Roman Architecture Arch

Introduction

Before we begin discussing how important were arch and concrete in life of Rome, we must know what exactly is an arch. First of all, an arch can be made out of stone, brick, concrete or steel, and it the shape of arch is curvy. The purpose of an arch is to support or make the building stronger and this paper will examine how important was that in architecture development and building massive structures.

Most arches consist of wedge-shaped blocks. The top center stone, called the keystone, is the last block to be inserted. During construction, arches are often supported by a wooden frame. When the frame is removed, both sides of the arch press against the keystone and thereby support the arch (Eduplace, n.d).

The reason why Romans were able to build such massive structures like theaters, it’s

Arch was used even before Romans, in Babylon, Egypt, however the problem was that it could only handle small structures, therefore, massive structures were impossible mission until concrete was discovered.

Concrete, as the Romans developed it, had some very definite technical and practical advantages over the traditional, and mainly Greek, methods of enclosing space by the use of cut-stone and post-and-beam structures. It had so many advantages as such as fireproof, strength, flexibility, cheap and so on (Archserve, n.d).

Soon after that Roman arch was highly recommended and developed in many cultures as such as in the Arab world, Muslim architects developed pointed, scalloped, and horseshoe arches, which they used for mosques and palaces. The borrowing and modification of the Roman arch meant that the architecture of ancient Rome would have a lasting impact (Eduplace, n.d).

The Romans also used the principles of the arch to form a hemispherical ceiling or roof called a dome. An early example of a dome is the Roman Pantheon (Eduplace,