One of the Romans’ greatest contributions to the history of architecture was the development of arches, vaults and domes. While their flat-ceiling constructions did not differ significantly from earlier Greek building solutions, it was in structures based on the arch that they achieved truly exceptional technical results.
The Romans did not invent the arch or the vault, but they applied them on a scale that had rarely been seen before. Thanks to highly organised construction methods, the use of brick and stone, and especially the development of Roman concrete – opus caementicium, they were able to span very large spaces and create structures that remained unsurpassed for centuries.