Parthian Influence on Vaulting in Roman Greece? An Inquiry into Technological Exchange Under Hadrian

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5042277
AutoresLynne C Lancaster (0000-0002-5866-8287, autor correspondente)
Ano2010
Volume114
Fascículo3
Páginas447-472
Data de publicação2010-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3764/aja.114.3.447
OpenAlexW2324810201
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas5

The earliest known Roman examples of "pitched-brick" vaulting appear in hydraulic systems in the first half of the second century C.E. at Athens, Eleusis, and Argos, while others at Dion and Gortyn may also date from the same period. I argue, based on an analysis of the constructional details, that the technique was introduced from Parthia by military construction experts specializing in hydraulics, who had been involved in Trajan's Parthian War and, upon returning to home bases in the West, brought new construction techniques. The examples from Athens occur in the Hadrianic aqueduct and thus can be securely dated to the period just after the war. Those from Eleusis, which also relate to an aqueduct project, can likewise be dated to the reign of Hadrian or Antoninus Pius. The most impressive example occurs at the so-called Serapeum (Bath A) at Argos, which is among the largest known barrel vaults using this technique. It has been dated by the excavators to ca. 100 C.E.; however, I argue that this structure was originally built somewhat later, under Hadrian, and that it was part of a larger project at Argos

Ancient history · Aqueduct · Archaeology · Art · Brick · Hellenistic Period · Period (music) · Reign · Spanish Civil War · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · History · Law · Water management and technologies