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List of ancient Greek and Roman roofs

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The truss roof of the 4th-century church Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. The triangular frame of beams of the main nave is largely self-supporting, as the forces are carried along the beams rather than acting vertically on them.

The list of ancient roofs comprises roof constructions from Greek and Roman architecture, ordered by clear span. Roof constructions increased in clear span as Greek and Roman engineering improved. Most buildings in classical Greece were covered by traditional prop-and-lintel constructions, which often required interior colonnades for support. In Sicily, truss roofs are believed to have appeared as early as 550 BC. Their potential was fully realized during the Roman Empire, which saw trussed roofs spanning over 30 meters in width, covering the rectangular spaces of monumental public buildings such as temples, basilicas, and later churches. These spans were three times as large as the widest prop-and-lintel roofs and were only exceeded by the largest Roman domes.

Greek roofing

List of ancient Greek monuments by descending largest clear span
Image Monument Location Region Date Type of roof Width between cella walls Clear span between colonnades Largest clear span
Temple of Olympian Zeus
(or Olympeion)
Agrigento Sicily Truss 12.85 1– 12.85
Temple of Heracles Agrigento Sicily 5th century BC, early Truss 11.84 1– 11.84
Temple E Selinunte Sicily 480/70 BC Truss 11.70 1– 11.70
Parthenon Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel 19.20 11.05 11.05
S. Biagio Agrigento Sicily Truss 10.35 1– 10.35
Athene Syracuse Sicily Truss 19.82 1– 19.82
Erechtheion Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel 19.80 1– 19.80
Treasury of Gela Olympia Greece Truss 19.68 1– 19.68
Temple of Athena Alea Tegea Greece Prop-and-lintel 18.94 1– 18.94
Temple of Zeus Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel 13.26 18.52 18.52
Temple C Selinunte Sicily 550 BC Truss 18.50 1– 18.50
Megaron Gaggera Sicily Truss 18.47 1– 18.47
Athenians Delos Greece Prop-and-lintel 18.34 1– 18.34
Temple D Selinunte Sicily 540 BC Truss 18.20 1– 18.20
Temple of Hera Agrigento Sicily Truss 17.68 1– 17.68
Temple of Concordia Agrigento Sicily Prop-and-lintel 17.55 1– 17.55
Temple A Selinunte Sicily Truss 17.50 1– 17.50
Temple of Apollo Delphi Greece Prop-and-lintel 10.72 17.32 17.32
Temple G Selinunte Sicily Truss 17.93 17.15 17.15
Temple F Selinunte Sicily 530 BC Truss 17.12 1– 17.12
Temple of Isthmia Isthmia Greece Prop-and-lintel 11.7 ~7.0 ~7.0
Temple of Poseidon Sounion Greece Prop-and-lintel 16.53 1– 16.53
Heraion At the mouth of the Sele River near Paestum Italy, Lower Prop-and-lintel 16.14 1– 16.14
Artemis Kalydon Greece Prop-and-lintel 16.14 1? 16.14
Kardaki Temple Corfu Greece Prop-and-lintel ~6.0 1– ~6.0
Second Temple of Hera Paestum Italy, Lower 480/70 BC Prop-and-lintel 10.85 15.9 15.9
Temple of Athena/Ceres Paestum Italy, Lower Prop-and-lintel 15.70 1– 15.70
Apollo Delos Greece Prop-and-lintel 15.70 1– 15.70
Basilica Paestum Italy, Lower 550–10 BC Prop-and-lintel 11.44 15.6 15.6
Tavole Palatine Metapontum Italy, Lower 15.60 1– 15.60
Bouleuterion (S) Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel 11.07 15.53 15.53
Bouleuterion (N) Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel 10.80 15.40 15.40
Temple of Apollo Bassae Greece Prop-and-lintel 16.81 15.23 15.23
Rhamnous Attica Greece Prop-and-lintel 15.17 1– 15.17
Metroon Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel 15.08 1– 15.08
Temple of Hera Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel 18.37 14.84 14.84
Temple of Hephaestus
(or Theseion)
Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel 16.24 14.74 14.74
Artemis Corcyra Greece Prop-and-lintel 17.37 14.1 14.1
Temple of Asclepius Epidauros Greece Prop-and-lintel 13.95 1– 13.95
Temple of Aphaia Aegina Greece Prop-and-lintel 16.28 13.85 13.85
Apollo Syracuse Sicily Truss 19.70 13.6 13.6
Apollo Corinth Greece Prop-and-lintel 18.47 13.45 13.45

Roman roofing

List of Roman monuments by descending clear span
Image Monument Location Region Date Type of roof Clear span
Throne room of the Flavian Palace Rome Italy, Central 192 AD Truss 31.67
Roman Theatre Aosta Italy, Upper Augustan Truss 30.49
Diribitorium Rome Italy, Central 117 BC Truss 29.60?
Coenatio Iovis Rome Italy, Central 192 AD Truss 29.30
Constantine's Basilica Trier Germany 300 AD Truss 26.05
Odeon of Agrippa Athens Greece 115 BC Truss 25.75
Temple of Venus and Roma Rome Italy, Central 135 AD Truss 25.75
Basilica Ulpia Rome Italy, Central 113 AD Truss 25.16
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls Rome Italy, Central 385 AD Truss 24.27
Old St. Peter's Basilica Rome Italy, Central 330 AD Truss 23.68

See also

References

  1. ^ Hodge 1960, p. 41
  2. Ulrich 2007, pp. 148f.
  3. ^ Conjectured by Hodge 1960, pp. 38–44
  4. ^ Hodge 1960, p. 39 (table)
  5. Hodge 1960, p. 43
  6. ^ Ulrich 2007, p. 149

Sources

  • Hodge, A. Trevor (1960), The Woodwork of Greek Roofs, Cambridge University Press, pp. 38–44
  • Ulrich, Roger B. (2007), Roman Woodworking, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-10341-0

Further reading

  • Klein, Nancy L. (1998), "Evidence for West Greek Influence on Mainland Greek Roof Construction and the Creation of the Truss in the Archaic Period", Hesperia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 335–374, JSTOR 148449

External links

  • Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works
Roman architecture lists
Roman Empire
City of Rome
Other countries
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