Roman Arch

The development of concrete and the ‘arch’, a now everyday appearance in nearly all architecture, are considered to be pivotal points in the development of ancient Rome into a civilised, functioning city state. However, these were not developments that were implemented suddenly; like many civilisations, Rome rose from living in and designing simple structures, and developed these materials and ideas before they became the accepted and widely used products that we see still standing today.

Kamm (n.d) describes the invention of concrete, or “opus caementicium” (Roman Aquaducts, n.d.) as “indubitably Roman” in its origins, and further advises that “its basis was pozzolana, a chocolate-coloured volcanic earth originally found near the Greek settlement of Puteoli, and subsequently discovered in vast quantities around Rome.” Kamm (n.d.) also advises that pozzolana formed the basis of mortar, or was often mixed with detritus such as broken brick, loose chippings and the addition of lime. With this strong base, bricks were often added to make strong

In the case of the arch, Muscato (2003) advises that “the Roman arch was the foundation of Rome's architectural mastery and massive expanse of building projects across the ancient world. It allowed the Romans to make bigger buildings, longer roads, and better aqueducts. The Roman arch is the ancestor of modern architecture.” Kamm (n.d.) observes that the arch was, like most Roman architecture, built with functionality in mind rather than aesthetic appeal; whilst they were stark and often ugly in their appearance, they were revolutionary, and in the case of the typical Roman aqueduct, they were instrumental in their ability to allow the crossing of large, open spaces, negating the need for long diversions, and ostensibly speeding up commerce and military