Relationship Between Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture

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Relationship Between Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture

Modern scholars believe that it is very difficult to define the relationships between ancient Greek and Roman cultures. Scientists say that these relationships cannot be viewed as those one of the predecessor and the successor, because Romans not only adopted Hellenistic culture but they also transformed it in their own unique way.

As far as architecture is concerned, it is quite possible for us to single out both similarities and distinctions. Naturally, it is worth mentioning that both of them are governed by the same laws of harmony and beauty. However, the approach to the very process of creations is slightly different. First, ancient Greeks believed that any building must be a beautiful work of art that pleases the eye of the viewer. However, they did not place too much emphasis on the functional approach, whereas Romans always tried to utilize architecture in their view, it always had to serve some double purpose, first the aesthetic and practical.

Perhaps, this statement should be substantiated by some examples that will prove our point. For instance if we take the famous Theatre of Pompey, which is believed to be the largest theatre, ever created in the human history, it will be possible for us to identify the main peculiarities of the Roman style especially within the context of functional approach. First, this building can be viewed as a very large complex that was employed in various ways. On the one hand it was a theatre, (it can be easily deduced from the very name of the building), but this complex also involved many museums, exhibiting the best works of ancient Roman culture. Moreover, this building also included many gardens with sculptures and fountains. It is also worth mentioning that this theatre was used as a place of public gatherings. This place also served religious purposes because it contained four temples, each devoted to various goddesses. Thus, we can draw a conclusion that the Theatre of Pompey was multifunctional. This is probably the main peculiarity of the Roman Architecture.

If we try compare and contrast it with its predecessor, ancient Greek architecture, we should first, analyze some prominent example of the Greek style. First, any ancient Greek theatre was employed only for the theatrical purposes, and it had no other application. Probably, it can be explained by the fact that ancient placed much emphasis on acoustics, which was truly outstanding; even now very few modern theatres can be compared with their ancient predecessors. Probably, this is why, ancient Greeks did not make it so multifunctional.

Another reason is that, according to Hellenistic tradition, people should not to try to find practical application to any work of art, because the practicality will eventually substitute the art itself. One of the most prominent examples of such style is the ancient Greek amphitheatre in Sicily. This construction does not fulfill any other function except theatrical.

Thus, having analyzed the relationships between the ancient Greek and Roman architecture we can arrive at the conclusion that Romans preferred multifunctional approach to architecture. Additionally, their buildings tended to be much more complex that those ones of ancient Greeks. Overall, Roman architecture gives us the first examples of what is called design, in other words combination of aestheticism and practicality.

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