ARCHES IN ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

TYPES OF ARCHES AND DETAILS OF ARCHES

1. Roman
Architecture

2. Arches
•The Romans used
arches to support
the things they
built.
•They built victory
arches, buildings
and aqueducts.

3. Aqueducts

4. Aqueducts-
a way to carry water
•There wasn’t enough water in the city
of Rome.
•The Romans brought water in from
the surrounding countryside.
•The water was brought in by tubes
called aqueducts.

5. Why arches?
•Water is heavy
stuff.
•The Romans needed
a structure strong
enough to hold all
that water to move
it from the
mountains into the
city.

6. Where did the water go?
•The water was
transported in
concrete tunnels.
•The tunnels were
underground if
possible.
•Sometimes the
tunnel had to go
above ground.

7. How did the aqueduct work?
•The water flowed
in a tube on the top
of the aqueduct
called a water
channel.
•The arches
supported the
water channel.

8. What did the water channel
look like?
•The water flowed
through a
rectangular
channel.
•The channel was
lined with concrete.
•The Romans
invented concrete.

9. Where else did the Romans
use arches?
•Arches of Triumph
•Buildings
•Roofs

10. Arches of Triumph-
to celebrate military success

11. The Coliseum-
a place for sports

12. The Coliseum- a blend of
Greek and Roman
architecture
•The arches are
supported by central
columns.
•The columns on the
first floor are Doric.
•The columns on the
second floor are Ionic.
•The columns on the
third floor are
Corinthian.

14. The Pantheon-
a temple to all the gods

15. How does an arch work?
Keystones
•The keystone is the
red stone at the
top of the arch.
•The keystone is
what the weight
rests on.

16. How does an arch work?
Voussoirs
•The semi-circular
stones on either
side of the
keystone are the
voussoirs.
•The voussoirs bring
the weight to the
columns that go to
the ground.

17. How does an arch work?
Buttressing
•The square or
rectangular blocks
between each arch
are buttresses.
•The buttresses
make a column that
takes the weight all
the way to the
ground.

18. Modern arches
Hotel Roanoke
US Capital
Dominion Towers
Office in Tyson’s Corner

19. Your Task
•Go to your seat.
•You are going to
draw an arch.
•Just follow your
teacher’s
directions and you
can do it!

20. First
•Use the yogurt lid
to draw a semi-
circle.

21. Second
•Add legs to your
semi-circle.
•Now you have an
arch.

22. Third
•Draw a smaller arch
inside the first
one.

23. Fourth
•Draw a Keystone at
the top of the
arch.

24. Fifth
•Now draw the
Voussoirs that hold
the Keystone in
place.

25. Sixth
•Draw a second arch
next to the first
one.
•Go through the
same steps.

26. Seventh
•Connect the arches
with buttresses.
•You did it!
•Success!