The Arch
One of the Architectural problems of the Ancient world that concerned architect and author George Baltoyannis as a student of Architecture in Rome, was the Arch, specifically the Architectural solution to supporting large openings in construction. According to his professors, the Arch was a Roman invention, unknown in the Ancient Greek World, but having visited many Greek archeological sites, something did not feel right. We had all witnessed the use of the Arc in Greek temples and constructions, long before the Roman Civilization. Could it be that George’s old university professors were wrong?
Could the Arch be a Greek invention after all?
Ancient point of view
The false belief that the arch was a Roman invention, unknown in the Ancient Greek World still prevails today as I discovered during a recent trip to southern Italy. I decided to investigate this matter further to determine the truth. I investigated with the eyes of the Ancients and uncovered unknown places and secret cults that played a crucial role in shaping the architecture of the time. These cults formed a cosmic standard with axes and shapes through which the ancient satisfied their religious needs. They attempted to convert theory into action, with structures and symbols, placing sacred temples in specific points with axial relations between them. Art was an integral component of a global logic that worked together as a whole.
To solve the problem of the Ancient Logic, one must use the findings and imagination and put oneself into "their shoes". It is like using a modern PC only as a calculator. I realized that this approach increased the success of amateurs over professionals, as in the case of Schliemann. I became more confident after reading the fantastic effort of the volume "History of the Greek Nation" in the past. However, after conducting my research, I found some key differences in the results, and something is amiss. Sixteen volumes, about 10,000 pages, are based on 159 collaborators, including archaeologists, historians, and philologists, and only report one architect and one mathematician, leaving out the other professionals for 101,941 years.
However, we know of at least 754 Ancient Scientists, of whom 117 were architects, and they were structurally implementing the theories of the Ancient Greeks for 1,200 years. Moreover, the architect of that time was a painter, sculptor, engineer, etc. The architect of today has the most comprehensive training and profound knowledge of the past through the history of art, the present constructing buildings, and the future by processing future proposals. Building design, static knowledge, functional needs design, interior design, in-depth knowledge of materials, topography, mathematics, prospectively, construction details, social structures knowledge, and a thousand other things result in a piece of global knowledge.
When the profession of the architect is absent, individual analyses of archaeological findings, historical facts, or philosophical thinking may be possible, but the system does not work spherically, especially when other professions are missing in the analysis process.
The prevailing opinion worldwide is that the architecture of the Greeks is only the linear surface with rhythms - Doric, Ionic, Corinthian - and formulas, such as Prostyle Amphiprostyle, Pavilion, Dipteral, etc. I was curious to study the subject of construction knowledge of the Ancient Greeks and, based on tireless researchers' ideology, covered the gaps in the area of Greek knowledge while taking into account colleagues' views and professionals in other scientific areas.
- Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens
During my investigations, I kept falling on puzzles and riddles that opened access to other spaces. I walked into a Labyrinth of Knowledge whose road was not closed in front of me, and I followed it. When I looked into the problems with the eyes of the Ancient entering their mentality, I saw solutions. I used Pythagoras as a key to open latched doors and understand the symbolism of the Sacred Temples. The Labyrinth led me to a circular space where I saw seated people dressed as Greeks, watching in agony there in front of me, the Goathorned.
I bit my lips because I realized that the Goathorned actor was playing Dionysus Revelation.
