Because I'll be participating in the Jr/Sr Retreat this weekend I need to post this assignment a little early. Last week's homework assignment was very well done by so many of you!
Congratulations on your research and on taking a stand. Remember, there's no
reason why politics should intimidate you; it's your RIGHT to have an opinion
and to express it freely. If someone else wants to get angry and act childishly
that shouldn't convince you to not participate! By backing down you give up your
right to participate in the democratic process.
This week's assignment
will focus on a less-controversial subject, though. When you think of Ancient
Rome it is likely that you picture the incredible architecture and artwork that
continues to exist and inspire us today. Your assignment is to follow one of the
following links and choose a Roman piece of artwork or architecture to share
with us. What was the initial purpose of your topic? Does it exist today? What
is special/unusual about it? Why did you choose this specific
example?
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/
http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-architecture/index.htm
Take
time to choose your selection carefully and share what you've learned!
The piece of “art” I wanted to write about is the roman architecture. The word architecture means art and science of designing and erecting buildings, and the Romans were very good at architecture and art and science of designing and erecting buildings. When they mastered this skill they were able to take this and use it to master other things like their invention of concrete, and styles of architecture including the building of forts, villas, temples, towns, baths, great walls and roads- when they did this is really changed Europe forever. The history of Ancient Roman Architecture was divided into two distinctive eras. The first era was of the Republic where the origins of the architecture of the Romans can be traced to the Etruscans, who migrated from Asia Minor to Italy in the 12th Century BC. The second era started in 27BC and is classed as the period of the Empire. Just a list of some of the things they made is: Forums - squares which were surrounded by temples, shops, and basilicas, Basilicas - public buildings, Baths, Markets such as Trajan's market in Rome - a five story complex housing shops, bars and restaurants, Amphitheaters such as the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus,Theatres, Triumphal arches celebrating the victories of the Romans, Villas, Temples, Roads, Forts and Stockades, Towns, Aqueducts. That’s to name a few things. When people saw these great buildings they thought that they had a lot of money. The purpose of this was so they had places to live and bath and things like that. The special thing about this is that they were the first people to do this to such a extreme, and they really formed a lot of civilizations. Yes, some of their architecture is still standing today, maybe not all of it is there but enough to know what it was. The reason I chose this is because I think it is really cool how they just built all this stuff with none of the stuff we have today. And even though they didn’t have any of the modern technology we have we still look to all of their works as examples and to see how we can build stuff today. They truly influenced modern America.
ReplyDeleteAbby I really enjoyed your essay. I learned so many thing like what architecture means and a lot about the history of Rome! Great job on your essay :)
DeleteFor this week assignment I chose to talk about the roman`s aqueduct.
ReplyDeleteSince the roman cities became bigger and more complex than before was a need for water distribution on the cities, the Romans came up with the idea of building long stone channels to carry clean water from nearby hills to the towns and it would supply water for many years after it was finished.
The roman`s aqueducts were a challenge to build, because the engineer had to make it in a way that the water could get to the city without stagnating in the channel or coming too fast into the city, they had to make it in a way that the water could run through the channels in a perfect speed. They had to keep the slope the same all the time.
Another challenge for the engineer was to make it just with stone, since they didn`t have cement to glue everything together, they came up with the idea to make it in a special shape: arches. The format of the arches makes the structure to self sustaining by the force of gravity that would “glue” everything together. And it required a lot of math knowledge.
Those structures still exist today, mostly because of the material that was used to build and the perfection to assemble all the parts into one piece.
I chose this topic because I think it is really interesting how people many years ago could built some think so hard and complicated to make like that with the technology they had at their time.
I really had no idea that they could do stuff like this back forever ago, I think this is a really well written essay and I truly enjoyed reading about how they had to figure out how to make the water run at the right speed, like not to fast and not to slow. I really enjoyed this. Good job Eduardo!
DeleteGreat job on your essay Eduardo! It wa written well and full of information on the subject. I actually learned something about aqueducts.
