Ancient Rome is renowned for its architecture, especially its use of the arch and concrete -- seemingly small items -- that made possible some of their engineering feats, like aqueducts built with rows of graceful arches (arcades) to carry water to cities more than fifty miles away from area springs.
Here are articles on architecture and monuments in ancient Rome: the multipurpose forum, the utilitarian aqueducts, heated baths and sewer system, residences, monuments, religious buildings, and spectator event facilities.
Ancient Rome Picture Gallery
The Roman Forum
"A History of Rome," by Robert Fowler Leighton. New York: Clark & Maynard. 1888
There were actually several fora (plural of forum) in ancient Rome, but the Roman Forum was the heart of Rome. It was filled with a variety of buildings, religious and secular. This article describes buildings listed in a drawing of the reconstructed ancient Roman forum.
Aqueducts
History Channel
The Roman aqueduct was one of the ancient Romans' main architectural accomplishments. This article, by guest writer Al Schlaf, describes the aqueducts built during the reign of Augustus.
Cloaca Maxima
Public Domain. Courtesy of Lalupa at Wikipedia.
The Cloaca Maxima was the sewer system of ancient Rome, conventionally attributed to the Etruscan King Tarquinius Priscus to drain the Esquiline, Viminal and Quirinal. It flowed through the forum and Velabrum (the low ground between the Palatine and Capitoline) to the Tiber.
Source: Lacus Curtius - Platner's Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929).
Baths of Caracalla
The Roman baths were another area where Roman engineers showed their ingenuity figuring out ways to make hot rooms for the public social gathering and bathing centers. The Baths of Caracalla would have accommodated 1600 people.
Roman Apartments - Insulae
CC Photo Flickr User antmoose
In ancient Rome most city people lived in several story-high fire traps.
Early Roman Houses and Huts
Judith Geary
Mausoleum of Augustus
CC Flickr User Alun Salt
The Mausoleum of Augustus was the first of the monumental tombs for the Roman emperors. Of course, Augustus was the first of the Roman emperors.
Trajan's Column
CC Flickr User ConspiracyofHappiness
Trajan's Column was dedicated in A.D. 113, as part of Trajan's Forum, and is remarkably intact. The marble column is almost 30m high resting on a 6m high base. Inside the column is a spiral staircase leading to a balcony along the top. The outside shows a continuous spiral frieze depicting events of Trajan's campaigns against the Dacians.
The Pantheon
CC Flickr User Alun Salt.
Agrippa originally built the Pantheon to commemorate the victory of Augustus (and Agrippa) over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. It burned and was rebuilt and is now one of the most impressive monuments from ancient Rome, with its giant, domed vault with an oculus (Latin for 'eye') to let in light.
The Temple of Vesta
Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries," by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani (1899).
The Temple of Vesta held the sacred fire of Rome. The temple itself was round, made of concrete and was surrounded by close columns with a screen of grill-work between them. The Temple of Vesta was by the Regia and the house of the Vestals in the Roman Forum.
Circus Maximus
CC jemartin03
The Circus Maximus was the first and the biggest circus in Ancient Rome. You wouldn't have attended a Roman circus to see trapeze artists and clowns, although you might have seen exotic animals.
Colosseum
CC Flickr User Alun Salt.
The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater is one of the most well-known of the ancient Roman structures because so much of it still remains. The tallest Roman structure -- at about 160 feet high, it is said to have been able to hold 87,000 spectators and several hundred fighting animals. It is made of concrete, travertine, and tufa, with 3 tiers of arches and columns different orders. Elliptical in shape, it held a wooded floor over the underground passageways.
