Rick Steves France 2015 by Rick Steves & Steve Smith

Author:Rick Steves & Steve Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avalon Travel
Published: 2014-03-11T04:00:00+00:00

In these cities, you’ll see many rounded arches. These were constructed by piling two stacks of heavy stone blocks, connecting them with an arch (supported with wooden scaffolding), then inserting an inverted keystone where the stacks met. Voilà! The heavy stones were able to support not only themselves, but also a great deal of weight above the arch. The Romans didn’t invent the rounded arch, but they exploited it better than their predecessors, stacking arches to build arenas and theaters, stringing them side by side for aqueducts, stretching out their legs to create barrel-vaulted ceilings, and building freestanding “triumphal” arches to celebrate conquering generals.

When it came to construction, the Romans’ magic building ingredient was concrete. A mixture of volcanic ash, lime, water, and small rocks, concrete—easier to work than stone, longer-lasting than wood—served as flooring, roofing, filler, glue, and support. Builders would start with a foundation of brick, then fill it in with poured concrete. They would then cover important structures, such as basilicas, in sheets of expensive marble (held on with nails), or decorate floors and walls with mosaics—proving just how talented the Romans were at turning the functional into art.

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