SOCIAL FORMATIONS AND CULTURAL PATTERNS OF

THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL WORLD ASSIGNMENT

Greek and Roman Architecture
Greek Architecture
The Greek of the ninth century B.C., living in a sparsely populated country, in a
manner seldom rising above the austere, had around him the evidence of
civilization of his predecessors, the Bronze Age Mycenaeans and Minoans. In
architecture, sculpture, painting, ceramics, metalwork and gem- carving, the
Greeks set standards admired and emulated from Roman times to the present
day. Ancient Greek architecture is divided into 3 orders- the Doric order, the
Ionic order and the Corinthian order.
The different orders were applied to the whole range of buildings and
monuments. The Doric order seems to have its origin in stone in the northeast
Peloponnese in the 7th century. The earliest examples are found at Corinth and
Isthmia and also at Olympia. The columns have no base, shallow flutes and a
simple capital with a flat element (Echinus) supporting a square top (abacus).
An early Doric temple such as the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse, Sicily, may
have the column’s height to base diameter ratio of only 4:1 and a column height
to entablature (upper part of a classical building supported by columns) ratio of
2:1, with relatively crude details. The Doric entablature comprises of 3 parts-
the architrave, the frieze and the cornice. The architrave is constituted of the
stone lintels which extends over the space between the columns, with a joint
occurring above the centre of each abacus. The frieze rests on it, which is one of
the major areas of sculptural decoration. Triglyphs and metopes are the 2 parts
of frieze. The cornice is a narrow jutting band of complex moulding which
overhangs and protects the ornamented frieze. As per the sources, the Doric
order was especially prevalent in the Peloponnese and in the Western Greek
colonies of south Italy and Asia Minor, where we can find many structures built
on this type of order, dating from the 6th to the 4th century BC.
The Ionic order had its origin in Ionia, centre of the East Greek world and is
found in stone in Asia Minor and the Aegean islands as early as the 7th century.
It is the lighter, more ornate style than Doric Like the Doric order, the Ionic
order retains signs of having its origin in wooden architecture. In this order, the
columns are tall and thin and have detailed bases and capitals with carved
mouldings & ornamental volutes. In comparison to its Doric counterpart, the
entablature of the Ionic order is lighter and originally consisted only of
architrave and cornice, with no intervening frieze. Caryatids, draped female
figures used as supporting members to carry entablature, were a feature of the
Ionic order, which were developing at several buildings including the Siphnian
Treasury at Delphi in 525 B.C. and at the Erechtheion, about 410 B.C.
The Corinthian order evolved out of the Ionic order in the mid 5th century B.C.
This order was initially used in interiors only as late as the 5th century B.C. as at
the Temple of Apollo at Basae. But in 334 B.C., it appeared as an external
feature on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, and then on a huge
scale at the Temple of Zeus Olympia in Athens (174 B.C. – A.D. 132). This
order had almost the same style as the other two order, but differed based on its
more ornate capitals. The capital of Corinthian order was very much deeper
than either the Doric or the Ionic capital, shaped like a large krater, a bell-
shaped mixing bowl and adorned with a double row of acanthus leaves where
voluted tendrils rose above it, supporting the corners of the abacus, which, no
longer perfectly square, splayed above them. Corinthian capitals became
especially popular throughout the Roman world.
Clear division has been evident between the architecture of the preceding
Mycenaean culture and Minoan cultures and that of the Ancient Greeks, but
when the civilization declined, the techniques and an understanding of their
style were lost.
Public buildings- A wide variety of building types served the various needs of
the public. Public buildings became “dignified and gracious structures”. There
was a large public building, the bouleuterion with a hypostyle hall, it served as a
court house and as a meeting place for the town council (boule). The expense of
public building varied tremendously, depending on size and materials used.
Amongst all, temples were the most expensive structures. It has been evident
that the state and wealthy individuals are known to have financed public
buildings. There are sources through which we get information about the public
buildings and Greek architecture a s a whole. One of them are surviving
contracts and specifications written on stone, which tells us a lot about the
economics of construction and also sometimes include adequate detail to allow
us to restore a public building which actually does not survive.
Another source from which we can get to know about Greek architecture is
Vitruvius, Roman architect, who lived and wrote during the Augustan reign. His
10 books in Latin gives us many information related to buildings, materials
used, orders and many more.
Temples- The temple did not serve the same function as a modern church, but
served as the location of a cult image and a s a storage place for the treasury
associated with the cult of the god in question, and as a place for devotees of the
god to leave their votive of offerings, such as statues, helmets and weapons. The
most common and best- known form of Greek public architecture was the
rectangular temple. A number of surviving temple - like structures are circular
and are referred as tholos. Temples are found almost in every city. The most
luxurious temples would be ringed with columns, while giant Ionic temples
(Ephesus, Samos, Didyma) would exhibit a double row. Greek temples usually
faced east towards the rising sun, though many Artemis temples (Ephesus,
Magnesia, Sardis) faced west.
The Greek architecture played a significant role in influencing other cultures,
such as the Roman culture. Though Roman had tremendous builders, architects,
but in the course of conquering the western world, they were heavily influenced
by the Greeks.

