman temples of the Republic period

Temple of Jupiter on the forum of Pompeii, 150 BC

Etruscan style Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, Rome, 509 BC

III.

Maison Carrée (“Square House”), Nimes, France, 1st century B.C.

III.

Maison Carrée and the Carré d‘Art museum by Norman Foster (1984-93)

III.

III. A. Did Roman spatial control transform the Greek temple, or did the Greek temple Hellenize the early Etrusco-Roman temple?

Roman Maison Carrée, 1st cen. BC

Etruscan temple (Veii, Italy, 5th cen. BC)Greek temple (Parthenon, 5th cen. BC)

Maison Carrée(Shaping space to foster consensus)

III. A. 1. Roman temple plan and elevation a. podium and d. approach

Maison Carrée

III. A. 1. a.

front

side

III. A. 1. b. cella

Maison Carrée

III. A. 1. c. pseudo-peripteral

Maison Carrée

III. B. Ritual preferences in Roman temples 1. Where was the Roman altar compared to the Greek?

Maison Carrée

altar

sometimes

III B. 2. Aside from worship, what other functions did the Roman temple serve?

Maison Carrée

III. C. Where might the imperial patronage be seen in this otherwise traditionally republican-era temple?

Maison Carrée