DeleteThe piece of incredible Roman artwork and architecture I chose to write about for this week’s assignment was the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum was built between 73-75 AD and was completed in 79 AD. The games officially started in 81 AD. The Coliseum was originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre after the Flavian dynasty of emperors. This Coliseum was huge. It covered about 6 acres of land, and the circumference measured 545 meters. There were 36 trap doors used for special effects, and admission was free. The Coliseum was used for different things such as gladiator fights and religious ceremonies. This is where the executions of Christians mainly occurred. The Romans enjoyed watching Christians be tortured and put to death. An estimated 700,000 people died in the arena. The number one reason that it was built was to provide a permanent purpose built arena in the centre of Rome for staging various forms of entertainment. It still exists today and it is one of Rome’s most famous tourists attractions and a symbol of the city of Rome. I chose to write about this topic because I think it is very interesting to learn about the bloody death of Christians because It makes me realize how much we take for granted in a country where we can worship God without being killed for it. I think it is cool that it took less than ten years to build. I figured it would’ve been much longer. It is special because it is still standing after all these years.
ReplyDeleteLexie,I agree that the coliseum were incredible! But I really enjoyed your essay about them. I learned a lot of new things about coliseums and how after allll these years it is still standing. I think that is really amazing!
DeleteFor this week I wanted to use one of the most famous pieces of Roman Art work, The Roman Colosseum. The Colosseums actual name is the Flavian Amphitheater. Construction started in 72 AD and ended in 80 AD by, you guessed it, the Flavian Empire. The building measures at 188m by 156m and stands 48m high. It held around 55,000 spectators, which is over twice the size of Rupp Arena. Emperors used the Colosseum to entertain the public with free games.Those games were a symbol of prestige and power and they were a way for an emperor to increase his popularity.
ReplyDeleteGames were held for a whole day or even several days in a row. Each game started with a comical act, then ended with a fight to the death between Gladiators and Animals or Gladiators and Gladiators. Hundred-day games were held by Titus the Emperor after Emperor Vespasian in 80 AD to inaugurate the building.I picked the colosseum because of the beauty it provides for the Empire. For a certain people to build something that big and that beautiful is just amazing.
( continued) The South side of the building fell in 847. Which means that the majority of the building remained intact for almost 800 years. Parts that fell were used for contructing other monuments such as St. Peter's Basilica.
ReplyDeleteThe Colosseum was covered with an enormous awning known as the velarium. This protected the spectators from the sun. It was attached to large poles on top of the colosseum and anchored to the ground by large ropes. Which gives the spectators some luxury while they watch the bloody slaughtering.
Tyler,
DeleteI thought you did an excellent job this week on your assignment. I could tell that you really took the time with your research and thoroughly explained the topic very well. I had known about the gladiators before I read this but didn't know that the stadiums were that large! Twice the size of Rupp Arena is a big building. Great job!
The topic I am going to chose is roman aqueducts. Because it just amazes me how they can get the circumstances right for water to flow correctly to the city the idea if the aqueducts came when The Romans realized that they had a problem, a very significant problem in fact the inhabitants of Rome that drank and washed from the river often got very sick from the sewer in the water so the roman’s were very smart in creating these aqueducts they were stone channels that brought water that was good to drink and wash in from the hills down to the cities and towns of Rome The word aqueducts comes from the Latin word aqua for water and ductus for channel by the time Rome became an empire all towns had at least 1 aqueduct and bigger cities like Rome had over ten or more. the builders of these roman aqueducts had to be very clever because the enengnering had to be near perfect to get the water to run at a steady pace not to fast and not to slow. They often were high in the air and sometimes even in tunnels underground. Aqueducts were built all over the Roman Empire and used till around 400 A.D when the fall of Rome began which meant that towns became much smaller and the amazing roman aqueducts were not needed anymore. These aqueducts do exist today but they are not used due to modern day pluming.
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment, I chose to write about the Roman roads which was part of the most famous forms of architecture during the Roman Empire. Just like today, the roads were built for easy traveling and a vital communication network. By the end of the empire, the roads stretched for a total of fifty-one thousand miles. So the statement, "All roads lead to Rome," maybe really is true. But to build these roads took much time and effort. First, the land had to be cleared of trees. A trench was then dug and rocks were laid in the trench to form an embankment. Then, the foundation was laid with a layer of stones. On top of that was a layer of sand. And the top layer was laid with gravel. Ditches were made on each side of the roads to let water drain off into. The roads measured anywhere from eight feet to even forty feet wide. The reason why some were made so wide is so that the chariots could fit, two at a time, and travel together.
