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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.
After learning more about these two buildings, I discovered that the Romans were “inspired” by Greek architecture. The columns used in both are common to Greek architecture. Based on the photos that were viewed from online searches, it appears that the Romans were more ornate during the construction of their temple which can be seen by their choice of building materials, such as marble. The Parthenon seems to have had more simple lines. It was rectangular in shape as opposed to the Pantheon that was rounded in many areas, particularly where the sculptures of the gods were. This was to lend to the idea that they were on the same level and that no god was given more preferential treatment since the Pantheon was to honor all of them equally. The structures resemble one another in that they both have those ominous columns as a way to emphasize the dominion the gods had over the
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 foundation of Greek culture was balance, reason, and harmony which can be unveiled in their art. As the civilization heavily revolved around religion, massive temples were built to serve the Gods. Greeks believed in many Gods, meaning they had polytheistic views . This notion of polytheism passed down to the Romans who adopted nearly the exact same deities and built similar architecture as well. One of the most famous buildings of worship was the Greek Parthenon built around 447-432 B.C.E, worshipping the goddess Athena . While building these brilliant pieces of art, concepts regarding laws and the natural world from philosophers were being incorporated in the structure. Pillars were often built in temples and various buildings in both Greek and Roman cultures. Doric, ionic, and Corinthian stand as the main three pillars built; each of them becomes increasingly more elaborate by order. For example, the Corinthian was the most intricate. Romans quickly developed a taste for this form of architecture and incorporated into theirs later on. The Romans however were very inventive, and began to develop the arch, vault and dome to add to what they emulated from the Greeks. Using these elements the Romans built what is known as the Coliseum, built over a 10 year span from around 70 AD to 80 AD. The Coliseum was said to hold 50,000 spectators and was used for entertainment
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...
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
The Parthenon is a temple that towers above the city of Athens, symbolizing the Athenians' wealth and power. The temple is dedicated to Athena, a Greek goddess and the city-symbol of Athens. This temple served as a monument to Athena because they believed that she helped the Greeks conquer the Persian Empire in the Persian Wars. The Parthenon had a style new to that era and it was impressive to the eye. The Greeks had to the work diligently to create the Parthenon in perfection. It was built in the masculine Doric style with some Ionic elements. To me the Doric style provided the perfect look, which demonstrated the Athenian desire to be perfect god-like beings. Using this style, the Parthenon hardly incorporated a single straight horizontal or vertical line. This bulging of the columns gave the building a more masculine look and it made the temple seem perfect to the naked eye. This perfection was important at the time because the Greeks saw themselves as rising to the level of the gods and nearing perfection. The Greeks had just defeated the Persians, and they were feeling very confident. They built the Parthenon to show their dominance and strength. A key purpose of the Parthenon was to show their gratitude to Athena for helping them conquer the Persians. The statue of the god Athena that was built was 26 ft. wide and 13 ft. deep. It was made of wood, which supported ivory pieces on the top of the statue.
The Parthenon was the focus point, it was supposed to drawn in the most people. To this day the Parthenon draws in a large amount of people from all over the world. The Parthenon was built between 447-432 BCE. It costs the city 469 talents. The Parthenon is mostly Doric columns with a few ionic to draw attention to certain areas. The back room of the Parthenon was said to house Athena’s treasure while the front room holds the statue of Athena. The Parthenon was built so anyone that walks through the arch way will be able to see all angles and inside the Parthenon to see the statues and the details of the
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.
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.
...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).
It was 620 feet long and 513 feet wide and also “was the largest amphitheater in the Roman World” (Colosseum). It was huge and could hold up to 50000 people. There were 76 gates with useful entrances and exits that helped getting in and out easier. Emperor decided to use the amphitheater as a free public entertainment. However, the spectators ought to sit according to their levels in the society system.
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.
...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.
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