List of ancient Greek and Roman roofs explained

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 required interior colonnades for support. In Sicily, truss roofs are believed to have appeared as early as 550 BC. Their potential was fully realized during the Roman Empire, which saw trussed roofs spanning over 30 meters in width, covering the rectangular spaces of monumental public buildings such as temples, basilicas, and later churches. These spans were three times as large as the widest prop-and-lintel roofs and were only exceeded by the largest Roman domes.

Greek roofing

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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 ^[1]
	Temple of Heracles	Agrigento	Sicily		Truss
	Temple E	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Parthenon	Athens	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	S. Biagio	Agrigento	Sicily		Truss
	Athene	Syracuse	Sicily		Truss
	Erechtheion	Athens	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Treasury of Gela	Olympia	Greece		Truss
	Temple of Athena Alea	Tegea	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Zeus	Olympia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple C	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Megaron	Gaggera	Sicily		Truss
	Athenians	Delos	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple D	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Temple of Hera	Agrigento	Sicily		Truss
	Temple of Concordia	Agrigento	Sicily		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple A	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Temple of Apollo	Delphi	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple G	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Temple F	Selinunte	Sicily		Truss
	Temple of Isthmia	Isthmia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Poseidon	Sounion	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Heraion	At the mouth of the Sele River near Paestum	Italy, Lower		Prop-and-lintel
	Artemis	Kalydon	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Kardaki Temple	Corfu	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Second Temple of Hera	Paestum	Italy, Lower		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Athena/Ceres	Paestum	Italy, Lower		Prop-and-lintel
	Apollo	Delos	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Basilica	Paestum	Italy, Lower		Prop-and-lintel
	Tavole Palatine	Metapontum	Italy, Lower
	Bouleuterion (S)	Olympia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Bouleuterion (N)	Olympia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Apollo	Bassae	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Rhamnous	Attica	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Metroon	Olympia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Hera	Olympia	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Hephaestus (or Theseion)	Athens	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Artemis	Corcyra	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Asclepius	Epidauros	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Temple of Aphaia	Aegina	Greece		Prop-and-lintel
	Apollo	Syracuse	Sicily		Truss
	Apollo	Corinth	Greece		Prop-and-lintel

Roman roofing

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Monument	Location	Region	Date	Type of roof	Clear span
	Throne room of the Flavian Palace		Italy, Central		Truss
	Roman Theatre		Italy, Upper		Truss
	Diribitorium		Italy, Central		Truss
	Coenatio Iovis		Italy, Central		Truss
	Constantine's Basilica		Germany		Truss
	Odeon of Agrippa		Greece		Truss
			Italy, Central		Truss
	Basilica Ulpia		Italy, Central		Truss
	Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls		Italy, Central		Truss
	Old St. Peter's Basilica		Italy, Central		Truss

See also

• Record-holding roofs in antiquity
• Ancient Greek architecture
• Ancient Roman architecture
• List of Ancient Greek temples

External links

• Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works

Notes and References

1. Conjectured by