caementum
caementum, an unhewn stone, quarry-stone
- A rough, unhewn stone, as it comes from the quarry, a quarry-stone, used for walls.
- A Plur. (so most freq.), Vitr. 1, 2, 8; 7, 6, 1; Cato R. R. 38, 3; Varr. ap. Non. p. 96, 5 al.: in eam insulam materiem, calcem, caementa, arma convexit, Cic. Mil. 27, 74; so id. Div. 2, 47, 99; id. Q. Fr. 3, 9, 7; Liv. 36, 22, 11; 21, 11, 8; Hor. C. 3, 1, 35; Tac. G. 16.—
- B Sing., Vitr. 1, 5, 8; 8, 6, 14; Tac. Or. 20; Plin. 35, 14, 48, § 169; Mart. 9, 76, 1.—
- II Caementa marmorea, pieces that fly off from marble in working, chips of marble: caementa marmorea, sive assulae, Vitr. 7, 6, 1.
~um, caesura lapidis
cementum,liim lapidum
cimentum,stanlim
cimentum,stanlim
~um toto hiemis tempore fecit et petras precepit deferre
rex [Belinus ] ‥ jussit viam ex ~o et lapidibus fabricari
fecit illud [feretrum ] opere ductili, ‥ imagines impulit elevari et concavas ~o solidavit
arcem ‥ cujus et area et muri a fundamento profundissimo exsurgunt, ~o cum sanguine animalium temperato
superfluas lapidum ~ique structuras in altum erigere
~um est calcis et harene cum aqua temperate conjunctio et mixtura que ad lapides conjungendos et parietes liniendos et dealbandos ‥ est necessaria
muro ‥ de petra minuta et cimento communi
in mortera ejusdem sementi facienda
in c tegulis Flandriensibus pro p[u ]lvere inde faciendo ad idem symentum
pro cera et rosina ‥ emptis pro semento faciendo in turre
ad novum campanile ‥ de petris et sementis in cimiterio ecclesie ‥ fabricandum
~um, A.mortar, ‥ cyment
non timeatis dum conglutinate estis semento caritatis [ME: ]ilimed mid lim of ancre luve
horum ‥ pigricie imputatur quod ~um muri religionis monastice ‥ dissipatur
- 1. natuursteen, bouwsteen;
- 2. (Mel.) kalkmortel, specie.
- caedo, an unhewn stone, quarry-stone: in caemento valere: in insulam caementa convexit: caementa non calce durata, cemented with mortar, L.: caementorum usus, Ta.
CAEMENTUM(more frequently in the plural, Caementa;Gk. λατύπη, σκύρος), rubble, or small undressed stones, used together with mortar to form the caementiciae structurae or concrete walls with which the remains of Roman buildings abound. Vitruvius, who tells us that this form of structure was not used by Greek architects, describes (2.8) two chief varieties,--the opus reticulatum, in general use in his day, the more handsome kind of work, but less durable, because it did not bind well together; and the ancient opus incertum, which was less sightly but more lasting, on account of the way in which the stones were bonded together. Schneider in his edition of Vitruvius,. Rich, and others have taken this opus incertum to be the ancient Cyclopean masonry, which was formed by laying together large irregular masses of stone without mortar and filling up the interstices with small stone-chippings; but Vitruvius expressly says, utraque (i. e. incertum et reticulatum) ex minutissimis sunt instruenda. A third method of wall-building which he mentions was a variation from the Greek ἔμπλεκτον, in which two parallel faces of dressed stone were erected, and the interval between them filled up with rubble. He also speaks of concrete walls lined with marble.
