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Differences between greek and roman architecture
Similarities between Greek and Roman civilization
Similarities between Greek and Roman civilization
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The different ideologies of both roman and Greek architecture have been disputed for many decades. These great feats such as the Flavian Amphitheater and the Parthenon help distinguish the two cultures. The amphitheater was built for the roman people’s entertainment. The Parthenon was built to appease the Greek goddess Athena. Just by looking at their purposes it is easy to see how their cultures varied. However, it is important to also look into the architectural components to further analyze. The Flavian amphitheater and the Parthenon are both examples of classic roman and Greek architecture. Both of these architectural accomplishments have their subtle similarities as well as major differences. Although the building styles of Greek and Rome vary, by analyzing key components of each architecture similarities will emerge.
The Flavian Amphitheater was built from 70 CE To 80 CE. The Flavian was Rome’s largest amphitheater standing at 157 feet and with a perimeter of 1788 feet. It was built to cater to the roman community and their enjoyment of sports. That being said the entire amphitheater was built for the ease of the community. It was placed in the center of Rome. The amphitheater was built in an oval shape. This feature helped give an all around view for spectators. There were four stacked levels. The bottom two levels were meant for the nobles and the upper two levels were meant for the common people. Even though the common people sat in higher seats they still maintained a visual due to the stacked arrangement. The stacked arrangement also allowed for more spectators, about 50,000 could be seated for one event. To help filter the 50,000 possible spectators there was a total of seventy-six entrances. To shelter the spect...
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...arble was used often in the Greek arts. However, the white precious marble they used in the Parthenon absorbed light beautifully. Greeks were the best at working with marble and leaving it with the natural integrity it is meant to have. The classical ways of the Parthenon do not limit this temple. The technology was nothing like the romans had but the Greeks didn’t need it.
Overall, the Parthenon and the Flavian Amphitheater served highly different purposes. The romans wanted to immerse their society with pleasure and enjoyment. Utilizing technology to their advantage the Flavian Amphitheater still stands as a symbol of their lifestyle. The Greeks believed in honoring gods and goddess for their assistance. The Parthenon was a large temple but was humbling for the people who praised it. One is not greater than the other; they both stand for two strong communities.
The Parthenon was built to honor the goddess of wisdom, Athena. When structures are built using straight lines they tend to look slightly distorted due to the science of optics. The architects Iktos and Kallikretes were skilled architects of their time and they used illusory tactics to create an ideal aesthetic for The Parthenon. The architects compensated for these visual illusions by counteracting them in their design. The end result is a structure that is not composed of straight lines, but when viewed by the human eye, looks perfectly straight. Plato would have mentioned one of his famous dictums, ?That which changes least is most real.? He would have viewed Iktos and Kallikretes designs as less real than other designs that do not u...
Another difference in these civilizations is in the architecture of each region. The architecture of the Romans was also more advanced than that of the Greeks; they used concrete and placed emphasis on arches, vaulted ceilings, and domes while Greece emphasized balance and symmetry. Greek temples aimed at impressing by designing intricate, aesthetically pleasing outer views, while Roman architecture's goal was to impress by enclose a vast amount of space.
The Parthenon is an amazing Greek temple that was built 2,500 years ago. Even the architects of today have numerous questions about how it was constructed and how it has held up through its eventful past. The Parthenon's detailed appearance is not its only meaningful quality. The Parthenon was constructed as a temple to the goddess, Athena, and as an icon of the Greek people themselves. The Parthenon represents the Greek ideals of humanism, idealism, and rationalism.
The Parthenon was built during the Golden age in Athens, Greece. The Parthenon is made of mainly columns; there is a 9:4 ratio. It was almost destroyed in war; the ruins that remained were dedicated to Athena. The purpose of the Parthenon was to house the statue of Athena, made of ivory and gold, and also Athena’s treasure. The ratios and the equations used to make the Parthenon were used as a sign of the harmony in the natural world around us. The mathematical harmony in the world shows how we can work with the world rather than destroy to make it what we want. The Parthenon also has no straight lines. The columns of the Parthenon are angled going up getting smaller the higher they get. This was done so that you could get the best lighting
The Colosseum is an important part of ancient Roman history. The amphitheater is a symbol of Roman culture. The Colosseum displayed the violence of Roman culture. This incredibly unique amphitheater dominated the city of Rome. It was one of the most innovative and complex structures during that time period. The vastness of this impressive building displayed the wealth and power of the Roman Empire to other empires and enemies of the Romans. The Colosseum was created for public entertainment purposes. Gladiator fights with prisoners of war and slaves, wild animal hunts, professional fights, and public executions all took place at the Colosseum. Sea battles, rarely performed at the Colosseum, involved flooding the arena with water and releasing sharks for gladiators to fight. The excitement and thrill of each event kept spectators coming back.
...ing Greek originals in bronze and was collected by art lovers. Marble was mined by bow drills in shapes of large blocks. A smaller block of marble would make parts of the statue. Then the sculptors connected statues with dowels and use a small hand drill and chisels to make smaller details. Then, the sculptors would use rough powders to smooth the sculpture. Lastly, the artist will then attach the sculpture to a platform and then added paint on the statue. Accessories were added as bronze spears, swords, helmets, and jewelry (Cartwright 1).
