Aurelia Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 This girl sure likes building... and destroying... http://www.archaeology.org/0907/trenches/liz_glynn.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 This girl sure likes building... and destroying... http://www.archaeology.org/0907/trenches/liz_glynn.html A piece of trivia from Ms. Glynn: "...in Nero's Golden House, the Domus Aurea, they perfected the use of concrete." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Vitruvius, in his Ten Books On Architecture, discusses the finer points of concrete in 25BC, 60-70 years before Nero's time. Waterproof concrete wasn't developed until Nero's time but this remained a very expensive medium and little used. As for Nero's palace, I suspect he was able to afford (and command) the better class of builder available in Rome, and since he was a client with considerable power over life and death, one also suspects his reputation ensured the builders did a good job. It must also be pointed out that the building regulations set by Nero after the Great of Rome in ad64 encouraged the use of concrete as a building material where some very cheap, jerry-built, and flammable were previously common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Vitruvius, in his Ten Books On Architecture, discusses the finer points of concrete in 25BC, 60-70 years before Nero's time. Waterproof concrete wasn't developed until Nero's time but this remained a very expensive medium and little used. Since 312 BC, waterproof concrete was used widely--in aqueducts, in public baths, and in both private and public buildings. For the the great salting vats used in the manufacture of garum, it was obviously indispensable. For more, see the Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Ancient World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neil Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Excellent model. I think the article has misidentified some buildings, though. The 'colloseum' looks more like the theatre of Marcellus to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Since 312 BC, waterproof concrete was used widely--in aqueducts, in public baths, and in both private and public buildings. For the the great salting vats used in the manufacture of garum, it was obviously indispensable... Way cool. What needs to be emphasised however is the cost of waterproof concrete in Roman times which I gather wasn't cheap. For that reason, ordinary concrete was used where-ever possible, or in cases where builders thought they could get away with it such as part of the Hypogaeum wall at the Colosseum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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