This volume begins with a comparison between the Parthenon and the Pantheon, whose simplicity and dignity represented a new level of sophistication in architecture based on a system of vaults and cement construction. The first part of the book examines the practices that originated in central Italy, the great complexes of the Republican era, and the projects of the Augustan age, culminating in the layout of the Forum. This is followed by analysis of the construction method known as opus caementicium, with examples of works from the complex of Trajan's Market to projects realized by Hadrian. The author goes on to consider the Rome of late antiquity, where key buildings provide powerful examples of the complex phenomenon of Imperial Rome. The book also discusses Roman architecture in such diverse areas as Thessalonica, Ephesus, Constantinople, Nimes, Verona and Pompeii, with an overview of developments in southern Italy and the provinces.