ASSIGNMENT 7. Pop-quiz question!
Lesson 8
Roman Architecture
Pantheon and Coliseum
Assignment 1. Read the following words and word combinations, using transcriptions:
| Pantheon | [p æ n i n] | adjoining | [ ini] |
| rectangular | [reikt æ gjul] | coffer | [kf] |
| awe | [ o: ] | Coliseum Colosseum | [klisim] |
| oculus | [ kjuls] | gladiatorial | [gl ædit:ril] |
| pillar | [pil] | Ionic | [ainik] |
| niche | [ni] | Corinthian | [krin i n] |
Assignment 2. Active vocabulary: Learn the following words and word combinations:
| 1.structure | здание, сооружение | 17.uniformly | единообразно, однородно |
| 2.unadored | неукрашенный | 18.pillar | столб, колонна |
| 3.drum | цилиндр | 19.daringly | смело, дерзко |
| 4.porch | портик, крытая галерея | 20.hollowed | выдолбленные, высеченные |
| 5.surmount | увенчивать | 21.concrete | бетон |
| 6.dome | купол | 22.adjoining | прилегающий, примыкающий |
| 7.rectangular | прямоугольный | 23.recess | делать углубление, помещать в укромное место |
| 8.forecourt | внешний двор | 24.coffer | кессон |
| 9.detaching | отделяющийся, прерывающий | 25.gilded | позолоченный |
| 10.rotunda | ротонда | 26.intact | в целом, в общем |
| 11.awe-inspiring | благоговейный трепет, вдохновение | 27.core | сердцевина, внутренность |
| 12.ample | обильный, достаточный | 28.vaulted | сводчатый |
| 13.unglazed | незастекленный | 29.barrel | цилиндр, барабан |
| 14.portico | портик, галерея | 30.groin | выводить крестовый свод |
| 15.porphyry | порфир | 31.entablature | антаблемент |
| 16.likewise | подобно, так же |
Assignment 3. Read the text, be ready to answer questions:
If the autonomy of Roman sculpture and painting has been questioned, Roman architecture is a creative feat of such magnitude as to silence all doubts of this sort. Its growth, moreover, from the very start reflected a specifically Roman way of public and private life. It came to supplying the citizenry with everything it needed, from water to entertainment on a grand scale, radical new forms had to be invented, and cheaper materials and quicker methods had to be used. Perhaps the most striking example of this process is the famous Pantheon in Rome, a very large round temple of the early second century A.D. whose interior is the best preserved, as well as the most impressive, of any surviving Roman structure. On the outside, the Pantheon appears as an unadorned drum, surmounted by a gently curved dome. The entrance is emphasized by a deep porch. The porch was designed to form part of a rectangular, colonnaded forecourt, which must have had the effect of detaching it from the rotunda. The impact of the interior awe-inspiring and harmonious at the same time. The dome is a true hemisphere. The circular opening in its center (called the oculus, or eye) admits an ample and wonderfully even flow of light. The only natural light enters through an unglazedoculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. The height from the floor to the eye is 143 feet, which is also the diameter of the dome's base and the interior. Dome and drum are likewise of equal heights, so that all the proportions are in exact balance. The weight of the dome does not rest uniformly on the drum but is concentrated on the eight wide "pillars". Between them, niches (there are seven niches) are daringly hollowed out of the massive concrete, and although they are closed in back, the screen of columns gives them the effect of openings that lead to adjoining rooms. This sense of open space behind the supports helps to prevent us from feeling imprisoned inside the Pantheon and makes us feel that the walls are less thick and the dome much lighter than is actually the case. The columns, the colored marble paneling of the wall surfaces, and the floor remain essentially as they were in Roman times. Originally, however, the recessed coffers were gilded to make the dome resemble "the golden Dome of Heaven." As its name suggests, the Pantheon was dedicated to all the gods or, more precisely, to the seven planetary gods.
They impress us again in the Colosseum, the enormous amphitheater for gladiatorial games in the center of Rome. Completed in 80 A.D., it is, in terms of sheer mass, one of the largest single buildings anywhere; when intact, it accommodated more than 50,000 spectators. The concrete core, with its miles of vaulted corridors and stairways, is a masterpiece of engineering efficiency devised to ensure the smooth flow of traffic to and from the arena. It utilizes both the familiar barrel vault and a more complex form, the groined vault. The exterior, dignified and monumental, reflects the interior articulation of the structure but clothes and accentuates it in cut stone. There is a fine balance between vertical and horizontal elements in the framework of engaged columns and entablaturesthat contains the endless series of arches. The three Classical orders are superimposed according to their intrinsic "weight": Doric, the oldest and most severe, on the ground floor, followed by Ionic and Corinthian. The lightening of the proportions, however, is barely noticeable, for the orders in their Roman adaptation are almost alike.
