Video: reconstruction of ancient Rome in 320 A.D.

[Ygorcs]

If ancient Rome was even half as beautiful and grand as this animation makes it look like, it must've been absolutely otherworldly for most people who lived in simpler societies in that time.

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/02/19/astounding-3d-animation-rome-320-ad/?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

I like that the 4th century architecture is already very clearly an antecedent to the medieval, particularly Catholic (monasteries, churches, bishopric palaces etc.) architecture we see in Italy and even elsewhere. Some of it is already a bit "Byzantine", or so I thought. The tiled roofs and the whole structure of the more functional buildings remind me of some Italian and Portuguese (and via them Brazilian) old architecture.

 

[Angela]

If ancient Rome was even half as beautiful and grand as this animation makes it look like, it must've been absolutely otherworldly for most people who lived in simpler societies in that time.

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/02/19/astounding-3d-animation-rome-320-ad/?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

I like that the 4th century architecture is already very clearly an antecedent to the medieval, particularly Catholic (monasteries, churches, bishopric palaces etc.) architecture we see in Italy and even elsewhere. Some of it is already a bit "Byzantine", or so I thought. The tiled roofs and the whole structure of the more functional buildings remind me of some Italian and Portuguese (and via them Brazilian) old architecture.

This is a great project. I'd love to see videos like this of lots of ancient sites.

When I'm in Rome I often stop at San Clemente al Laterano. It's like taking a trip back in time.

" Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) the present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of the Middle Ages; (2) beneath the present basilica is a 4th-century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the 1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum; (3) the home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of republican era villa and warehouse that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 AD."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Clemente_al_Laterano

It looks a bit like some of the Spanish mission churches of the American southwest.

Beautiful cloisters there too. My first visit was on a high school trip. They, and the whole church, made a deep impression on me. It's one of my favorite places in Rome.

The influence is not just on religious architecture. For centuries a lot of buildings were re-cycled Roman architecture.

 

[Ygorcs]

This is a great project. I'd love to see videos like this of lots of ancient sites.

When I'm in Rome I often stop at San Clemente al Laterano. It's like taking a trip back in time.

" Archaeologically speaking, the structure is a three-tiered complex of buildings: (1) the present basilica built just before the year 1100 during the height of the Middle Ages; (2) beneath the present basilica is a 4th-century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman, part of which had in the 1st century briefly served as an early church, and the basement of which had in the 2nd century briefly served as a mithraeum; (3) the home of the Roman nobleman had been built on the foundations of republican era villa and warehouse that had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64 AD."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Clemente_al_Laterano

It looks a bit like some of the Spanish mission churches of the American southwest.

Beautiful cloisters there too. My first visit was on a high school trip. They, and the whole church, made a deep impression on me. It's one of my favorite places in Rome.

The influence is not just on religious architecture. For centuries a lot of buildings were re-cycled Roman architecture.

That place looks so relaxing and so conducive to contemplation, indeed.

Yes, definitely, I was perhaps a bit unaware of how much of European architecture, especially Southern European one, is heavily influenced by Roman architecture. We tend to think of the classical temples with their columns surrounding the interior of the bulding, and all the classical statues, but the Late Empire architecture looks much more familiar and clearly a direct antecedent to a lot of the medieval and early modern buildings, and even to the traditional "folk architecture" of village houses. Some of the reconstructions of "ordinary" Roman houses I have seen are strikingly similar to some of the Portuguese houses (and the similarity to Italian ones must be even closer), a tradition that was also brought to Brazil and became the traditional housing style in parts of the country.

 

[Ygorcs]

The reconstructed Roman constructions look amazingly similar to some old (colonial and 19th century) Brazilian architecture, certainly due to the Portuguese heritage. Of course the buildings are not identical, but one could be forgiven for mistaking them for much more recent constructions of the colonial era (actually, I have even seen many similar modern constructions especially in the Brazilian countryside and little towns).