Roman arches
Colosseum's curved openings
Roman arches are semicircular arches, the signature structural element of ancient Roman architecture.
Unlike the pointed arches of Gothic buildings, Roman arches form a perfect half-circle.
The design distributes weight efficiently, allowing Romans to build aqueducts, bridges, and monumental buildings that still stand.
The Colosseum's Roman arches have endured for two millennia.
- ancient RomeEarly Italian empire city
- aqueductsChannels conveying water distances
- Appian WayHistoric Roman thoroughfare
- keystoneArch's central locking stone
- ColosseumFlavian arena in Rome
symmetry · arcade · travertine · compression · curvature · barrel vault · centering · amphitheaters · thrust · weight distribution · span · abutment · impost · concrete · vaulting · limestone · stone blocks · mortar
- European heritageEuropean architecture, wine, European art, cheese, European cuisine
- ancient artsculpture, sculptures, pottery, mosaics, murals
- Italian ArchitectureColosseum, Pantheon, triumphal arches, catacombs, Pompeii
- Neoclassicismneoclassicism, neoclassical art, neoclassical architecture, columns, symmetry
- Roman artfrescoes, mosaic, sculpture, marble statues, wall paintings
structural system
Roman archespost-and-lintel
Horizontal beam on verticals
post-and-beam · lintel · corbelling · cantilever · timber framing