Answer the questions:
1. What were the sources of Roman architecture?
2. What is the most striking example of Roman architecture?
3. What was the Pantheon for Roman people?
4. Does it exist now? Can we see its beauty in origin?
5. When was it built?
6. What is more awe-inspiring: the interior or the exterior part of the Pantheon?
7. How does it lighted?
8. To whom the Pantheon was dedicated to?
9. How many gods were presented in the Pantheon niches?
10. What was the Coliseum?
11. When was it completed?
12. How many spectators did it accommodate?
13. Why it is called “a masterpiece of engineering efficiency”?
14. What are the three Classical orders superimposed in it?
Assignment 4. Fill in the blanks:
The Pantheon is one of the great _______buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman _______and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental _______originally faced a ________colonnaded temple _______and now entrants the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a __________ above which rises the ____________. Opposite the door is a recessed___________, and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired _______columns. The dome is constructed of stepped rings of solid _____with less and less density as lighter aggregate (pumice) is used, ________in thickness to about 1.2 m (4 feet) at the edge of the_______. The dome rests on a cylinder of masonry walls 6 m (20 feet). Hidden voids and the interior __________out this construction, so that it works less as a solid mass and more like three continuous ________which correspond to the three tiers of ________arches visible on the building exterior. Originally, these _______walls were faced with colored marbles.
Words: concrete, arcades, exterior, oculus, diminishing, recesses hollow, relieving, hemispherical dome, cylinder, semicircular apse, spiritual, temple, rectangular, porch, courtyard, monolithic.
Assignment 5. Watch the video and answer the questions:
The Pantheon
1. From what language the name “Pantheon” was derived?
2. What does this name mean?
3. Was the Pantheon in continuing use throughout the history?
4. When was it built?
5. In honor of what event was it built?
6. How many times was it rebuilt?
7. What do the words above the main entrance say?
8. What year was it transferred into a church?
9. Did it help to preserve the Pantheon?
10. On what was the bronze from the Pantheon used?
11. How do you feel inside the building?
12. What is the purpose of the oculus?
13. If it rains outside, how does it inside?
14. What gods were the niches devoted to?
15. What is another role of the Pantheon?
16. What buildings have the same features as the Pantheon?
17. Does the Pantheon change much?
18. What objects are still unchanged?
Building Rome's Colosseum
1. What was the most important detail in building Rome's Colosseum?
2. How was the arch made?
3. What were the main details of arch?
4. How many arches were in the Colosseum?
5. How do they call the Colosseum?
6. Who built the Colosseum?
7. Were all workers skilled?
8. What was the most difficult task in building?
Assignment 6. Discuss in groups:
1. The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater was begun by Vespasian, inaugurated by Titus in 80 A.D. and completed by Domitian. It was the first permanent amphitheater to be built in Rome. Its monumental size and grandeur as well as its practical and efficient organization for producing spectacles and controlling the large crowds make it one of the great architectural monuments achieved by the ancient Romans. How do you think what makes the Colosseum more famous: its architecture or spectacles?
2. Try to reveal that the Pantheon is the most fabulous surviving building of Roman architecture.
3. The Pantheon was a spiritual place and the Coliseum was an entertaining place. How do you think which of them were more attended in ancient Rome?
ASSIGNMENT 7. Pop-quiz question!
1. Roman architecture reflected a:
| a) Glory of Empire | b) Entertaining traditions |
| c) Religious traditions | d) Way of public and private life |
2. The Pantheon in Rome is a:
| a) church | c) public place |
| b) museum | d) ruins |
3. The name of the Pantheon means:
| a) Victory | c) All Gods |
| b) Glory | d) Heavens |
4. The Pantheon was made in a form of:
| a) drum | c) rectangular |
| b)circle | d)triangle |
5. The oculus is:
| a) a hole for rain | c) an unglazed hole |
| b)a hole for spirits | d) a glazed hole |
6. The Colosseum was a:
| a) museum | c) amphitheater |
| b)temple | d) church |
7. You can see….. in Colosseum:
| a) musicals | c) gladiatorial games |
| b)religious ceremonies | d) concerts |
8. The Colosseum’s arches were mostly made of:
| a) marble | c) stones |
| b)concrete | d)wood |
HOME ASSIGHNMENT:
Option 1.
Undaunted by any challenge, the Romans built arches, bridges, aqueducts, roads, walled cities, and frontier fortresses. These constructions were the conscious symbols of a mighty empire, the lasting and immutable traces of which are still to be seen today from Europe through to Mesopotamia and North Africa. What are your thoughts about it. Write an essay on this theme.
Option 2.
The famous Pantheon in Rome, a very large round temple of the early second century A.D. whose interior is the best preserved, as well as the most impressive, of any surviving Roman structure. There had been round temples long before this time, but their shape, as represented by the "Temple of the Siby”, is so different from that of the Pantheon that the latter could not possibly have been derived from them. Write an essay where you should try to explain why The Pantheon is so unique.