Ostia was a port of republican Rome and a commercial centre under the empire (after 27 bce). The Romans considered Ostia their first colony and attributed its founding (for the purpose of salt production) to their fourth king, Ancus Marcius (7th century bce).
A triclinium (plural: triclinia) is a formal dining room in a Roman building.
In architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that curve slightly as their diameter is decreased from the bottom upward.
In Roman architecture, a tablinum (or tabulinum, from tabula, board, picture) was a room generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear onto the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain.
There are four main styles of Roman wall painting that have been found: Incrustation, architectural, ornamental, and intricate.
Stoa, plural Stoae, in Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway; also, a long open building, its roof supported by one or more rows of columns parallel to the rear wall. The Stoa of Attalus at Athens is a prime example.
The Parthenon embodied that highly sought-after ideal representation of perfection and power, due in part to its classical style and functionality, as well as through statuettes such as Athena with her owl, which stood as a physical testament to Greek power and form.
Slaves were human tools who did not require privacy or their own space. Houses in Pompeii have no discernable sleeping quarters for slaves. Kitchen slaves probably slept where they worked, as did stable slaves. Porters would have bedded down in the small cubicles they used to guard the household entrance.
Poor Romans lived in insulae. An insulae consisted of six to eight three-storey apartment blocks, grouped around a central courtyard. The ground floors were used by shops and businesses while the upper floors were rented as living space. Insulae were made of wood and mud brick and often collapsed or caught fire.
Private toilets have been found in Roman houses and upstairs apartments. Pompeii and Herculaneum have good examples of these (see Image Gallery: Pompeii's Toilets). Reconstruction of a single latrine next to the culina (kitchen) at the Pompejanum (Germany), an idealized replica of a Roman villa.
It is worth noting that Roman houses did not have glass windows up until the first century AD, rather they had holes with shutters with very few facing the street for safety reasons. These windows were often not very transparent, their primary objective being to only let light through.
For wealthy Romans, life was good. They lived in beautiful houses – often on the hills outside Rome, away from the noise and the smell. They enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle with luxurious furnishings, surrounded by servants and slaves to cater to their every desire.
Doors opened inward; outer doors were provided with bolts and bars. Locks and keys were heavy and clumsy. In some houses a doorman or janitor was kept on duty. Roman houses generally had many cubicula - small, scantily furnished sleeping rooms.
Neoclassical buildings can be divided into three main types. A temple style building features a design based on an ancient temple, while a Palladian building is based on Palladio's style of villa construction. The third type is the classical block,or square, building, described later in this section.
The most famous example of this fanciful, Indian-inspired style is seen in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England, built by John Nash in 1815-1822 as a seaside home for King George IV when he was the prince regent.
Neoclassical architecture, revival of Classical architecture during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Neoclassical architecture is characterized by grandeur of scale, simplicity of geometric forms, Greek—especially Doric (see order)—or Roman detail, dramatic use of columns, and a preference for blank walls.
Portico, colonnaded porch or entrance to a structure, or a covered walkway supported by regularly spaced columns. Porticoes formed the entrances to ancient Greek temples.
features of romantic architecture : The building is perpendicular and looks ancient. The styles used are classical. Many use antic ornaments ranging from interior and exterior.
Romanticism expressed itself in architecture primarily through imitations of older architectural styles and through eccentric buildings known as “follies.” Medieval Gothic architecture appealed to the Romantic imagination in England and Germany, and this renewed interest led to the Gothic Revival.
Neoclassical Architecture Characteristics
- Huge structures with a symmetrical building layout.
- Simple in shape and form.
- Design and decorations are on minimum to retain simplicity.
- Flat roofs and sometime have a Dome on top of it.
- Doric or Ionic Columns are often used as building supports.
Furniture designed in the Neoclassic style embraced the bold, straight (rectilinear) lines of the movement as pure, geometric shape and form replaced the sinuous (serpentine) curves of the Rococo period.
Some of these houses are said to have cost as much as two million denarii. The principal parts of a Roman house were the Vestibulum, Ostium, Atrium, Alae, Tablinum, Fauces, and Peristylium. The Vestibulum (modern Vestibule) was a court surrounded by the house on three sides, and open on the fourth to the street.
They ate meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, cheese, grains (also as bread) and legumes. Meat included animals like dormice (an expensive delicacy), hare, snails and boar. Smaller birds like thrushes were eaten as well as chickens and pheasants.
Building materials used by the RomansFor temporary structures, wood was the preferred material. During the early times of Roman Republic, stone and unburned brick was extensively used for permanent buildings. Additionally, fine white marble stucco was used as a decorative covering.
The Roman Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. Its capital was Rome, and its empire was based in the Mediterranean. The Empire dates from 27 BC, when Octavian became the Emperor Augustus, until it fell in 476 AD, marking the end of the Ancient World and the beginning of the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages.
Rich Romans decorated the floors of their main rooms with mosaics - tiny coloured stones (tesserae). These were stuck to the floor with mortar, a type of cement. Each mosaic used thousands of pieces to make a pattern. Mosaic floors were a statement of wealth and importance.
In architecture, an atrium (plural: atria or atriums) is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing light and ventilation to the interior.
Insula, (Latin: “island”), in architecture, block of grouped but separate buildings or a single structure in ancient Rome and Ostia. The insulae were largely tenements providing economically practical housing where land values were high and population dense.
