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[MEL] From the Colosseum to the Baths of Diocletian 7/8
From the Colosseum to the Baths of Diocletian:
what concrete can tell us about social change in imperial Rome
PUBLIC LECTURE
Tuesday, 7 August, 2007 - 6.45 pm
Elisabeth Murdoch Theatre A, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
LYNNE LANCASTER
Associate Professor, Department of Classics and World Religions, Ohio University, USA
This lecture traces the role of different structural techniques developed by the Romans to control loads and create stability in large complex concrete vaulted structures, such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the imperial thermae. These techniques include the use of lightweight materials, metal tie bars, and external buttressing arches. The development of such techniques is then related to social, environmental, and economic changes within the Roman Empire, such as the development of the marble trade, the catastrophic results of the explosion of Mt.
Vesuvius in AD 79 that destroyed Pompeii, and changing methods of taxation in late antiquity.
This lecture is sponsored by the P.W. Tewkesbury Bequest to the Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne. Refreshments begin at 6.15; lecture goes from 6.45-7.45, followed by questions.
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