List of ancient Greek and Roman roofs

The list of ancient roofs comprises roof constructions from Greek and Roman architecture ordered by clear span. Roof constructions increased in clear span as Greek and Roman engineering improved. Most buildings in classical Greece were covered by traditional prop-and-lintel constructions, which often needed to include interior colonnades. In Sicily, truss roofs presumably appeared as early as 550 BC.[1] Their potential was fully realized in the Roman period which saw over 30 m wide trussed roofs spanning the rectangular spaces of monumental public buildings such as temples, basilicas, and later churches. Such spans were thrice as large as the widest prop-and-lintel roofs and only superseded by the largest Roman domes.[2]

The truss roof of the 4th-century church Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. The triangular frame of beams of the main nave is largely self-supporting, since the forces are carried along the beams rather than acting vertically on them.

Greek roofing
List of ancient Greek monuments by descending largest clear span
Image Monument Location Region Date Type of roof Width between cella walls Clear span between colonnades Largest clear span
Temple of Olympian Zeus
(or Olympeion)		 Agrigento Sicily Truss [3] 12.85 1– 12.85 [4]
Temple of Heracles Agrigento Sicily 5th century BC, early Truss [3] 11.84 1– 11.84 [4]
Temple E Selinunte Sicily 480/70 BC Truss [3] 11.70 1– 11.70 [4]
Parthenon Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 19.20 11.05 11.05 [4]
S. Biagio Agrigento Sicily Truss [3] 10.35 1– 10.35 [4]
Athene Syracuse Sicily Truss [3] 19.82 1– 19.82 [4]
Erechtheion Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 19.80 1– 19.80 [4]
Treasury of Gela Olympia Greece Truss [1] 19.68 1– 19.68 [4]
Temple of Athena Alea Tegea Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 18.94 1– 18.94 [4]
Temple of Zeus Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 13.26 18.52 18.52 [4]
Temple C Selinunte Sicily 550 BC Truss [3] 18.50 1– 18.50 [4]
Megaron Gaggera Sicily Truss [3] 18.47 1– 18.47 [4]
Athenians Delos Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 18.34 1– 18.34 [4]
Temple D Selinunte Sicily 540 BC Truss [3] 18.20 1– 18.20 [4]
Temple of Hera Agrigento Sicily Truss [3] 17.68 1– 17.68 [4]
Temple of Concordia Agrigento Sicily Prop-and-lintel [5] 17.55 1– 17.55 [4]
Temple A Selinunte Sicily Truss [3] 17.50 1– 17.50 [4]
Temple of Apollo Delphi Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 10.72 17.32 17.32 [4]
Temple G Selinunte Sicily Truss [3] 17.93 17.15 17.15 [4]
Temple F Selinunte Sicily 530 BC Truss [3] 17.12 1– 17.12 [4]
Temple of Isthmia Isthmia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 11.7 ~7.0 ~7.0 [4]
Temple of Poseidon Sounion Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.53 1– 16.53 [4]
Heraion At the mouth of the Sele River near Paestum Italy, Lower Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.14 1– 16.14 [4]
Artemis Kalydon Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.14 1? 16.14 [4]
Kardaki Temple Corfu Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] ~6.0 1– ~6.0 [4]
Second Temple of Hera Paestum Italy, Lower 480/70 BC Prop-and-lintel [3] 10.85 15.9 15.9 [4]
Temple of Athena/Ceres Paestum Italy, Lower Prop-and-lintel [3] 15.70 1– 15.70 [4]
Apollo Delos Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 15.70 1– 15.70 [4]
Basilica Paestum Italy, Lower 550–10 BC Prop-and-lintel [3] 11.44 15.6 15.6 [4]
Tavole Palatine Metapontum Italy, Lower 15.60 1– 15.60 [4]
Bouleuterion (S) Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 11.07 15.53 15.53 [4]
Bouleuterion (N) Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 10.80 15.40 15.40 [4]
Temple of Apollo Bassae Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.81 15.23 15.23 [4]
Rhamnous Attica Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 15.17 1– 15.17 [4]
Metroon Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 15.08 1– 15.08 [4]
Temple of Hera Olympia Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 18.37 14.84 14.84 [4]
Temple of Hephaestus
(or Theseion)		 Athens Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.24 14.74 14.74 [4]
Artemis Corcyra Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 17.37 14.1 14.1 [4]
Temple of Asclepius Epidauros Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 13.95 1– 13.95 [4]
Temple of Aphaia Aegina Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 16.28 13.85 13.85 [4]
Apollo Syracuse Sicily Truss [3] 19.70 13.6 13.6 [4]
Apollo Corinth Greece Prop-and-lintel [3] 18.47 13.45 13.45 [4]

Roman roofing
List of Roman monuments by descending clear span
Image Monument Location Region Date Type of roof Clear span
Throne room of the Flavian Palace Rome Italy, Central 192 AD Truss [6] 31.67 [6]
Roman Theatre Aosta Italy, Upper Augustan Truss [6] 30.49 [6]
Diribitorium Rome Italy, Central 117 BC Truss [6] 29.60? [6]
Coenatio Iovis Rome Italy, Central 192 AD Truss [6] 29.30 [6]
Constantine's Basilica Trier Germany 300 AD Truss [6] 26.05 [6]
Odeon of Agrippa Athens Greece 115 BC Truss [6] 25.75 [6]
Temple of Venus and Roma Rome Italy, Central 135 AD Truss [6] 25.75 [6]
Basilica Ulpia Rome Italy, Central 113 AD Truss [6] 25.16 [6]
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls Rome Italy, Central 385 AD Truss [6] 24.27 [6]
Old St. Peter's Basilica Rome Italy, Central 330 AD Truss [6] 23.68 [6]

See also

References
  1. Hodge 1960, p. 41
  2. Ulrich 2007, pp. 148f.
  3. Conjectured by Hodge 1960, pp. 38–44
  4. Hodge 1960, p. 39 (table)
  5. Hodge 1960, p. 43
  6. Ulrich 2007, p. 149

Sources
  • Hodge, A. Trevor (1960), The Woodwork of Greek Roofs, Cambridge University Press, pp. 38–44
  • Ulrich, Roger B. (2007), Roman Woodworking, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-10341-0

Further reading
  • Klein, Nancy L. (1998), "Evidence for West Greek Influence on Mainland Greek Roof Construction and the Creation of the Truss in the Archaic Period", Hesperia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 335–374, doi:10.2307/148449, JSTOR 148449
  • Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works
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