A major contribution to the study of Roman vaulted architecture

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.