List of ancient roof structures

The roof construction of Old St. Peter in Rome (4th century AD) with a rafter roof or truss roof over the central nave .

The list of ancient roof structures includes roof structures from Greek and Roman architecture sorted according to their clear width .

The wooden roof structures of ancient buildings have not been preserved. However, different references give an idea of ​​the ancient roof structures and allow their structure to be reconstructed:

• In numerous buildings, bar holes and beam supports can be observed in the stone remains that have been preserved, which allow conclusions to be drawn about the basic structural design and, as a negative form, about the likely beam cross-sections.
• The Roman architectural theorist Vitruvius describes the construction of a roof for larger spans.
• Later buildings allow certain conclusions, especially in times of less technical innovations. In St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, a late antique roof work has with roof trusses received.
• Wooden structures obtained by sealing off the air give an insight into which wood connections were basically known. Complicated wood connections are documented on ancient shipwrecks, for example the so-called Nemi ships ; but it is not said that these were also used in construction. In the field of construction, wooden grate foundations have been preserved, but according to their function, they do not have any complicated connections.

Most of the large buildings in classical Greece had simple traditional purlin roofs , which had to be supported by additional columns in the interior for larger spans. In the Greek colonies in southern Italy and on Sicily , however, presumably as early as 550 BC. Chr. Truss structures for use, since there the spans are greater than can be with a conventional span purlin roof.

The large spans of Roman roofs since the 1st century BC BC clearly indicate that truss structures were already widespread at that time. There is actually evidence of such a roof over the vestibule of the Pantheon in Rome from the early 2nd century AD, which was still preserved at the beginning of modern times and was documented in drawings. Wide-span odeum and amphitheater roofs from Roman times with wooden structures usually did not have a solid and therefore heavy roof membrane, but tent fabrics against the sun. The significantly lower roof pitch in Mediterranean countries compared to Central and Northern Europe, even with tile roofs, was possible because hardly any snow roof load had to be taken into account. The resulting lower weight of the roof structure allowed a slightly larger clear width than in more northern regions of Europe. The potential for roofing large interiors was fully developed in the Roman Empire , when the roof clearances of temples , basilicas , churches and other public buildings with a rectangular floor plan could reach 30 m. Such dimensions were only surpassed by a few ancient domed buildings and exceeded the dimensions of the largest purlin roofs by at least three times.

When it comes to the question of which roof structures covered the older Greek temples , the span also plays a decisive role. In research, opinions differ as to whether the cella of the Sicilian temples was on average larger than that of the motherland because the Greek colonists already knew the construction of the roof trusses (advantage: technology), or because they had access to better timber (advantage : Material).

The following list is intended to illustrate the relationship between the roof type and the clear interior dimensions using important large buildings from antiquity.

Greek roof structures

(all information in m ).

image	Building	place	region	construction time	Roof type	Width between cella walls	Clear width between rows of columns	Greatest clear width
	Temple of Olympian Zeus (or Olympieion)	Agrigento	Sicily		Rafter roof	12.85	1-	12.85
	Temple of Hercules	Agrigento	Sicily	5th century BC BC, early	Rafter roof	11.84	1-	11.84
	Temple E.	Selinunte	Sicily	480/70 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	11.70	1-	11.70
	Parthenon	Athens	Greece		Purlin roof	19.20	11.05	11.05
	San Biagio	Agrigento	Sicily		Rafter roof	10.35	1-	10.35
	Athena temple	Syracuse	Sicily		Rafter roof	19.82	1-	19.82
	Erechtheion	Athens	Greece		Purlin roof	19.80	1-	19.80
	Gela Treasure House	Olympia	Greece		Rafter roof	19.68	1-	19.68
	Temple of Athena Alea	Tegea	Greece		Purlin roof	18.94	1-	18.94
	Temple of Zeus	Olympia	Greece		Purlin roof	13.26	18.52	18.52
	Temple C	Selinunte	Sicily	550 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	18.50	1-	18.50
	Megaron	Gaggera	Sicily		Rafter roof	18.47	1-	18.47
	Athenians	Delos	Greece		Purlin roof	18.34	1-	18.34
	Temple D	Selinunte	Sicily	540 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	18.20	1-	18.20
	Temple of Hera	Agrigento	Sicily		Rafter roof	17.68	1-	17.68
	Concordia temple	Agrigento	Sicily		Purlin roof	17.55	1-	17.55
	Temple A	Selinunte	Sicily		Rafter roof	17.50	1-	17.50
	Temple of Apollo (4th century BC)	Delphi	Greece		Purlin roof	10.72	17.32	17.32
	Temple G	Selinunte	Sicily		Rafter roof	17.93	17.15	17.15
	Temple F	Selinunte	Sicily	530 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	17.12	1-	17.12
	Temple of Poseidon	Isthmia	Greece		Purlin roof	11.7	≈7.0	≈7.0
	Sounion	Attica	Greece		Purlin roof	16.53	1-	16.53
	Hera temple	Foce del Sele	Italy, lower		Purlin roof	16.14	1-	16.14
	Artemis Temple	Kalydon	Greece		Purlin roof	16.14	1?	16.14
	Kardaki Temple	Kerkyra	Greece		Purlin roof	≈6.0	1-	≈6.0
	Temple of Poseidon	Paestum	Italy, lower	480/70 BC Chr.	Purlin roof	10.85	15.9	15.9
	Ceres temple	Paestum	Italy, lower		Purlin roof	15.70	1-	15.70
	Apollo temple	Delos	Greece		Purlin roof	15.70	1-	15.70
	basilica	Paestum	Italy, lower	550-10 BC Chr.	Purlin roof	11.44	15.6	15.6
	Tav. Pal.	Metapontum	Italy, lower			15.60	1-	15.60
	Buleuterion (S)	Olympia	Greece		Purlin roof	11.07	15.53	15.53
	Buleuterion (N)	Olympia	Greece		Purlin roof	10.80	15.40	15.40
	Temple of Apollo	Bassae	Greece		Purlin roof	16.81	15.23	15.23
	Nemesis temple	Rhamnous	Greece		Purlin roof	15.17	1-	15.17
	Metroon	Olympia	Greece		Purlin roof	15.08	1-	15.08
	Temple of Hera	Olympia	Greece		Purlin roof	18.37	14.84	14.84
	Temple of Hephaestus (or Theseion)	Athens	Greece		Purlin roof	16.24	14.74	14.74
	Artemis Temple	Kerkyra	Greece		Purlin roof	17.37	14.1	14.1
	Asclepius Temple	Epidaurus	Greece		Purlin roof	13.95	1-	13.95
	Aphaia temple	Aegina	Greece		Purlin roof	16.28	13.85	13.85
	Temple of Apollo	Syracuse	Sicily		Rafter roof	19.70	13.6	13.6
	Apollo temple	Corinth	Greece		Purlin roof	18.47	13.45	13.45

