CLASS NOTES: Tabularium and Theater of Marcellus (Roman Architecture)

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Notes on video lecture:

Tabularium and Theater of Marcellus

Roman Architecture

Diana Kleiner, Yale University

Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on January 29, 2014 (go to class or lectures)

Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

cavea, Marcellus, Incertum, archives, ashlar, Apollo, 78, round, Forum, hillsides, Ionic, barrel, annular, condominium, north, paths, Augustus

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Tabularium

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used to house the state at that time

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by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (120BC–77BC)

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situated on the side the Roman Forum, on the south side of the Capitoline Hill

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today the Tabularium is only accessible from within the Capitoline Museum, but affords an excellent panoramic view over the

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Michelangelo, when building the Senatorial Palace on Capitoline Hill, did what is so often done by Roman architects, incorporated the Tabularium into the palace, made it the back wall of his palace

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made out of concrete

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decided not to use Opus

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used cut tufa stone

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columns for pure decoration

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you can go inside the Tabularium

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corridors

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panoramic window down over the Roman Forum

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ramps and steps

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goal was to vary the experience as you walk through the building

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predetermined through a building

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Theater of

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13 BC

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put it up under great grief that Marcellus, his nephew, died

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main reason the building has survived is that it was reusedover time

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as a fortress in Middle Ages

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as a palace in the Renaissance

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as a today

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in the Jewish ghetto area of Rome

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Temple of outside it

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Roman theater components

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: seatings

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decided into wedge-shaped sections, cuneus [koo-NAY-us]

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scaenae frons: main building of theater

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Greek theaters were prototype

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Greeks built them on

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Romans were more urban in their theater building

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used concrete to build artificial hill

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made of concrete faced with stone

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travertine

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more expensive from Tivoli

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blocks of stone

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arcades interspersed by decorative columns

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Doric for first story, for second story

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probably third was corinthian (like on Colloseum)

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in building

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vault

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travertine piers

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vaults, same annular vaults used in Colloseum

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compared to Greek theaters

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differences

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Greek: orchestra, Roman: semi-circle

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Greek: on hilltops, Romans: on hills made out of concrete

Vocabulary:

travertine, n. [TRAV-er-teen] a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs, exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties ⇒ "This stone, called travertine or tufa, is a product of permanent natural activities created by natural dissolution and sedimentation of calcium."

capital, n. in architecture, the top part of a pillar or column ⇒ "The capitals are done in travertine."

appurtenance, n. [ah-PER-ten-ants] something added to another, more important thing ⇒ "spandrals and other necessary appurtenances of the arcade can be seen"

spandrel, n. the space between an arch and its rectangular enclosure ⇒ "Between the spandrels is the keystone, on which there stands a female on the East side and a male on the West side."

domical, adj. shaped like a dome ⇒ "domical ceilings"

annular, adj. shaped like or forming a ring ⇒ "an annular vault is sometimes called a ring vault"