ReplyDeleteIn our society today, we still follow the examples of the Roman Empire. Our roads are the same today as they were back then. They are built with such care and precision. Think about it: if we didn't have roads, how could we travel long distances in short periods of time? I personally think it would be possible but very challenging. However, today, our roads are mostly paved instead of gravel.
I chose to do this topic because the roads have been such a huge contribution to all societies. They are something that everyone uses at some point in their life. I also think it is astonishing that we still use the same advantages that the Romans used in the BC's and AD's.
Good job McKenzie! I didn't know that the roads were actually paved or that big.
DeleteYou did a wonderful job on your homework assignment, McKenzie! I am blown away by how the Romans were able to accomplish such difficult tasks even before their time. Something I find very interesting is that the roads the ancients Romans built are still in existence and used today. There unique craftsmanship in architecture and design was incredible. I don’t think our society could be as advanced as it is today without the great contributions we got from the ancient Romans.
DeleteGood essay McKenzie! I really learned a lot. I didn't realize that so much went into building Roman roads.
DeleteFor this week assignment, I will talk about the Colosseum, also known as Coliseum, the biggest roman construction.
ReplyDeleteThe Colosseum is located in downtown Rome, Italy; the construction of this huge elliptical Amphitheatre was started in 72 AD, under the Emperor Vespasian and was finished in 80 AD under Emperor Titus.
The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. The Colosseum did not have a social function, it was used to make the population happier and to them not think about the government, to only about the fights and etc.
The Colosseum is 465 feet long, 386 feet wide and 118 feet high. Its cement foundation is about 23 feet thick. The building was built on an artificial lake, which means they had to put drains in it so it wouldn't flood. If they closed these drains, the whole Colosseum could be flooded, which they sometimes did for mock naval battles. The outside of the Colosseum consisted of three tiers of arches named Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, respectfully. The amphitheater had 240 masts, and on the masts a large canvas would be attached that could protect the audience from certain elements and materials when spread out.
The seating in the Colosseum was divided into classes. The Imperial court sat in the lower tier, the aristocratic families sat behind them, the commoners in the next row, and women were seated at the very top tier (although it's important to know that women very rarely were in attendance for the events held).
Great job on your assignment, Gabriel! Your essay was very well thought out and informative. It is amazing how large the Colosseum was with the walls being twenty-three feet thick! I also learned some new things from your essay that I didn’t know about the Colosseum. I didn’t know that the Colosseum was built on top of an artificial lake, and that the Romans could flood the entire building for mock naval battles. That’s really neat that they were able to do that all the way back in 72AD!
DeleteGreat job on your essay Gabriel! Your essay was full of information and detail. The Coliseum is a amazing piece of architecture.
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ReplyDeleteFor this week’s assignment I thought I would do research the right’s of Roman Women. Because as of just not too long ago Women were a lot like Roman Women to a certain extent. The women lived under a very strict set of restrictions that was very important for them to obey. They said that they knew they were living unfairly but they didn’t think much of it because it was pretty much their culture. The women couldn’t be any emperors, nor could they join the army. Also, the women were treated like slaves. The Men would beat and rape their slaves and the wives. If the women and her husband were divorced the children more than likely stayed with the man and were like slaves or put to death. Women did, fortunately, get to be able to attend school and even could get all the way to a college education. When the Women were married they didn’t take their husbands last name and they also still lived under their Father’s rules. Roman women could get property if their parents died unlike the Greek women could. Also, those being able to get a hold of the property would open doors for them in business and/ or like nature of an occupation. Some Women, if they were lucky enough, were able to be in a high political power position. Some research has been done and some women were able to get that and rule parts of Roman which was probably very pleasing.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essay Bethany. It's almost funny how just recently that standard for women changed and there's still a lot of places in the world that women are treated that way.
