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Apollodorus of Damascus

 
Architecture and Landscaping: Apollodorus of Damascus
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(fl. AD 98–125c.). Damascus-born, he became architect to Emperor Trajan (98–117), and is credited with most of the Imperial buildings of the latter's reign, including the thermae and forum of Trajan, the enormous Ulpian basilica, Trajan's column, and the nearby market complex. He seems to have given the Roman thermae their definitive form, was an important influence on the Roman Imperial style, and brought a sound knowledge of advanced constructional techniques to bear on his various projects (not least of which was the huge bridge over the fast-flowing Danube, near Turnu Severin, Romania, constructed in c.104). It would be tempting to connect Apollodorus with the building of the Pantheon and the Villa Adriana at Tivoli, in the reign of Hadrian (117–38), but the evidence is lacking. He was the author of several technical treatises, now lost, and enjoyed a considerable reputation in his lifetime, although his disagreements with Hadrian over the design of the Temple of Venus and Rome may have cost him his life.

Bibliography

  • W. MacDonald (1965–86)
  • Ward-Perkins (1981, 1986)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

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Columbia Encyclopedia: Apollodorus of Damascus
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Apollodorus of Damascus, Roman architect and engineer, fl. late 1st to early 2d cent. A.D., b. Syria. Apollodorus was responsible for nearly all buildings designed under the emperor Trajan, for whom he was official architect. Known for his use of symmetry and axial organization, Apollodorus produced his greatest achievement in the Forum of Trajan (see forum) and Trajan's Column (see Roman art). His treatise Engines of War survives.
Wikipedia: Apollodorus of Damascus
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The monumental Danube Bridge of Apollodorus. Apollodorus himself stands in the foreground behind the sacrificing emperor.[1]

Apollodorus of Damascus was a Syrian engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD, from Damascus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Apollodorus of Damascus, "Syrian engineer and architect who worked primarily for the Roman emperor Trajan."</ref>[2][3][4] He was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia. He also designed the Forum Trajanum and Trajan's Column within the city of Rome, beside several smaller projects. Apollodorus also designed the triumphal arches of Trajan at Beneventum and Ancona. He is also widely credited as the architect of the Pantheon, and cited as the builder of the Alconétar Bridge in Spain. In 106 he also completed or restored the odeon begun in the Campus Martius under Domitian.

Trajan's Column, in the centre of the Forum, is celebrated as being the first triumphal monument of its kind. On the accession of Hadrian, whom he had offended by ridiculing his performances as architect and artist, Apollodorus was banished and, shortly afterwards, being charged with imaginary crimes, put to death (Dio Cassius lxix. 4). He also wrote a treatise on Siege Engines (Πολιορκητικά), which was dedicated to Hadrian.

The story about Apollodorus' death demonstrates the persistent hostility felt towards Hadrian in senatorial circles long after his reign, for if Cassius Dio included it in his history, he must have believed it. Many since have taken Dio's anecdote at face value, but there is much in this story that does not add up and many scholars dismiss its historicity altogether, for instance: R. T. Ridley: "Apollodoros of Damascus" (1989)

Notes

  1. ^ Giuliana Calcani, Maamoun Abdulkarim (2003), Apollodorus of Damascus and Trajan's Column: From Tradition to Project, L'Erma di Bretschneider, p. 55, ISBN 8882652335 
  2. ^ George Sarton (1936), "The Unity and Diversity of the Mediterranean World", Osiris 2: 406-463 [430]
  3. ^ Giuliana Calcani, Maamoun Abdulkarim (2003), Apollodorus of Damascus and Trajan's Column: From Tradition to Project, L'Erma di Bretschneider, p. 11, ISBN 8882652335, "...focusing on the brilliant architect Apollodorus of Damascus. This famous Syrian personage represents..." 
  4. ^ Hong-Sen Yan, Marco Ceccarelli (2009), International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms: Proceedings of HMM 2008, Springer, p. 86, ISBN 1402094841, "He had Syrian origins coming from Damascus" 

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Architecture and Landscaping. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Copyright © 1999, 2006 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
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