What distinguished Roman architecture?

The Romans adopted the Greek orders (styles) for columns and capitals (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian) and the Greek way of building temples. However, the also revolutionised architecture in what has been called the Roman architectural revolution or concrete revolution, which used concrete, the arch and the vault.

Although concrete had been used by other peoples before the Romans, it was used only rarely. The Romans were the first to make a large scale use of it. They were also the first to make large scale use of the barrel (simple) arch and the vaulted arch or vault (two to four intersecting arches). The arch has a great load bearing capacity and the vault is suited to building large roofs. Roman concrete was as strong but different than modern concrete. It was less fluid and had to be layered by hand. Building in concrete was quicker and cheaper than building laborious masonry walls and did not require skilled workers. These three elements enabled the Romans to go beyond the post-and-lintel construction methods of the Greeks.

The use of columns did have an influence in Roman life. The Romans continued to build temples the Greek way. They also liked to enclose their squares with quadriporticos; colonnaded porticos along the four sides of the square. The gardens of the houses of the rich were also surrounded by quadriporticos. This was moDELLed on the houses of rich Greeks. The Romans also still used columns for the architecture of large buildings. Their basilicas (large public buildings) had two piers (rows of columns with or without high arches at the top) along the central area of these rectangular structures which supported the roof and two aisles on along the sides of this area. At one end of the building there was an exedra (Greek) or absis (Latin). This was a Greek architectural feature, a semi-circular recess or plinth covered by a semi-dome set in the walls of a building. The architectural structure of the Roman basilica provided the model for the Christian churches of western Europe. Nowadays we call the exedra/absis apse until very recently.