Final Post

Here we are! We have finally reached a point where we have put all of our research into something actually tangible. We choose a portion of the Domus Aurea to recreate in sugar cubes.

Each cube is scale to 1.5 meters.

The project was particularly difficult because of uncertainty on what to actually build. We knew we want to some how recreate the Domus Aurea, but how? We choose to take a specific section and blow it up to much larger scale and show some detail. The finished project is somewhat rough but still took many hours to complete.

Post 4

Busy schedules on both my part and my partner Alex's are making it hard to fit in an actual build day. We have most of a plan put together. A plywood base with sugar cube walls secured together with some glue. We have a layout of walls and such but not the time to do it. We will probably end up working on it at nights during weekdays. But we have continued research about Roman culture and how it has influenced the Western world.

In this post I would like to discuss Roman religion. Now, I know no Western Civilization practices the Roman form of polytheism, but you see its effects all around you. All of the planets are named after Roman gods. Even some of our brand names are Roman, Mars Company and Venus for example. But the true influence is from Christianity. I know you are going to say, "No way, the Romans crucified Christ. How is Christianity related at all?" Well, let me tell you. In 312 AD (or CE for you common era aficionados) Emperor Constantine saw a great cross in the sky before a battle, he won the battle and believed it was the doing of Jesus, this began his conversion to Christianity. Once the emperor converted it was only a matter of time before the entire Empire was celebrating Christ. This is what propelled Christianity into the spotlight, and why it is so prevalent in modern society.

Post 3

This week was very similar to last week. Mostly consumed by some research. But not just in design of the building itself, we have looked into various materials that will be needed in the construction of our model palace. Sugar cubes may be our top choice for main construction, as they are easy to work with, uniform in shape, and are white just like the Domus Aurea itself. Mortared together with a similarly white glue, we believe we can create a fairly accurate representation.

I would now like to talk about another influence on Western Culture: Government. Now I know what you are thinking, "But I thought it was the Roman Empire not the United States of Rome?" Well, you see, before the imperial period it was the Roman Republic, and what is the United States? Yes, a republic. Rome, too, had to have a massive bureaucracy to manage such vast holdings that it had even during the time of Republic. Much like today, Roman lawyers filled volumes with laws and regulation that had to be adhered to by the masses but only partly by the wealthy, similar one could say to modern times.

Post 2

This first week was somewhat slow as much of our project time is consumed with research. Due to the extreme time difference involved it is difficult to find accurate, reliable resources. But we persevere. We have found a plan of the Domus Aurea that we believe to be accurate enough to use.

This first week's focus will be on entertainment.
The Roman Emperors controlled the mob by providing them with entertainment. Much like today crowds would gather at huge stadiums capable of holding thousands of cheering fans. At these stadiums there would be grand giveaways, thousands of loaves of bread would be thrown to the crowd, similar to modern giveaways at sporting events. Today fans rep their favorite teams and bet on the best players, this stems from Roman practices. Fans would often wear the colors of "their" chariot team or bet on gladiator fights. At some points tensions between rival fans could form gangs and considerable damage to cities were the result,

As you can see, much of what modern sports aficionados do today originated in Classical Rome. This may be from Roman influence or from a deep rooted human need to be part of and participate in however small a way of something more than themselves.

Post 1

As this is the first blog post, I would like to give a little background on the project.
There have been many influences on Western Culture, but the most significant is Classical Rome. We see the Roman flavor in our laws, art, science, and architecture. But you may ask, "Where exactly do we see this supposed Roman infusion?"
That is where Alex and I come in. Our goal is to cover all main aspects of Roman Influence and through the creation of a scale model of a famous Roman structure, highlighting one of the most obvious influences, architecture.

Much of Roman society grew from Greek culture. The Greeks colonized much of the Mediterranean, as a result Rome picked up much of nuances as Rome expanded. They were very similar sharing such societal pillars as religion and architecture, though with slight differences in small things like the names of gods and column style.

The following blog posts will each be on a separate facet of Roman Influence.