Roman Builders

How were the architectural ideas behind great Roman building projects carried out in practice? Roman Builders is the first, general interest book to address this question. Using the Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and the great temples at Baalbek as physical documents for their own building histories, this book traces the thought processes and logistical considerations – the risks, reversals, compromises, and refinements – that led to ultimate success. Each major phase of the building process is considered: design, groundwork, support structures, complex armatures, such as the superstructures of amphitheaters, vaults, and decorations. New hypotheses are advanced on the raising of monolithic columns, the construction sequence of the Coliseum, and the vaulting of the Pantheon. The illustrations include archival and original photographs, as well as numerous explanatory drawings.

Author Biography

Rabun Taylor is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. in Classical Studies from the University of Minnesota and taught at Harvard University prior to his current appointment. His publications include Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River, and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome (Rome 2000) and Roman Builders: A Study in Architectural Process (Cambridge and New York 2003). His most recent book, The Moral Mirror of Roman Art, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2008.