Question: What contributions to architecture did each make? Can we see how each contributed to our society today?
Ancient Rome Ancient Romans were very utilitarian when it came to art and architecture. Every artistic structure that they built had an important use. One of their greatest accomplishments was the building of the Colosseum. It was a massive open air arena that sat close to 60,000 people. The Colosseum still stands today, and continues to be a great example of Ancient Roman architecture. In it, there are obvious examples of arches, Ancient Rome's greatest contribution. Another great contribution from Rome was it's aqueducts, or an artificial channel for conveying water. The aqueducts would take water from it's source and move it around throughout the city to public baths, wells, and other places. Ancient Rome contributed arches and aqueducts to today's society.
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Ancient Greece Ancient Greeks contributed a lot of ideas in relation to architecture. Their biggest accomplishment was the column. The column is an upright pillar, typically in the shape of a cylinder, and made of concrete (a Roman invention) or stone. The three types of columns invented by the Greeks were the Doric (the most simple/plain), the Ionic (the slightly decorated, more commonly used in modern times), and the Corinthian columns (the most decorated, advanced, and artistic columns. These three columns were used in differentiating situations and architectural structures, but all of them shared a common purpose/goal; to support a roof or level. They all had to support something above them. The column was the most important contribution to modern society from an architectural standpoint from Greeks.
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Comparison
Both the Ancient Greek and Ancient Romans contributed great things to today's architecture. Though the Greeks were less practical than the Romans, both made advances as far as construction and building principle. Roman aqueducts inspired modern waterways and water transport methods that are still in use to this day. The columns of the Greeks are seen more often than the Roman arches, though both have the same basic reasoning; to support a structure. Overall, both civilizations have contributed greatly to modern-day architecture.