DeleteFor this week’s assignment I thought I would do research the right’s of Roman Women. Because as of just not too long ago Women were a lot like Roman Women to a certain extent. The women lived under a very strict set of restrictions that was very important for them to obey. They said that they knew they were living unfairly but they didn’t think much of it because it was pretty much their culture. The women couldn’t be any emperors, nor could they join the army. Also, the women were treated like slaves. The Men would beat and rape their slaves and the wives. If the women and her husband were divorced the children more than likely stayed with the man and were like slaves or put to death. Women did, fortunately, get to be able to attend school and even could get all the way to a college education. When the Women were married they didn’t take their husbands last name and they also still lived under their Father’s rules. Roman women could get property if their parents died unlike the Greek women could. Also, those being able to get a hold of the property would open doors for them in business and/ or like nature of an occupation. Some Women, if they were lucky enough, were able to be in a high political power position. Some research has been done and some women were able to get that and rule parts of Roman which was probably very pleasing.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was such a good essay Bethany! I learned so much from reading that! I think it is so great that women were allowed to go to school and get a good education! i think that it is also pretty cool that women could have had political power. However I do not think it is fair that women were treated pretty much like slaves.
DeleteThe piece of architecture I chose to write about was The Pantheon of ancient Rome. In 10BC a man named Agrippa, who was one of the generals under the rule of Roman Emperor Augustus, decided to build a temple in the center of downtown Rome “to all the gods”. The reason why they named it The Pantheon is because the term pan means all, and theon means of the gods. During the reign of Titus in 80AD this temple was burned down from a fire, so we don’t know much about it. Then an Emperor named Domitian built a temple in the same place, and it was also burned down. Finally, a third temple was built in 120AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian. To honor General Agrippa for building the first temple there, Hadrian put a message over the door saying that Agrippa had built the temple. Hadrian’s Pantheon is still in existence today in Rome, and tourists visit it daily. From the outside of the Pantheon, it is built like the Greek Parthenon with eight columns across the front along with a pediment (a triangular shaped place underneath of the roof) on top of it. The inside of the Pantheon is shaped into a giant dome. (This would have been the largest dome ever built during that time period.) Something I think is interesting is that at the top of this 142 foot dome, is an oculus or circle opening where light shines through filling the entire dome. I chose this example, because we have been learning about the Greek and Roman gods in class, and I thought the architectural design of the Pantheon was outstanding.
ReplyDeleteFor the assignment this week I decided to write about ancient Roman glass ware. In 75 BC the Phoenicians learned how to make glass cheaply and easily. They began to blow glass by putting a glob of glass on the end of a hot pipe. It wasn't long till they figured out how to blow glass into a mold and create the beautiful shapes that we see today. Soon glass became cheap enough that common people replaced their pottery cups with glass cups. Glass ware spread across the whole Roman Empire and became huge in Northern Germany. The Romans traded with west Asia, India, and China. Roman glass ware still survives today in museums. I chose Roman glass ware because I find it extremely beautiful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.historyforkids.org/learn/science/glass2.htm
Great essay this week Lydia! I really enjoyed reading it, and learned alot! I think ancient Roman glass ware is so beautiful as well! I think its so cool that Romans made such beutiful glass ware so cheep and easily.
DeleteI decided to write about the roman aquaducts forthis assignment. They are something you often hear about in assosiation with Rome. A lot of the Roman aquaducts still exist today all over Rome. One thing really interesting about the aquaducts is that they were built hundreds of years ago, without any help from modern day equipment, and they were constantly kept at the same slope leaving some on archs, somr in the roads and some built underground. I choose the aquaducts because I find it really cool how they were able to build the aquaducts without help from modern day equipment.The architecture begs a lot of questions as to how did they know the degree of the slope they neeeded to keep and how did they get to where some of these are built and who built them and how did they do it in general? The magnificance of these structures just shows God's hand in the intelligence of His people.
ReplyDeleteGood essay, Allisha. I also think that it is amazing how the Romans were able to build such giant structures.
DeleteFor this assignment I decided to write about the Roman aqueducts. I choose the Roman aqueducts because I think it’s fascinating how the people were able to figure out the precision for everything without any of the modern day tools we have. It is a feat in itself, I believe, that they were able to do that because even with modern day it wouldn’t be an easy task to build something like the aqueducts and especially as accurately as the Romans were able to do it.
DeleteThe aqueducts did a lot of things but the main purpose for them was water supply. By the fall of Rome there were over one million people living in the city so to supply all these people with their vast need for water they ended up with eleven aqueducts in Rome alone. The aqueducts did a lot if thingd but the two most important were supplying water in general (to homes, fountains, public baths, etc.) and to remove waste. As populated as Rome was it would have been extremely dangerous for them to not have found such a system to keep waste out if the streets or in the public water supply. It probably saved a lot of people from diseases and infections by getting rid of the waste.
