Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture

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Architecture is generally defined as the aesthetic designing of buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments. This makes it very different from standard construction engineering. Ancient architecture is based upon past events and important figures of cultural beliefs in which the community aspires to reflect and display. Greek and Roman mythology played an important role in the structures, and in order to understand the significance of the buildings, one must first understand the origins of each. During the tenth century B.C, when the Dorian people migrated to Greece they brought along their Hellenic culture. Very little outer influence affected this culture. From the fifth century B.C. the Dorian people, already, were advanced with techniques such as using sun-dried bricks, columns, and wood. One of the oldest structures discovered was the Heraeum at Olympia, demonstrating the earlier techniques of the Grecian culture. As time progressed they focused on presenting their temples to the gods; therefore they paid attention to minute details and designs. Rather than their temples being a place of worship, it was instead a place for the gods to visit. Dating back from as early as 900 B.C., the Ancient Greek architecture, for the most part, used the “post and lintel” method which was, essentially, vertical columns supporting a horizontal beam. The Greek embellished their structures depending on its importance, for instance, if it were temple, it then would have many more decorations than a casual gathering place. These decorations are placed on the ends of pillars and on the tops of buildings. They are put into three orders, or groups. First is the Doric order, a plain structure with no decorations on it, although it is the simpler out of the three, it is a powerful work of art. As a matter of fact, the most famous temple,

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