Roman architecture
Roman culture is the result of different infleunces. When C. Octavianus (soon to
take the title of Augustus) emerged victorious from the battle of Actium in 31
B.C., he began to work on a building programme, which Rome had never seen
before. The reign of Augustus was indeed an age of enormous architectural and
artistic passion in which careful conservatism was combined with revolutionary
new ideas. The Emperor, with his family and associates, provided a motivated
patronage which drew architects, sculptors, and painters to the capital, a
patronage which was significant for establishing the right conditions for works
of art and buildings on the ground scale; and the centralized control of state
funds came from that imperial patronage. Such conditions even existed
previously in the ancient world- in Periclean Athens but for Rome it was
entirely new. A building programme was launched by Caesar’s adoptive son on
an ambitious scale which by his death in A.D. 14, had totally transformed the
physical appearance of the capital. Mobilizing the building industry was one
way of instigating the economy; building theatres and amphitheatres, baths and
basilicae, fora and temples, curried favour with a restless populace; and in the
show – pieces of the Augustan programme the potential for using monuments as
vehicles of elaborate propaganda exploited to full. We can get some evidence
about the scale of the new building programme from the fact that Augustus had
built or restored no less than 82 temples in one year alone. The new structures
which were built, many of them were necessarily conservative, and repeated the
formulae which were already tried and tested in the late republic. Such as, the
theatre of Marcellus, began by Caesar but not finished until c.13-11 B.C., with
its seats raised on concrete substructures and with an outer facade of
superimposed arcades, was actually the type of building already established at
Rome by the earlier theatre of Pompey (55 B.C.). The Augustan age saw the
emergence of new innovations, in using new materials and in exploring fresh
uses for old. For instance, the quality of concrete was continuously being
improved, new methods of roofing were being explored by the innovatory
architects. Another material which left a significant impact on the architecture
was marble. According to Suetonius, Augustus boasted about the fact that he
found Rome a city of mud- brick, but he left it as a city of marble, and this is
however evident from the sheer number of marble- faced buildings which
sprang up in the capital. According to the sources, it might have been that
Caesar had been the first person to realize the power of the rich Carrara marble
quarrier near Luna in north Italy, but their full- utilization began only with the
Augustus’ reign. This marble which was dead- white, crystalline and clean-
breaking gained immediate widespread popularity. Along with Luna, an
increasing range of polychrome marbles appeared from abroad: yellow African
marble, salmon- pink marble from Chios, and greeny- blue Cipollino from
Euboea, as well as Phrygian marble from Asia Minor. The new material gave a
welcome touch of elegance and sophistication, as well as a splash of colour.
But as we know, everything has its pros and cons. The using of marble had also
some cons. The Romans lacked expertise in handling it, so an army of Greek
craftsmen were drafted into the capital. The combination of Greek skills and
traditions with Roman taste & demands is nowhere more clearly documented
than in the 2 monuments- which mark the culmination of the Augustan
programme, the Ara Pacis Augustae (dedicated in 9bc), & the Forum of
Augustus (2 B.C.). A new, precise language of architectural ornament, based on
that of classical Greece, but with fresh variations and combinations, set the tone
for the rest of the Empire & in turn was a sense of inspiration for generations of
Renaissance and Neo- classical architects. The Altar of Augustan Peace is an
even more eloquent witness of the cultural interchange of Greece and Rome. As
an exercise in political propaganda, the Ara Pacis succeeds brilliantly in
presenting some of the essential values that Augustus stood for: grauitas;
humanitas and above all Pax Romana. The Ara Pacis epitomizes the Roman
genius for borrowing freely from the Greek repertoire, but moulding it and
adapting it into something new and distinctively Roman
Architecture played an important role in the Roman empire. They mainly
flourished in the Augustan period.
 Submitted By
Jharna Naiding
B.A. (Hons.) History
II Semester
Roll no.- 19/334