An Insight into the Vaulting Process in the Roman Period: A One-Off Case or a Standard Construction Method?

This paper describes the construction process deployed in building Roman vaults with flanking walls. The Roman method of applying concrete, known asopus caementicium, in layers has led researchers to assume that Roman vaults were successively constructed in combination with the flank walls. Using two examples from the period of Maxentius, I can prove that the walls were first of all built up like a surrounding "box" as far as the crown height, whereby a later joint between the vault and the walls was prepared. Once the masonry for the walls was completed, the scaffolding was removed to create space for the centring for the vault. The spatial conflict between the scaffolding and centring is the main reason why I believe that the described process was a standard method used for constructing concrete vaulting with flanking walls.