According to some accounts, the wealth of the ancient Roman empire was reflected in the very fabric of the city - with buildings of sparkling white marble at its centre. Even the founder of the Roman empire, Emperor Augustus claimed that he had 'found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble'. But new research by historians at the University of California Los Angeles has now cast doubt on this boast. Scroll down to explore ancient Rome in 3D. This reconstruction by historians at the University of California shows how Rome would have looked under the rule of Augustus and reveals that many of the buildings were made from brick (shown in grey) while only a few temples were constructed from marble (pink) Using architectural computer modelling software they have been able to reconstruct the entire city to reveal how it would have looked during the rule of Augustus between 44BC and 14AD. The Pantheon, Trajan's Market and the Colosseum have remained standing for nearly 2,000 years. Scientists claim to have found a 'secret' ingredient in Roman concrete that helped it endure the elements. Using X ray beams at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers were able to study a reproduction of Roman volcanic ash-lime mortar. In the concrete walls of Trajan's Markets, constructed around 110 CE, this mortar binds cobble-sized fragments of tuff and brick. Scientists looked at the mineralogical changes that took place in the curing of the mortar over a period of 180 days and compared the results to 1,900 year old samples of the original. The team discovered that the volcanic ash creates a crystal structure that prevents tiny cracks from spreading. They also found that the use of strätlingite crystals in the material showed no corrosion, with their smooth surface suggesting stability. They found that in fact only a small proportion of the buildings in Rome at the time were converted from brick into marble. Indeed, the few buildings that were built from marble were hidden from view within the city landscape, meaning many historical discriptions of the city's beauty were perhaps exaggerated. Their discovery suggests that the claim attributed to Augustus may have been more of a metaphor than a literal boast. Dr Diana Favro, who led the work, said: 'Many scholars have looked at Augustus’ claim from a political standpoint, as a metaphor for him transforming a republic into an empire. 'I wanted to see if Rome literally transformed under his rule. Given the literary descriptions and artwork, I thought these glittering marble temples on high would be very visible, but they were not.' Dr Favro used information from archaeological and historical records to produce the computer model that can show how the city evolved during Emperor Augustus' rule. Buildings constructed from marble were shaded with pink while those that were made from brick were shaded brown. Those under construction were yellow. When the researchers examined the model, they found just a few buildings were clad with marble, including the Temple of Venus and the Basilica Julia. Dr Favro found that when viewed from the street level, however, these buildings were not widely visible. Shortly before Augustus came to power, the Carrara marble quarries on the northwest coast of Italy were opened, and this was thought to have made marble a popular building material. Augustus commissioned several large marble structures, some of which took 40 years to complete. As a result, massive marble blocks were constantly being moved through the city, causing congestion in the streets. Marble-paved public spaces, which used to only be found in sacred temples and houses of the elite, were also added throughout the city. The 3D model (above) allows researchers to explore the city down to the street level and see how it changed between 44BC and 14AD. The Basilica Julia in the Roman Forum was one of the few buildings to be constructed from marble in Rome under Emperor Augustus. Dr Favro said this may be why Rome earned its reputation as a city of marble. She said: 'Because they saw construction taking place constantly, I believe people really did think that Rome had been transformed into marble. 'But in reality, the city did not greatly transform.' Many artworks, like the painting above, and historical accounts depict Rome under Augustus as being dominated by marble buildings.
Here is a summary of the highlights for this article:
Emperor Augustus boasted about how his rule left Rome 'a city of marble' while historical accounts said it glittered.
Historians at the University of California Los Angeles have reconstructed ancient Rome using architectural software.
They found that most of the buildings were built mainly from brick and only a few temples were made from marble.
Those that were made from marble would have been difficult to see from many parts of the city, say the researchers.