Roman roof structures

The list is sorted according to the clear width (all information in m ).

image	Building	place	region	construction time	Roof type	Clear width
	Odeon of Herodes Atticus	Athens	Greece	1161 ad	Truss structure (controversial assumption)	approx. 49.50
	Aula Regia in the Domus Flavia	Rome	Italy, Central	192 ad	Rafter roof	31.67
	Odeum	Aosta	Italy, upper	Augustan	Rafter roof	30.49
	Diribitorium	Rome	Italy, Central	117 v. Chr.	Rafter roof	29.60?
	Coenatio Iovis	Rome	Italy, Central	192 ad	Rafter roof	29.30
	Basilica of Constantine	trier	Germany	300 AD	Rafter roof	26.05
	Theatrum Tectum (Odeum)	Pompeii	Italy, lower	180 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	25.75
	Agrippa's Odeon	Athens	Greece	115 BC Chr.	Rafter roof	25.75
	Temple of Venus and Roma	Rome	Italy, Central	135 AD	Rafter roof	25.75
	Basilica Ulpia	Rome	Italy, Central	113 ad	Rafter roof	25.16
	Saint Paul Outside the Walls	Rome	Italy, Central	385 AD	Rafter roof	24.27
	Old St. Peter	Rome	Italy, Central	330 AD	Rafter roof	23.68

See also

• Roman construction technology
• Technology in the Roman Empire

literature

• A. Trevor Hodge: The Woodwork of Greek Roofs , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1960, pp. 38-44.
• Nancy L. Klein: Evidence for West Greek Influence on Mainland Greek Roof Construction and the Creation of the Truss in the Archaic Period , in: Hesperia , Vol. 67, 1998, pp. 335-374.
• Roger B. Ulrich: Roman Woodworking , Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. 2007, ISBN 0-300-10341-7 , pp. 123–177 (Chapter 8: Roofing & Ceilings), available at [1] , last accessed on June 29, 2019
• Alexander von Kienlin (Ed.): Wooden structures of antiquity. International conference March 30th - April 1st 2007 in Munich . (= Byzas Vol. 11), Ege Yayınları, Istanbul 2010, ISBN 978-605-5607-47-0 .
• Manolis Korres: The Odeion Roof of Herodes Atticus and Other Giant Spans . Melissa, Athens 2015, ISBN 978-960-2043-40-0 - book title, table of contents and foreword available at [2] , last accessed on June 30, 2019

Individual evidence

1. ^ Vitruvius, de architectura 4.2.1
2. ↑ ^{a b} Hodge, 1960, p. 41
3. ↑ Ulrich, 2007, pp. 140–149
4. ↑ Ulrich, 2007, p. 148f.
5. ↑ Klein, 1998, pp. 338f.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am} Vermutet von Hodge, 1960, p. 38– 44
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap} Hodge, 1960, p. 39 (Blackboard)
8. ↑ Hodge 1960, p. 43
9. ↑ Korres 2015, proves that the Odeion was covered. For this he postulates a hybrid arch truss construction based on the model of simultaneous bridge constructions. Even if this reconstruction proposal is not undisputed, it provides evidence that the room could be roofed over with the technical possibilities available at the time.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Ulrich, 2007, p. 149

Web links

• Traianus - Technical investigations of Roman buildings