Opus reticulatum
Roman masonry in diamond-shaped bricks of tuff, covering a core of opus caementicium / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Opus reticulatum (also known as reticulate work) is a facing used for concrete walls in Roman architecture from about the first century BCE to the early first century CE.[1]: 136–9 [notes 1] They were built using small pyramid shaped tuff, a volcanic stone embedded into a concrete core.[2]: 75–6 [3] Reticulate work was also combined with a multitude of other building materials to provide polychrome colouring and other facings to form new techniques.[4]: 260–4 [5]: 189 Opus reticulatum was generally used in central and southern Italy with the exception being its rare appearance in Africa and Jericho.[1]: 175 [5]: 189 This was because of tuff's wider availability and ease of local transport in central Italy and Campania compared to other regions.[2]: 73–4 [5]: 189
Reticulate work developed in response to the advent of opus caementicium and its predecessor, opus incertum.[6]: 136–45 This was to accommodate both the new building material and the growing demands of urbanisation in Rome through the creation of opus reticulatum, a method more uniform and accessible to unskilled labourers.[1]: 136–7 The need for quicker and easier techniques led to a decline in popularity allowing for the rise of brickwork as a more convenient alternative, especially after the Great Fire of 64 CE.[5]: 165–8
Opus reticulatum is important for understanding the choices the Romans made with their architecture while keeping in mind the architectural restraints and changes in their circumstances.[1]: 134–44 Reticulate work can also provide evidence of cross-cultural exchange between Rome and its correspondents through its usage outside of central and southern Italy.[1]: 175 Further, a written account from Vitruvius shows a Roman opinion on opus reticulatum and its significance in Roman culture.[3] Along with other facings, the technique is also important for dating buildings in modern scholarship where there is an absence in explicit evidence to date the construction.[7]: 68–9