Miraculously, two thousand years later most of the Roman aqueducts are still standing and several are in use. To this day you can walk down the streets of Rome and see the aqueducts still standing. They are usually decorated and double tiered and criss-crossing over the streets of Rome. There are several aqueducts that have been reconstructed and made to work for simple modern day uses like fountains and irrigation. The fact that these structures are still standing is even more of a testament to the Romans’ engineering skills.
Some interesting facts about the aqueducts is that they believe the first Roman aqueduct was built around 312 B.C. and they were made out of stones, bricks and volcanic cement called the pozzolana and that out of 260 miles of aqueducts only thirty were visible. The fact that they were able to put so much of the aqueducts underground is another testament to how smart and skilled these people were.
I choose the aqueducts because it absolutely amazes me how amazingly talented God is able to make anyone He chooses. I know without a doubt God had a huge hand in building the aqueducts because I don’t think there is anyway the aqueducts could have been built so efficiently without any of our modern tools. The aqueducts are just another example of how amazing God is.
For this week assignment, I chose to write about the Roman Colosseum. Construction on the Colosseum (originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater after the Flavian dynasty) was started in the year 70AD and completed in the year 80AD. The Arena was built during the reign of Emperor Vespasian for the purpose of hosting gladiatorial games which had already been popular in Rome for a long time. Romans flocked to the Colosseum, egger to watch the bloody specials that went on inside. Many executions took place in the Colosseum including the deaths of many early Christians. It is quite possibly here where the apostle Peter was crucified upsidedown. The Colosseum still exist in ruins today and remains a popular tourist attraction in Rome. It is a symbol of the mighty power of ancient Rome. One special thing about it is its sheer size. When constructed the Colosseum could seat about 50,000 people, that is larger than most Major League Baseball stadiums. It is also important because, as already mentioned, the blood of some of the first Christians was spilled here. I chose to write about the Colosseum because I have always been interested in it, and I think that it is one of Rome’s greatest accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteBobby you had a really great essay. I really enjoyed reading it. I learnde a whole lot of things about the colosseum. I really liked you essay because it was very informative and it tought a lot of new things.
DeleteI am pretty sure I did this week’s assignment completely wrong but here is what I have. My Architecture piece is Roman fast food restaurants. The appearance of these restaurants would have been old, made of clay; there would be a bar like table at the front, with cup/glasses hanging from the ceiling. The purpose for choosing this was food and I like food a lot so I picked it. Fast food restaurants do exist today but they are much updated from what they were like in the early Roman Empire. What is unusual about this you may ask? Well, in these restaurants they would often sever pizza, just like we do today. The kind of pizza they served had white cheese and onions on it, and maybe ham or bacon depending on what you ordered. (Roman did not have tomatoes at this time so no sauce) You could have wine or beer with your meal. There was no drinking age so for kids they would water down wine so they couldn’t get drunk. Some other things they would offer were soup, porridge, plates of pickles, pickled beets, and other salty things. The reason they served salty thing was so you would get thirsty and order more drinks. A great way to make money! I chose this specific example, because the description of the building and how they served their food and made money is very cool to me. Also the reason they had restaurants was because most people on lived in one bedroom apartments and didn’t have a kitchen. So they would do most of their eating at these restaurants.
ReplyDeleteSarah I liked your essay this week. I really enjoyed reading about the fast food restaurants in ancient rome. I did not know that the romans had fast food. overaall really good essay.
