Opus 5

As the Roman Empire expanded through Europe, Greece and Mesopotamia, it assimilated these cultures within it and thus was able to extend an immediate sense of history to the cities enveloped. Their pasts were not erased and re-written, but instead continued on under new leadership, expanded upon by new ways of life as technology improved and buildings began to order interior space. Bread and circuses provided civic space, food and entertainment to begin an era prided on community with new means of rest, relaxation and interaction. A new building material, concrete, allowed for less emphasis on the structure and new methods of construction, setting a precedent for the buildings of the Roman Empire. “This new material could be easily manipulated and accounts, in part, for the similarities that exist in the architectural character of structures over the vast Roman territory,” (Blakemore, p. 46) making the arch the most important architectural unit and allowing the surface to be free of structure and available for decoration. The column has been desecrated from its Greek employment and used either as surface decoration to again bring an immediate sense of history or is used singularly in civic space to mark an individual’s accomplishments. The most important developments of the Roman Empire are the improved methods of transportation across the landscape, buildings that are meant for interior gathering of citizens and community, and the abundance of surface decoration used to illustrate civility to the masses.

Buildings of the Roman Empire become about their presence on the landscape. No longer are the designers and users worried about unifying with the environment, they are staking their claim on the earth. Aqueducts, roads and all forms of architecture are built without any regard for the landscape. “ Roman engineers built a network of roads linking all parts of the empire, from the Portuguese coast to the ends of Turkey and Syria; if a stony mountain outcrop loomed in the way, they simply cut through it.” (Roth, p. 250)The city grid becomes a standard means of organization regardless of the rivers, valleys, mountains or plains around you. With this new means of building and city planning comes the ease of transportation. People are able to move from the city to countryside in a short period of time; the wealthy are able to escape the busy city for a quiet, less structured respite. In addition, the lack of interest in the building structure allows for increased surface decoration. Paint and mosaics become a prime means of creating visual stories to indicate a person’s wealth and civility to guests or users of a space.

The Baths of Caracalla are developed as community space for rest, relaxation and community interaction in the variety of structures that make up the Baths. Here the shops, libraries, lecture halls, reading rooms, sculpture gardens and baths create many moments within the complex as a whole. Individuals can use the spaces as they please, each providing a unique experience but uniting the community in their diversity. “The purpose of these expensive enterprises was to keep the unruly populous occupied.” (Roth, p.269) The increased access to multiple forms of entertainment or relaxation appeals to a larger group of citizens and, in turn, increases use of the baths. (Roth, pp. 267-269)

While promoting community interaction, the metric of the bath also creates increased segregation. The baths are open to men, women and servants at different times of the day. They are not allowed to interact within this community space as they do in the buildings and forums of city life. The baths are also located on the outskirts of town within a walled surround. This community space physically is not open to the masses, it is restricted – a world within itself. At the same time that it promotes community discussions and interaction, the baths heighten segregation from the community as a whole. As the city exists outside the walls, political discussions or community meetings are held within. The expense of these extravagances were felt throughout the empire, instead of increasing an individual’s freedom, “restrictions bound sons to the trade of their fathers and farmers to the land, and thus the basis of medieval serfdom was created.” (Roth, p. 269-270)

The dualities that exist within the baths clearly show the dualities that exist within the Roman Empire; new community space that segregates, a column that doesn’t support or using surface decoration to create a false sense of history. Despite the struggles of the Empire, the Romans worked to create a balance between city life and democracy. The empire created buildings that were able to order interior spaces and promote community within. Concrete allowed for the arch, vault and dome that worked to additionally emphasize the order of interiors and bring architectural design to a new level, one about the space within rather than solely concerning the structure that creates it.

The Roman Empire’s city planning and lack of respect for the environment are traits that have carried down to the architecture and city planning of today. Buildings are built to house activities or people within; structures are placed on the landscape generally without regard for its surroundings. Urban sprawl and suburban sprawl have actually decreased the sense of community in many areas. By creating more boundaries and requiring cars to travel between spaces, people are less likely to walk through their communities, less likely know their neighbors and more likely to isolate themselves within smaller groups of friends and family. As smaller neighborhoods are created, they lack the “bread and circuses” that cities provide to sufficiently create a community space that is treasured by its inhabitants. And as cities begin to house more and more industry and fewer and fewer residences, the city itself breaks down to a place of crime and uncertainty. How and will America’s cities and towns change in the future to reverse this trend and recreate community?