San Antonio College Library

Roman architecture is extraordinarily rich, both in terms of the techniques and materials used and in the variety of buildings constructed, many of which are still visible today. This book places emphasis on the technical aspects of that architecture, following the process of building through each stage, from quarry to standing wall, from tree to roof timbers. The author examines the different techniques involved in building in brick, stone and wood,...

This pocket-size reference draws on the vast treasures of this ancient civilization to illustrate the remarkable achievements of one of the great empires of the West, from the traditional date of Rome's founding - 754 B.C. - -until the fall of the Western Empire in A.D. 476, the year in which the last emperor, the boy Romulus Augustus, was deposed by the Goths and the imperial insignia was sent to Constantinople. Rome opens with a section on the major...

Around the turn of the third century, Roman art began to move away from classical traditions. Some say the change indicates a civilization in decline, but in this program Alistair Sooke shows that the imperial style was actually invigorated at this time by ideas from the provinces. Sooke explores the site of Leptis Magna in Libya, where the Gladiator Mosaic raises an old art form to new heights, and admires indigenous influences in Roman British silver...