Enligt vissa skildringar återspeglades det antika romerska rikets rikedom i stadens själva tyg - med byggnader av gnistrande vit marmor i centrum. Även det romerska rikets grundare, kejsar Augustus hävdade att han hade 'funnit Rom en stad av tegel och lämnat det en stad av marmor'. Men ny forskning av historiker vid University of California Los Angeles har nu kastat tvivel på detta skryt. Scrolla ner för att utforska det antika Rom i 3D. Denna rekonstruktion av historiker vid University of California visar hur Rom skulle ha sett ut under Augustus styre och avslöjar att många av byggnaderna var gjorda av tegel (visas i grått) medan endast ett fåtal tempel konstruerades av marmor (rosa) Med hjälp av arkitekturdatormodelleringsprogram har de kunnat rekonstruera hela staden för att avslöja hur den skulle ha sett ut under Augustus styre mellan 44BC och 14AD. Pantheon, Trajanus marknad och Colosseum har stått kvar i nästan 2 000 år. Forskare påstår sig ha funnit en 'hemlig' ingrediens i romersk betong som hjälpte den att uthärda elementen. Med hjälp av röntgenstrålar vid den avancerade ljuskällan (ALS) kunde forskare studera en reproduktion av romerskt vulkaniskt askkalksbruk. I betongväggarna på Trajanus Markets, konstruerade runt 110 CE, binder detta murbruk kullerstora fragment av tuff och tegel. Forskarna tittade på de mineralogiska förändringar som ägde rum vid härdning av murbruket under en period av 180 dagar och jämförde resultaten med 1.900 år gamla prov av det ursprungliga. Teamet upptäckte att vulkanaskan skapar en kristallstruktur som förhindrar små sprickor från att sprida sig. De fann också att användningen av strätlingitkristaller i materialet inte visade någon korrosion, med sin släta yta som tyder på stabilitet. De fann att i själva verket bara en liten del av byggnaderna i Rom vid den tiden byggdes om från tegel till marmor. De få byggnader som uppfördes av marmor doldes i själva verket från utsikten inom stadslandskapet, vilket innebar att många historiska diskriptioner av stadens skönhet kanske var överdrivna. Deras upptäckt tyder på att det påstående som tillskrivs Augustus kan ha varit mer av en metafor än ett bokstavligt skryt. Dr Diana Favro, som ledde arbetet, sade: "Många forskare har betraktat Augustus påstående från politisk ståndpunkt, som en metafor för honom att omvandla en republik till ett imperium. Jag ville se om Rom bokstavligen förvandlades under hans styre. Med tanke på de litterära beskrivningarna och konstverken trodde jag att dessa glittrande marmortempel i höjden skulle vara mycket synliga, men de var inte det.' Dr Favro använde information från arkeologiska och historiska register för att framställa datormodellen som kan visa hur staden utvecklades under kejsar Augustus styre. Byggnader byggda av marmor skuggades med rosa medan de som tillverkades av tegel var skuggade bruna. De som var under uppbyggnad var gula. När forskarna undersökte modellen fann de bara några få byggnader klädda med marmor, bland annat Venustemplet och Basilica Julia. Doktor Favro fann att dessa byggnader, när de betraktades från gatuplanet, dock inte var allmänt synliga. Strax innan Augustus kom till makten öppnades Carrara marmorbrott på Italiens nordvästkust, och detta ansågs ha gjort marmor till ett populärt byggnadsmaterial. Augustus beställde flera stora marmorkonstruktioner, varav några tog 40 år att färdigställa. Detta ledde till att massiva marmorblock ständigt flyttades genom staden, vilket orsakade trängsel på gatorna. Marmorpläterade offentliga utrymmen, som förr endast fanns i heliga tempel och hus av eliten, tillkom också i hela staden. 3D-modellen (ovan) gör det möjligt för forskare att utforska staden ner till gatunivån och se hur den förändrades mellan 44BC och 14AD. Basilikan Julia i Forum Romanum var en av få byggnader som uppfördes av marmor i Rom under kejsar Augustus. Dr Favro sa att det var därför Rom tjänade sitt rykte som marmorstad. Hon sade: 'Eftersom de såg byggandet ske ständigt, tror jag att folk verkligen trodde att Rom hade förvandlats till marmor. 'Men i verkligheten förvandlades inte staden särskilt mycket.' Många konstverk, som målningen ovan, och historiska skildringar skildrar Rom under Augustus som dominerat av marmorbyggnader. Här är en sammanfattning av höjdpunkterna för denna artikel:
