A major contribution to the study of Roman vaulted architecture - PAOLO VITTI, BUILDING ROMAN GREECE: INNOVATION IN VAULTED CONSTRUCTION IN THE PELOPONNESE

P. Vitti’s new book explores the development of vaulted architecture in the Peloponnese during the Roman period. Focusing on those cities refounded after the Roman conquest and their nearby areas, it draws attention to the vaulted structures of bath halls, mausolea, nymphaea, and aqueducts built between the 1st and the 4th c. A.D. Many of these monuments have been published previously but most have never been analyzed from a construction point of view. The book fills this lacuna, providing a depth of observation and quality of graphic presentation rarely encountered in the field of Roman studies. Based on thorough on-site surveys, the author visualizes the original form and structure of the most important vaulted buildings in this area. For Vitti, however, reconstruction is not an end in itself: it is a tool for studying the structural behaviour of these monuments and recapturing the way in which they were built. This methodology transforms often inaccessible and dilapidated monuments into sources of information for the creative energy and technological skills of the builders of Roman Peloponnese.