DeleteGreat job sarah! Don't worry, I wasn't quite sure I was doing mine right either! Your essay was very informative and intresting, I learned alot. You really out a lot of thought into this and had some great points and examples! Loved your essay this week
DeleteFor this week’s assignment I chose to research the Roman aqueducts. The reason I chose this topics was because they seem very interesting and I wanted to know more about them. The aqueducts were first introduced in 312 B.C. The purpose for the aqueducts was to make a different water source for the rapid growing Roman Empire. The population was getting so large that the river wasn’t efficient enough for the people so they invented the great aqueducts. The way these amazing aqueducts, that many people are still fascinated with today, worked was the water gently ran in concrete channels to basins were they would then distribute the water from there. The amazing aqueducts do not really exist today. They were destroyed in 537 A.D. when the Visigoths came and sacked Rome they destroyed them and killed over 90 percent of the Roman population. Although these great structures don’t exist today there are still remaining ruins somewhere out there. What was so special or unusual about the Roman aqueducts was that the Romans had the knowledge to invent a special water system that was much more efficient and easy to use than going to the river every day. Another important contribution was the Romans basically set the foundation for our modern plumbing almost two thousand years ago. The reason I chose this amazing invention was because it just seems amazing to me that the Romans had such amazing technology that many years ago. Another reason that I have chosen this topic is because my dad is a plumber and I wanted know how exactly the Romans used their water supply and see how different or similar it is to our water supply today. It turns out that our water now almost two thousand years later is just the same as was back in ancient Rome so many years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Hadrians Wall is a 2000 year old wall built by Roman engineers and army. The purpose was to separate Romans from Barbarians. It was also to control their movement. The Emperor Hadrian in 122AD gave orders to build the wall. The wall is located east from Wallsend on the river Tyne, near Newcastle and the West reaching to the Solway Firth at Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria. The wall is 73 miles in length. It stood at 8 feet wide and 12 feet high. Roman soldiers used the wall to watch for neighboring countries. On one side of the wall, a deep trench was dug for defense. This made intruders take the way towards controlled forts. Forts were built along the wall. These could house up to 800 soldiers. These forts also included houses, hospital, workshops, barracks, granaries, stables and a prison. Turrets were another way for soldiers to watch the land around them. Turrets were towers built extending above the wall. These could house up to 4 soldiers, another way Romans controlled travelers was buy Milecastles. These were huge gateways that soldiers used to go on patrol. They could also watch who passed through these. For every roman mile a Milecastle was created. Troops from the 2nd, 6th, and 20th legions watched this wall. Eventually these jobs fell to other classes. Much of the wall has disappeared. You can still go visit it to this day. It was restored by John Clayton.
ReplyDeleteIm choosing to talk about the Colosseum the biggest roman construction.
ReplyDeleteThe Colosseum is located in Rome, Italy. The construction of the Colosseum was started in 72 ad and roughly finished around 80 AD.
The Colosseum was used for fighting and other entertainment, like gladiator contests. Also it was used for executions of christians and criminals. It was very gorey place but also was used for some plays and that of theatre. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. The Colosseum did not have a social function, it was used to make the population happier and to them not think about the government, to only about the fights and etc.
The Colosseum is 465 feet long, 386 feet wide and 118 feet high. Its cement foundation is about 23 feet thick. The building was built on an artificial lake, which means they had to put drains in it so it wouldn't flood. If they closed these drains, the whole Colosseum could be flooded, which they sometimes did for mock naval battles. The outside of the Colosseum consisted of three tiers of arches named Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, respectfully. The amphitheater had 240 masts, and on the masts a large canvas would be attached that could protect the audience from certain elements and materials when spread out.
The seating in the Colosseum was divided into classes. The Imperial court sat in the lower tier, the aristocratic families sat behind them, the commoners in the next row, and women were seated at the very top section.
The piece of architecture that I choose to do my project is the roman colosseum. Colosseum was a place where a lot of people could sit and watch entertainment. The entertainment was mostly people killing animals or animals killing people. It was a lot like a football stadium but it was used for killing people. The colosseum is still standing today although it is in rough shape. It looks like it is slowly falling apart because that’s pretty much whats happening! The seats are made of marble which over time people have stolen them or burned them. The floor was also removed so the rooms and chambers were they kept animals and equitment was kept so it is visible. The rest of the colosseum is constructed of concrete and limestone. The colosseum is special because it was the first facility built to hold a large amount of people for strict entertainment purposes. The roman emperor Vespasian wanted the people to know he cared about them so he built them the colosseum. He tore down some of Nero’s golden statues. Nero was the emperor before and did not care much for his people sp Vespasian used the gold to build the colosseum. I choose to discuss this piece of architecture because I find it the most interesting. The way they would make the gladiators fight to the death was very different from what we do today for entertainment. They did terrible things to Christians too. They would let wild animals tear them apart while all of rome would watch. That’s some crazy stuff..
