Roman Architecture
Diana Kleiner's Yale course traces Roman building from the Republic through the empire's provinces, using more than 1,500 images drawn largely from her own photographs of the sites. Lectures cover the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the forums of Rome alongside the buried streets of Pompeii, then range outward to structures in Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Turkey, tracking how Roman engineers adapted concrete construction, vaulting, and urban planning to different climates and materials across the empire. Mural painting and interior decoration get sustained attention alongside the architecture itself, so students see how Romans actually lived inside these spaces rather than just their exteriors. Recorded from Kleiner's twice-weekly Yale College lectures in Spring 2009 through Open Yale Courses, the full set of sessions is freely available with no enrollment required, giving a complete survey course rather than a highlight reel.