According to some accounts, the wealth of the ancient Roman Empire was reflected in the fabric of the city itself - with buildings of sparkling white marble in the center. The founder of the Roman Empire, Emperor Augustus also claimed that he had 'found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble'. But new research by historians at the University of California Los Angeles has now cast doubt on this boast. Scroll down to explore ancient Rome in 3D. This reconstruction of historians at the University of California shows what Rome would have looked like under Augustus' rule and reveals that many of the buildings were made of brick (shown in grey) while only a few temples were constructed of marble (pink) Using architectural computer modeling programs, they have been able to reconstruct the entire city to reveal what it would have looked like under Augustus' rule between 44BC and 14AD. The Pantheon, Trajan market and Colosseum have remained for nearly 2,000 years. Scientists claim to have found a 'secret' ingredient in Roman concrete that helped it endure the elements. Using X-rays at the advanced light source (ALS), researchers were able to study a reproduction of Roman volcanic ash lime use. In the concrete walls of Trajan's Markets, constructed around 110 CE, this mortar binds cobble-sized fragments of tough and brick. The researchers looked at the mineralogical changes that took place in curing the mortar over a period of 180 days and compared the results to 1,900-year-old samples of the original. The team discovered that the volcanic ash creates a crystal structure that prevents small cracks from spreading. They also found that the use of strutlingite crystals in the material showed no corrosion, with its smooth surface indicating stability. They found that in fact only a small portion of the buildings in Rome at that time were converted from brick to marble. The few buildings constructed of marble were in fact hidden from the view within the city landscape, meaning that many historical discriptions of the city's beauty were perhaps exaggerated. Their discovery suggests that the claim attributed to Augustus may have been more of a metaphor than a literal boast. Dr. Diana Favro, who led the work, said: "Many scholars have viewed Augustus' claim from political standpoint, as a metaphor for him to transform a republic into an empire. I wanted to see if Rome was literally transformed under his rule. Given the literary descriptions and works of art, I thought these glittering marble temples on high would be very visible, but they were not.' Dr Favro used information from archaeological and historical records to produce the computer model that can show how the city developed under the rule of Emperor Augustus. Buildings built of marble were shaded with pink while those made of brick were shaded brown. The ones under construction were yellow. When examining the model, the researchers found only a few buildings clad with marble, including the Temple of Venus and Basilica Julia. However, Dr. Favro found that these buildings, when viewed from the street level, were not generally visible. Shortly before Augustus came to power, Carrara marble quarry was opened on the north-west coast of Italy, and this was considered to have made marble a popular building material. Augustus commissioned several large marble structures, some of which took 40 years to complete. As a result, massive marble blocks were constantly moved through the city, causing congestion in the streets. Marble-plated public spaces, formerly found only in sacred temples and houses of the elite, were also added throughout the city. The 3D model (above) allows researchers to explore the city down to the street level and see how it changed between 44BC and 14AD. The Basilica of Julia in the Forum Romanum was one of the few buildings constructed of marble in Rome under Emperor Augustus. Dr Favro said that's why Rome earned its reputation as a marble city. She said, 'Because they saw the construction happen constantly, I think people really thought Rome had turned into marble. 'But in reality the city did not change very much.' Many works of art, such as the painting above, and historical accounts depict Rome under Augustus dominated by marble buildings. Here is a summary of the highlights of this article:
Kejsar Augustus skröt om hur hans styre lämnade Rom 'en stad av marmor' medan historiska skildringar sade att det glittrade. Historiker vid University of California Los Angeles har rekonstruerat antikens Rom med hjälp av arkitekturmjukvara. De fann att de flesta byggnaderna huvudsakligen uppfördes av tegel och endast ett fåtal tempel var utförda av marmor. De som var gjorda av marmor skulle ha varit svåra att se från många delar av staden, säger forskarna.
Emperor Augustus boasted how his rule left Rome 'a city of marble' while historical accounts said it glittered. Historians at the University of California Los Angeles have reconstructed ancient Rome using architecture software. They found that most of the buildings were constructed mainly of brick and only a few temples were made of marble. Those made of marble would have been hard to see from many parts of the city, say scientists.