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s assignment, I chose to highlight the Pantheon I chose the Pantheon, which was originally built in 10AD, because I believe it is one of the most amazing “pieces” of architecture of the ancient world. While the outside resembles a Greek copycat of a building, the inside has a whole other story to tell. The dome, the largest in the world at that time until the Duomo of Florence in the 1400s, is masterfully and beautifully designed. It does however have a hole in the top of the dome that is open to the skies. According to htthttp://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/architecture/pantheon.htmp://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/architecture/pantheon.htm, there is a rumor that because the dome is so high, when it rains it evaporates before it hits the ground. This isn’t true, however, and the rain just simply falls on the exquisite marble floors. The Pantheon wasn’t always like the modern one we see today though, because it was burned twice! But, as the cliché goes, the third times the charm because in 120AD Hadrian built the Pantheon currently in Rome, Italy. To honor the Pantheon’s first builder Agrippa, Hadrian had a message to all on the door of the Pantheon that Agrippa had indeed built it giving him credit even though his actual architectural masterpiece burned. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Pantheon is that it has been preserved quite well. We have Roman Emperor Phocas who gave the Pantheon to the Popes to take care of and the popes who do take care of it to this day to thank.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Rebecca Dunmore
Patricia Smith -I loved your essay for this week’s assignment! It was really informative and very well organized. I didn’t realize that Hadrian’s Wall was over 2000 years old and that you can still see it today! That is pretty impressive. It’s also impressive that the Wall was used in the Roman military for watch. Overall, great essay this week
ReplyDeleteAllisha Turpin- I enjoyed reading your essay for this week’s assignment on the Roman aqueducts! It is definitely impressive that they could build these massive structures without the technology that we have today. It amazes me how they realized such a system to provide a clean water system for the very populous city of Rome. It is still even more amazing that all these years later these structures are still intact and some even in use! Overall, I really enjoyed your essay and I learned a lot about aqueducts, and nothing is impossible with God.
I chose to write my essay on the Roman Aqueducts. The Romans built these aqueducts because as the cities grew, it became harder and harder for people who lived in town to get drinking water. The river water was very contaminated and even led to the sickness and deaths of many people. To solve this problem, the government decided to build aqueducts, which were long stone channels through the city to carry clean water from the hills. The word aqueduct came from the Latin word for water “aqua” and from the Latin word for channel “ductus.” To build aqueducts, everything had to be done just right. They had to have the right slope so that it didn’t stop running, but also didn’t go into the cities too fast. Aqueducts often had high arches, but sometimes they would be underground. Most cities had at least one but some had up to as many as ten. It just depended on the size of the city. It’s amazing to me how the Romans built amazing things like this without the use of modern equipment and technology. Around the 400s they stopped using aqueducts because of the fall of Rome. Towns and cities became so much smaller that they were able to use wells to get their water. The Roman aqueducts are still standing today because they were so put together so carefully and perfectly. I just chose this example simply because they looked neat but then I ended up learning a lot about them that I didn’t know.
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment, I am choosing to write about the Roman Colosseum. I choose to write about this because I find the Roman Colosseum very fascinating. The Colosseum was built by Vespasian the new emperor or Rome, to prove that he care about his people. The Colosseum was built for entertainment purposes. It was a huge stadium where a bunch of people could go sit (kind of like a football stadium) and watch usually people killing other people, or people killing animals. The Colosseum was designed to hold around 50,000 to 80,000 people. To help with crowd control there were 80 total entrances/exits that allowed the huge crowd to be out of the stadium in just under 10 minutes. It was built out of concrete, limestone, and marble. The colosseum was starting to be built in the year 73 A.D. and continued through 75 A.D. it was completed roughly around the year 80 A.D. Although it is still standing, it doesn't look great. The reason for that is because most of the seats were made out of marble and throughout the years people stole them. The floors were taken out of the Colosseum so visitors could look beneath and see where the stored things and kept animals. The Roman Colosseum was built by roughly 100,000 prisoners, or slaves. The Roman Colosseum is very uniquely and well designed it is an oval shape and a completely free standing structure it is 615 feet long and 510 feet wide, it is 187 high and has a base area of six acres.
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