Classical Societies Essay

The first piece of art that I chose for this paper is the still standing Roman Coliseum. This magnificent piece of art has withstood many different storms, political and otherwise, and is still standing to this day. The Romans thought that a circular area like this would be able to hold the entire city of Rome, Italy! The Coliseum is considered by many to be the most significant piece of imperial architecture and Roman engineering.   It is the largest amphitheatre ever built and is situated in the center of the city of Rome.   Its design is believed to be representative of two Roman theatres positioned back to back thereby creating an elliptical plan. The surviving exterior wall façade is made of three stories of arcades, in which sits a podium and attic.   Both the podium and attic contain windows that are dispersed at even intervals.   The arcades are embellished with half size columns representative of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders while the arches within the arcades featured statues of classical mythological deities.
In fact, the Roman Coliseum held up to 84,000 spectators at one time. However, that number was with mathematical data available to the Romans at the time. Modern statistical data shows that the number is more in the neighborhood of 50,000. It is still a very impressive structure. Needless to say, the Coliseum was an engineering marvel of its time.   It is believed that the hypogeum, or basement of the structure, was equipped with a variety of mechanical pulleys, elevators, and hydraulic systems used to hoist cages and props for surface release.
                       
      The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was an ancient Greek temple in Olympia, Greece, dedicated
to the chief of the gods, Zeus. It was the very model of the fully-developed classical Greek
temple of the Doric order. The temple, built between 472 and 456 BC, stood in the most famous
sanctuary of Greece, which had been dedicated to local and Pan-Hellenic deities and had...