Scientia in Republican Era Stone and Concrete Masonry

Jackson, M.; Kosso, Cynthia

doi:10.1002/9781118557129.ch17

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Notes: Increasing complexity in Roman construction durability and architectural design through invention, technology transfer, and competitive selection is described explicitly by Vitruvius in de Architectura (2.1.2, 2.1.7). Accelerated late Republican accelerated late Republican era innovations in construction engineering produced the resilient and rock-like concrete structures (Jackson and Kosso 2013). Marine concrete technologies fell into disuse about 4th C CE (Brandon et al 2014).…”

Section: Seneca 4 Bce-65 Ce Quaestiones Naturales 3203-4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phillipsite and Al-tobermorite mineral cements produced through low-temperature water-rock reactions in Roman marine concrete

Jackson

Mulcahy

Chen

et al. 2017

American Mineralogist

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160

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Pozzolanic reaction of volcanic ash with hydrated lime is thought to dominate the cementing fabric\ud and durability of 2000-year-old Roman harbor concrete. Pliny the Elder, however, in first century CE\ud emphasized rock-like cementitious processes involving volcanic ash (pulvis) “that as soon as it comes\ud into contact with the waves of the sea and is submerged becomes a single stone mass (fierem unum\ud lapidem), impregnable to the waves and every day stronger” (Naturalis Historia 35.166). Pozzolanic\ud crystallization of Al-tobermorite, a rare, hydrothermal, calcium-silicate-hydrate mineral with cation\ud exchange capabilities, has been previously recognized in relict lime clasts of the concrete. Synchrotron-based\ud X-ray microdiffraction maps of cementitious microstructures in Baianus Sinus and Portus\ud Neronis submarine breakwaters and a Portus Cosanus subaerial pier now reveal that Al-tobermorite\ud also occurs in the leached perimeters of feldspar fragments, zeolitized pumice vesicles, and in situ\ud phillipsite fabrics in relict pores. Production of alkaline pore fluids through dissolution-precipitation,\ud cation-exchange and/or carbonation reactions with Campi Flegrei ash components, similar to processes\ud in altered trachytic and basaltic tuffs, created multiple pathways to post-pozzolanic phillipsite and\ud Al-tobermorite crystallization at ambient seawater and surface temperatures. Long-term chemical\ud resilience of the concrete evidently relied on water-rock interactions, as Pliny the Elder inferred. Raman\ud spectroscopic analyses of Baianus Sinus Al-tobermorite in diverse microstructural environments\ud indicate a cross-linked structure with Al3+ substitution for Si4+ in Q3\ud tetrahedral sites, and suggest\ud coupled [Al3++Na+\ud ] substitution and potential for cation exchange. The mineral fabrics provide a geoarchaeological\ud prototype for developing cementitious processes through low-temperature rock-fluid\ud interactions, subsequent to an initial phase of reaction with lime that defines the activity of natural\ud pozzolans. These processes have relevance to carbonation reactions in storage reservoirs for CO2 in\ud pyroclastic rocks, production of alkali-activated mineral cements in maritime concretes, and regenerative\ud cementitious resilience in waste encapsulations using natural volcanic pozzolans

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Section: Seneca 4 Bce-65 Ce Quaestiones Naturales 3203-4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phillipsite and Al-tobermorite mineral cements produced through low-temperature water-rock reactions in Roman marine concrete

Jackson

Mulcahy

Chen

et al. 2017

American Mineralogist

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160

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“…Nünnerich-Asmus 1994: 25–54. The new identification has been accepted by, among others, Coarelli 2007, Steinby 2012a: 50–1, and Jackson and Kosso 2013: 280.…”

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confidence: 88%

“…Cf. however Jackson and Kosso 2013: 279 (‘Durable concrete constructions in Rome apparently date to the second century [ b.c . ]’).…”

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confidence: 99%

“… 124 See especially Vitruvius 2.6.4: ‘igitur dissimilibus et disparibus rebus correptis et in unam potestatem conlatis, calida umoris ieiunitas aquae repente satiata communibus corporibus latenti calore confervescit et vehementer efficit ea coire celeriterque unam soliditatis percipere virtutem.’ ‘Therefore, different and heterogeneous materials having been subjected to fire and reduced to the same condition, the hot dry state rapidly satiated by water boils together because of the heat latent in these types of ingredients, thus making them combine strongly, and quickly acquire a unique quality of solidity’ (translation mine). Jackson and Kosso 2013: 273 read in this passage the influence of the Empedoclean theory of the four classical elements on Vitruvius.…”

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A New Date for Concrete in Rome

Mogetta

2015

J. Rom. Stud.

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Concrete is regarded as a quintessentially Roman achievement. The spread of the technology is usually dated to the fourth or third centuriesb.c., and interpreted as a symptom of Rome's early expansion in Italy. In this paper I offer a reappraisal of the available evidence for early concrete construction in Rome. On the basis of stratigraphic evidence, I conclude that a later date should be assigned to most of the remains. I situate the origins of the technological innovation within the radical change in architectural styles that unfolded in the middle of the second centuryb.c., affecting both domestic architecture and public building. The new chronology has an impact on current models of cultural diffusion in Roman Italy, linking the development of Late Republican architecture with the broader debate on the cultural implications of the Roman conquest.

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“…Further to a publication on Vitruvius as an author [21], related studies cover a contemporary reading of the opening chapter of De Architectura [22], the literary significance of the treatise [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] and its raced-gendered narrative [31], the use of building materials and construction methods as media forming the identity of the Roman Empire [32], and Vitruvius's geographical system [33] and design (e.g., linear perspective [34], Roman temples [35], the Basilica at Fano [36,37] and acoustic vessels [38]). Studies related to the last of these themes include the geological analysis of tuff and travertine in stone masonry [39][40][41], mortar [42][43][44] and concrete technology [45][46][47], notably seawater concrete [48][49][50][51][52].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Architecture, Engineering and Building Science: The Contemporary Relevance of Vitruvius’s De Architectura

Bianco

2023

Sustainability

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Conferences worldwide focus on a range of disciplines relating to the construction of the built environment. They tend to emphasize either the art or the science of building, the former focusing on architectural theory and design while the latter targets a range of topics from civil and/or building engineering to building physics. Vitruvius’s De Architectura Libri Decem is a seminal treatise more than two millennia old which addresses these themes in a holistic manner. This text remains valid today for students and professionals engaged in architecture and building engineering. Translated as Ten Books on Architecture, it not only presents an overall view of the disciplines of town planning, architecture and civil engineering, along with the qualifications required to practice them, but also addresses building materials, civil-engineering structures and the science influencing buildings. Although grounded in the practice and technology of Ancient Rome, the principles put forward in this treatise are still valid nowadays for effective, sustainable architectural-engineering design based on rigorous education and good knowledge of building materials and construction. Vitruvius’s definition of architecture—the one still customarily used—is an inclusive philosophical statement on the essence of building for humanity to house humanity. It recalls the symbiotic relation between architecture and building engineering that is often forgotten in the contemporary emphasis on specialization.

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Scientia in Republican Era Stone and Concrete Masonry

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

Phillipsite and Al-tobermorite mineral cements produced through low-temperature water-rock reactions in Roman marine concrete

Phillipsite and Al-tobermorite mineral cements produced through low-temperature water-rock reactions in Roman marine concrete

A New Date for Concrete in Rome

Architecture, Engineering and Building Science: The Contemporary Relevance of Vitruvius’s De Architectura

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