Roman Builders

How were the architectural ideas behind great Roman building projects carried out in practice? Each major phase of the building process is considered in the building histories of the Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and the great temples at Baalbek. New hypotheses are advanced on the raising of monolithic columns, the construction sequence of the Coliseum, and the vaulting of the Pantheon. The illustrations include archival and original photographs, as well as numerous explanatory drawings.
How architectural ideas behind great Roman building projects were carried out in practice.
Rabun Taylor is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. in Classical Studies from the University of Minnesota and taught at Harvard University prior to his current appointment. His publications include Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River, and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome (Rome 2000) and Roman Builders: A Study in Architectural Process (Cambridge and New York 2003). His most recent book, The Moral Mirror of Roman Art, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2008.
"...an original and involving book, well written and readable despite the technical nature of the subject, and will be of interest to anyone--scholar, teacher, student, architect, engineer, layperson, tourist--with an interest in Roman architecture and construction." The Classical Outlook
"Profusely illustrated with both photographs and diagrams, many executed by the author, this is an important study of architectural process and should enhance any architectural collection as well as any general academic collection in architecture, history or the humanities." E-STREAMS
"This handsome book provides a fresh new look at the material culture of Roman building. Essential." Choice
"We come away...with a much clearer understanding of Roman technology in action, what it could and could not do, and of the astonishing effort involved in such contructions. Read Taylor, and you will know full well why there was not a Pantheon in every town." Classical World, George W. Houston, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill