''Opus isodomum'' ("work of equal height") is an ancient technique of wall construction with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

s. It uses perfectly cut, completely regular squared stone blocks of equal height, and sometimes of the same length.

Etymology

opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

'', work + ''isodomum'', analogous to '' isodomon'', where ''

iso- ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Is ...

'' = equal

Overview

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

this technique was perfected and widely used, especially for public buildings (temples, theatres, amphitheatres, etc.). One of the most well-known examples is the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

briefly described this technique in his ''

De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide ...

'', 2nd book, 8th chapter as following: "A wall is called 'isodomum' when all the courses are of equal height". He further states that the stone blocks of ''opus isodomum'' are bound together by mortar, but more often they are not connected with mortar but with metal ties such as iron cramps, fixed in stone blocks with molten lead. Completely regular ''isodomum'' is relatively rare, especially in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

s. More frequent is ''isodomum'' made of stone blocks of the same height but not of the same length. In order to strengthen this type of wall, builders always take good care that the ends of stone blocks in alternating courses of the wall do not match. Opus pseudoisodomum is a version of ''opus isodomum'' mentioned by Vitruvius, describing that it is a kind of stonemasonry in which "the rows of courses do not match but run unequally", referring to the height and length of the blocks, which are nevertheless still perfectly cut. Vitruvius considered both types of wall construction as

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, emphasizing that "both kinds are strong".Vitruvius 1990, 42

Gallery

File:Opus quadratum.svg, Different types of opus isodomum File:Opera Isodoma.jpg, Opus isodomum (left) and opus pseudoisodomum (right)

Footnotes

{{reflist

Bibliography

* Vitruvius 1990 – Marcus Vitruvius Pollio: Deset knjiga o arhitekturi, translated by Matija Lopac, Sarajevo, 1990, p. 41–46 *Müller / Vogel 1999 – Werner Müller; Gunther Vogel: Atlas arhitekture 1, translated by Milan Pelc, Zagreb, 1999., p. 3, 31, 60, 61 *Suić 1976 – Mate Suić: Antički grad na istočnom Jadranu, Zagreb, 1976, p. 108, 110 Stonemasonry Ancient Greek architecture Roman construction techniques