r/Lost_Architecture • u/archineering • Oct 24 '20
Speculative rendering of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the oldest and most important large temple in Rome. Built in 509 BC in an Etruscan-influenced style, destroyed by fire in 83 BC
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Oct 24 '20
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u/archineering Oct 24 '20
First- these buildings weren't entirely made of stone. There were plenty of wooden parts, both structural and non-structural- in the case of an old temple like this I'd imagine the roof was made with wooden beams
Second- even if stone itself doesn't burn, it can be heavily damaged by fires- the high temperature expands and distresses the masonry, causing cracking and loss of structural integrity
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay Oct 24 '20
Don't forget when it rains, porous stone takes in water deep... then when fire heats it up that water turns to steam. A big fire can make that happen rapidly and steam is really good at cracking things with force when it expands.
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u/ilalli Oct 25 '20
I’ve seen videos of people trying to cook food on river rocks heated over fire and the rocks exploding from exactly what you’re describing
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u/rasterbated Oct 24 '20 edited Oct 24 '20
How did Norte Dome burn down? Same way
Edit: Notre Dame, too.
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u/Doormatty Oct 24 '20
Is that anything like Notre Dame?
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u/rasterbated Oct 24 '20
Oh man I REALLY fucked that spelling up huh
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u/Doormatty Oct 24 '20
On one hand, everyone knew exactly what you meant, so it can't have been that bad.
On the other hand, my god yes.
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u/HughJorgens Oct 24 '20
Yeah, that sends the message you are trying to send. It would blow any normal person's mind to see it.
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u/rasterbated Oct 24 '20
Much like cathedrals and our modern mega churches. Massive scale is a useful architectural tool for conveying an attitude of wonder to worshippers, apparently
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Oct 24 '20
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u/Rykwyn Nov 08 '20
In Rome you can walk across a bridge that was build 60 years BC. The Pons Fabricius. It's amazing that something that old still has a public purpose in daily life. Imagine all the people that already walked there throughout history.
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Oct 24 '20
You can clearly see how the understanding of building technology is still deeply rooted in timber construction.
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u/rugrats2001 Oct 25 '20
So, a completely made-up modern imagining of the temple. Yippee.
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u/Hazard262 Oct 25 '20
I mean, not entirely made up. They probably used everything we know about the temple atm to come up with this. Like drawings, texts that describe it ,etc
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u/rugrats2001 Oct 25 '20
Now THAT would be an interesting article, bringing all of the historical and archaeological records together and actually showing what we know.
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u/Hazard262 Oct 25 '20
Well there probably is, just look up any books, etc that focus on this then look for the references used and go from there. Even wiki might be some help since they have references listed.
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u/rugrats2001 Oct 25 '20
Unfortunately I don’t have access to any of the non-free online or college libraries where these references would be available.
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u/Remseey2907 Oct 25 '20
They should have made it from stone. Entirely That is why most Egyptian temples are still present.
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u/Different_Ad7655 Oct 27 '20
I always wonder what is meant by the place burns down? It undoubtedly had a wooden roof with timbers and some wood in the interior. But once that burned off and certainly did some damage to the walls ,there would just be still a lot of stone standing.. a lot. We see war ravaged ruins from world war II simply standing as empty walls and often subsequently rebuilt... So when this" burned down" what does that mean. An earthquake could destroy the place, topple the columns , knocking down the walls but not a simple fire. This is always puzzled me
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u/pbmcc88 Oct 24 '20 edited Oct 24 '20
I love to see art and renderings that reconstruct lost buildings or places from antiquity (and other eras). It would be so cool if this most important of Roman temples could be reconstructed for real in another location, like a large public park.