Mr. J. H. Middleton (Ancient Rome in 1885, pp. 28-33) has been led by an examination of the existing concrete structures of Rome to distinguish the following varieties:--
1. Unfaced concrete, generally used for foundations, but carried higher; for instance, in the substructures of Caligula's palace. The method of construction was to erect two lines of upright posts from ten to fifteen feet high, and to nail boards against them and pour the concrete in a liquid state into the bed thus constructed, and remove the framework when the concrete had set. The frame was then set on the top of the mass and the process repeated. The stones were usually of the size of a man's fist, and the mortar was composed of lime and the volcanic sand called pozzolana (pulvis Puteolanus, Vitr. 2.6). Its remarkable properties are the chief cause of the durability of Roman concrete.
2. Faced concrete walls, in which the core is always composed in the same way as the unfaced concrete; and we are thus led to the conclusion, which would not have been inferred from Vitruvius alone, that the opus incertum and opus reticulatum were only facings. (a) Opus incertum, in constructing which irregularly shaped bits of tufa were cut smooth on one face, and roughly pointed behind; the whole face of the concrete wall was then studded with these stones, the points sticking into the wall, and the smooth surfaces appearing on the face. The pieces, square, triangular or polygonal, range from two to five inches across. This structure is found in Republican buildings, e. g. at the foot of the Scala Caci. (b) The opus reticulatum differs from the incertum in having the facing stones cut into squares and closely fitted together in a reticulate pattern. It is found in buildings erected from the reign of Augustus to that of Hadrian, as in the Mausoleum of Augustus, and (a later variety with brick-faced angles and bands of brick at intervals of two or three feet) in Hadrian's villa. (c) Concrete faced with burnt brick, the earliest dated examples of which are to be found in the Rostra and the Pantheon. This structure was largely used in many of the most substantial buildings of Rome, while solid walls of brick are not found. Vitruvius (Vitr. 2.8, 17) accounts for this by legal restrictions and a desire to economise space. (d) The so-called opus mixtum, a wall-facing of alternate courses of brick and small blocks of tufa found in the circus of Maxentius (circa A.D.
310) and until the 6th century.
Concrete was extensively used at Baiae in the Augustan age, as a foundation for edifices built out into the sea (Tibull. 2, 3, 45; Hor. Od. 3.1. 33, 24. 3), the Romans having discovered that pozzolana and lime formed a hydraulic cement (Vitruvius (Vitr. 2.6, 1).
The most massive relic of Roman times in this island, the great military wall which extended from the mouth of the Tyne to that of the Solway, is a structure of faced concrete, formed by erecting two faces of large stones and filling up the intervening space with alternate courses of rubble, one foot deep, and mortar, four inches deep. (Archaeologia, vol. 11.1794, p. 64.)
Many of the great Roman achievements in building, especially in distant provinces, are to be attributed to this method of construction, which enabled them to raise, with comparatively unskilled hands and from materials which are accessible in most regions or easily imported, structures which were in a short time bonded together into solid homogeneous masses.
[J.H.F](λατύπη, σκύρος). Rubble or small undressed stones used with mortar to form the concrete walls of Roman buildings. Vitruvius notes two kinds (ii. 8), the opus reticulatum, the more handsome but less durable kind of work; and the primitive opus incertum, less sightly but extremely strong, because of the way the stones were massed together.
Concrete was extensively used at Baiae in the Augustan Age, as a foundation for edifices built out into the sea (Tibull. 2, 3, 45; Hor. Carm. iii. 1. 33, , 24. 3), the Romans having discovered that pozzolana and lime formed an hydraulic cement (Vitruvius, ii. 6, 1).
The most massive relic of Roman times in Great Britain, the great military wall which extended from the mouth of the Tyne to that of the Solway, is a structure of faced concrete, formed by erecting two faces of large stones and filling up the intervening space with alternate courses of rubble one foot deep, and mortar four inches deep.
Many of the great Roman achievements in building, especially in distant provinces, are to be attributed to this method of construction, which enabled them to raise, with comparatively unskilled hands, and from materials which are accessible in most regions or easily procured, structures which in a short time were united into solid homogeneous masses of great tenacity. See Middleton, Ancient Rome in 1885; id. Remains of Ancient Rome (1892); and the article Domus.