Roman Building: Materials and Techniques

Jean-Pierre Adam’s Roman Building is a detailed study of the materials and techniques behind Roman architecture. Stone, brick, concrete, timber and other materials are considered alongside quarrying, transport, masonry, vaulting and the practical organisation of construction, explaining how Roman builders achieved structures on both monumental and everyday scales.

From the use of surveying instruments to the construction of roofs, floors, aqueducts and roads, Adam follows a building through the decisions and labour that made it possible. Plans, diagrams and hundreds of illustrations support the technical account. This revised second English edition, translated by Anthony Mathews, also examines the practical workings of shops, baths and workshops—not only Rome’s monuments.