The ancient empires that were Rome, China and Mexico took an important and strong place in the world history, at the beginning of the first century BCE. As in the ancient Greece orthogonal-gridal town planning, these three cultures also benefit from the grid system in their cities. Even though Rome had hilly topography, instead of rational construction they mostly used grid system. Besides, religion was important for these three empire so they built mostly considering the religious issues.
The rising of Rome started after the settlement of Greeks and Etruscans in Mediterranean. Step by step, Romans defeated them and expand their empire up to Britain. Therefore, the Romans influenced by the Greek, Etruscan and also Egyptian culture. Roman empire internalize some ideas of classical and Hellenistic art/architecture. However, apart from the few high quality structure of other cultures, Romans took the city architecture as a whole and came with a new style and innovations. They built the city with functional, large-scale colonnaded concrete structures.
Roma Caput Mundi: A Regime of Architecture
They named themselves as the head of the world because of their power and tried to strengthen it also with their architecture.
The high population of city, brought some new solutions like building public structures. Using arches and vaults that came from Etruscans, provided succesful construction for use of public. For instance street markets, public baths, theaters. Besides, basilicas, colonnaded streets, vaulted baths were built, that were improved version of existing structures.
Rome in the first two century, that governed by the king, imitated and copied the Greek architecture style. We can encounter with more improved Etruscan architectural culture. For instance the Roman temples mostly repeated the Etruscans’.
–The Roman Forum that was the center of Roman city, political space and place of public meetings, law courts etc. and surrounded with open-air markets, temples and shops. Apart from the open Agora, the forum enclosed by colonnaded structures. Besides, Romans filled the Agoras’ open spaces by the second century.
– The Romans learned orthogonal planning from the Greek colonies. Thanks to this, land surveying and the division of land was planned into a grid and cardinal direction(cardo and decumanus) by Roman urban planners.
Grid of short blocks / Timgad
Follow natural topography / Djemila
In conclusion, the spaces, the quality of human life and behaviour, fair legal system, were controlled with depending on the architecture and urban plan in Rome.
Pompeii
Pompeii was a large city of Rome that completely buried after the volcanic eruption. Due to the excavation in 19-20th century CE, Pompeii gave a sense about what the early Roman architecture was and understanding the life of Romans. The Greeks orthogonal long blocks and the Roman square blocks gave a shape to the city pattern.
Pompeii Forum as a centre of a Roman city, was the center of religious, social and political institutions. It was an open space with the oblong shape and surrounded by temples, basilicas, houses and etc.
The temples that was devoted to God, has only the front side where you can enter. (Frontality) There was a front facade to be viewed and the sides as secondary surfaces. Temple of Apollo, Jupiter, Isis and etc. For instance, the temple of the Jupiter that was in the Pompeii Forum and center of the religion of Roma. It has an entry staircase at the front and its’ interior contained cellar that divided by columns of Corinthian an Ionic styles.
The Basilica was one of the essential element of the Pompeii forum, the oldest example of public buildings that survived in Roma history. It was a meeting area for administration, a law court and a market place. Its’ entry placed on the narrow side that overlooked the forum with strong axiality.
Apart from the temples and basilicas, the theaters and baths also had a major place in Roman architecture. For many contemporary culture, baths are very private activity but in Rome it was a public activity. It was a most common daily and social activity. Roman bath complexes included various rooms such as palaestra(open-air garden), pool, places to socialize. Besides, Roman baths offered the first structures with dome. The dome included oculus for the light. On the other hand there was a underfloor heating system that called hypocaust. Through the walls, the hollow rectangle tubes carried the hot air above.
On the other hand, theaters was one of the important part of their social life. Although, they inspired much about the architecture from the Greeks, they had a different approach about the theaters. They made an artificial topography that formed by vaults and arches. Mostly the whole structure was more integrated and enclosed. The theater of Pompeii that the first theater in Rome, built with a temple addition. The seating area (cavea) surrounded by the temple. It divided into two part; orchestra and auditorium. Auditorium and stage created a D shaped volume.
Besides, to watch gladiator games, wild animal hunt and etc. Romans built a new type of theater that called amphitheater. It had an elliptic character and consist of huge stone and concrete shells. As an example to amphitheater, Colosseum is the most prominent one in Rome. Its’ facade consisted of Tuscan, Corinthian and Ionic column order.
Colosseum
In ancient Rome, domus was type of house that included some rooms, courtyards and garden, also had a meaning beyond the dwelling. It was also a place of occupation and religion. For safety, houses didn’t faced with the streets. It included some rooms, courtyards and gardens. The entry led us to the atrium(main area) and beyond the atrium there was an office that opened to peristyle garden court. Besides, decoration, painted walls, colorful natural elements were the part of the houses because of the idea of beauty.
Besides, villas were usually built for the upper class. It included a larger scale rooms that were more open. The sequent layout of villas inversed according to domus. However, the lower class mostly lived in the ruined and cramped apartments that known as insula. These were multi-level apartments that were built high as private homes.
It shows that, the government in Rome, dramatically effect the way people live and so the architecture.
Ayça Sarıbay 
It is really good but special thanks for your quality visual material.
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