Science reveals improvements in Roman building techniques (Vol. 51, No. 1)

A variety of scientific techniques have been combined to highlight improvements in the technologies employed by the Romans in successive modifications to the Atrium Vestae in Rome.

The Romans were some of the most sophisticated builders of the ancient world. Over the centuries, they adopted an increasingly advanced set of materials and technologies to create their famous structures. To distinguish the time periods over which these improvements took place, historians and archaeologists typically measure the colours, shapes and consistencies of the bricks and mortar used by the Romans, along with historical sources. In new research published in EPJ Plus, Francesca Rosi and colleagues at the Italian National Research Council improved on these techniques through scientific analysis of the materials used to build the Roman Forum’s Atrium Vestae. They found that successive phases of modification to the building saw improvements including higher quality raw materials, higher brick firing temperatures, and better ratios between carbonate and silicate building materials.

E Boccalon, F Rosi, M Vagnini, A Romani, Multitechnique approach for unveiling the technological evolution in building materials during the Roman Imperial age: the Atrium Vestae in Rome, Eur. Phys. J. Plus 134, 528 (2019)
[Abstract]