Examining the methods and techniques that enabled builders to construct some of the most imposing monuments of ancient Rome, Lynne Lancaster focuses on structurally innovative vaulting and the factors that influenced its advancement, as well as a range of related practices and various techniques of buttressing. Providing the geological background of the local building stones, Lancaster applies mineralogical analysis to suggest trading patterns and land use. She also examines construction techniques in relation to the social, economic, and political contexts of Rome.

Reviews & endorsements

"...Lancaster's arguments mark a more sophisticated approach to the study of Roman architecture than has hitherto been possible...Indeed, books like these move us from archaeological monographs on particular monuments...or broad general texts on Roman architecture...toward an in-depth understanding of what Roman concrete, marble-clad buildings were designed to do, of what they did, and of the way in which their successes and failures influenced generations of later architects."
-James E. Packer, Northwestern University, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Product details

• Date Published: March 2009
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521744362
• length: 296 pages

• dimensions: 278 x 215 x 18 mm
• weight: 0.97kg
• availability: Available