The Greek Parthenon is dedicated to the Goddess Athena and was designed to house a single, large statue of her. Furthermore, the building itself is designed to be pleasing to the eye and has a repeating series of 9 to 4 ratios in its construction (overall length to width, face of building width to height, etc…). It is also sighted on a prominent feature, visible for miles around. In short, it is as much a statement of artistry and power for the Athenian city state as it is a temple to venerate Athena. The Roman Pantheon is a much more utilitarian building built in the middle of the city and is admired today more for the fact that it has the largest concrete dome ever built than for its overall beauty. It is an engineering statement. Seen from the front it resembles the Parthenon but one gets a whole different feeling when viewing it from the side where it looks like a square building mashed together with a rectangular one and then with a cylindrical one. Only the front of the Pantheon has any decoration versus all four sides of the Parthenon. This utilitarian theme continued inside where the statues of many gods were placed around the outside perimeter, leaving the center open for a variety of
I will describe how each represent the style, function, and culture of Greek and Roman life. The Parthenon was constructed using the traditional methods of the time. Its differences, however, lie in the style of how it was created. As a temple, the Parthenon represented the ideals of Greek culture.
...on. It is important to understand the history and mechanics of Greek architecture in order to fully appreciate it. The ancient Greeks were very well known for their beautiful temples. They were able to devise several different ways to create beautiful buildings and implement those designs. The ancient Greeks set the architectural foundations for the rest of the world with their three orders. The three styles, or orders, are the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The three distinctive styles are referred to as orders because they display proportionate, ordered, and coordinated parts. The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders serve a functional purpose, as well as lend so much beauty to structures. “All the world’s culture culminated in Greece, and Greece in Athens, all Athens in its Acropolis, all the Acropolis in the Parthenon” (Nardo, 61).
The differences between the art of Roman and other civilizations were that every Roman arts whether were sculptures or architectures had served some purposes and played certain roles in the daily lives of Roman citizens. For example, Romans love to build small concrete building with the vaulting systems. The small building which was called the bay (Pg. 105). This unique system helps to construct much fine and greatest architecture for Romans such as the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, the Colosseum and the Basilica of Constantine. The Pantheon of Rome was also another striking example of fine Roman structure. These structures were often used for religion matters, public meetings and entertainment for every Roman citizen. If any Roman citizens wanted to have some fun, they would attend the Colosseum and watched the gladiatorial game or a series of chariot race. If some other citizens wanted to seek God or certain deity, they would likely to go to the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia. In fact, architectures were significant in the lives of Roman citizens.
The Greeks built their theaters into hillsides. In contrast, the Colosseum architecture showed that the Romans built theaters that stood freely without the support of the hills that surrounded them. The Colosseum had two walls, the inner and the outer wall. The outer wall was meant to support the inner wall and its structures.
The Colosseum, where animals and gladiators fought at the old time, is mainly round shape. Audience watched the fights on the stepped stands. Triumphal Arches, known for triumphant armies walked through it. “It were composed of a simple barrel vault enclosed within a rectangle, and enlivened with sculpture and decorative engaged columns”, nonetheless, it deeply influenced later architecture, especially in Renaissance (3.1 Triumphal Arches and Columns). What’s more, Column of Trajan, the Pantheon and some others, were great representative in Roman
While the Greeks provided some of the most elaborate architecture the world has seen, the Romans made some outstanding structural advancements of their own. The purpose of this paper is to discuss two significant elements of Roman architecture: the use of concrete and the arch. Both contributed to the character of Roman style, and their uses heavily influenced the future of architecture and infrastructure worldwide.
The Significance of the Colosseum in Roman World During the early Roman period, there were several magnificent architectures such as the first dome Pantheon and the bridge Point-du-Guard in France. However, the most significant in that period is the Roman Colosseum. The Colosseum is a massive amphitheater that was built for the purpose of public entertainment for citizens. It is famous and known as “the largest and most important amphitheater in the world” (Kleiner 203).
Even the few sculptor’s names known to us, usually by chance, from the imperial period are Greek names and seem to confirm the assumption that these artists’ work should be regarded simply as a late phase of Greek art” (Hanfmann, 12). The Greeks were the first western culture to figure out how to accurately depict the human form which they did through the use of geometric ratios. It is also widely accepted that it was even Greek artists who first made marble portraits for the Romans as the Romans originally had no skill with the stone. “It was certainly at first Greek artists who were entrusted by eminent Romans with the execution of portraits of themselves and of important personalities in the Roman state, just as it was Greeks who depicted Aemilius Paulus victory at Pydna and later were largely responsible for the portraits of the emperors” (Kahler 16). The Romans mainly used terracotta for their sculptures and it was only when Augustus reigned that the marble quarries at Carrara were opened and marble was used on a large scale. The Romans inherited the use of realistic proportions, the sense of movement (contrapposto), and the overall beauty of Greek sculptures. A great example of Roman sculpture that was clearly carved by a Greek artist who was familiar with the Hellenistic styles of Greece, is the Relief of the Wedding of Amphitrite and Neptune. It “shows a mythological