UCLA

In the early 4th century C.E., the interior hall of the Basilica of Maxentius was adorned with eight giant marble monoliths. To reach the building site, the 15-meter, 100-ton columns were shipped 2400 kilometers across the Mediterranean, dragged up the Tiber River, unloaded in the overflowing marble yards, paraded down several kilometers of Roman streets, and erected in an area the size of a football field. In Imperial Rome, the ability to transport massive stone monoliths down narrow cobbled streets or mobilize an entire brick-making industry within a matter of weeks were paramount to the success of large-scale building projects. The construction process required a cooperation between the entire city and its infrastructural material and labor networks. The Roman construction site must have been absolutely symbiotic with its urban environment, especially within the context of the Late Empire. The area immediately surrounding the Forum Romanum was a dense residential and commercial zone characterized by a complicated topography and a stratified array of architectural monuments. In order to construct any project within the confines of this region, the builders had to balance a poly-modal understanding of technical engineering knowledge with an exceedingly efficient organizing framework. In addition to the organization of the site, the builders had to coordinate with the many disparate types of materials that were constantly arriving from far-flung sources. The scene created by the shouting workmen, the screeching pulleys, and the rumbling streets was undoubtedly among Rome’s most interesting spectacles. This dissertation will combine an understanding of the spatial implications of the Roman building site with an awareness of the socio-cultural milieu and the symbiotic relationship between the construction process and its contextual environment.