University of the People
Development of Concrete and Arc in the Life of the Romans
Greek and Roman Civilization Written Assignment Unit Seven
UoPeople Student
5/24/2017
From the reading, discuss the development of both concrete and the arch. Include the importance of each in the life of Rome and the results of their use
The Roman architecture is of great importance in the study of the Greeks and Roman Civilization. Their architecture was different than anything that came before the Persians, the Egyptians the Greeks; they all had excellent monumental architecture. Their buildings are made to be impressive in the outside because their architects had to rely on what we call a post-and lintel system.
Something about the arc and concrete (materials) used by the Romans; let say that “an arch is a curved structure that spans a space and may or may not support weight above it,” (nd). Arch may be synonymous with vault, but a vault may be distinguished as a continuous arch forming a roof, (Wikipedia, nd). In fact, the Romans utilized a volcanic stone native to Italy called Tufa to construct their buildings. It was a durable material that is never used up. Also marble is another material used. It is to notice that, in the beginning, they considered it as extravagance when people use
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“Its strength, flexibility, convenience and low cost - when compared to any other building material - made arch, vaults and domes much easier to build” Roman architecture (400 BCE – 400 BC). It is clearly documented that “Roman concrete (opus caementicium) was typically made from a mixture of lime mortar, water, sand and pozzolana, a fine, ochre-coloured volcanic earth, which set well even under water.” They added many other stuff to the mixture such travertine, brick and other rubble to end up with this material. Prior to this, harder stones were used, like peperino and local albani stone from the Alban hills,