Apollodorus of Damascus


Apollodorus of Damascus was an architect and engineer from Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD. As an architect he authored several technical treatises, and his massive architectural output gained him immense popularity during his time. He is one of the few architects whose name survives from antiquity, and is credited with introducing several Eastern innovations to the Roman Imperial style, such as making the dome a standard. He is also known as Apollodorus Mechanicus.

Early life

Apollodorus was born in Damascus, Roman Syria. Modern sources refer to him as Nabatean, Arab & Hellenized Nabatean, or as Greek. The name Appolodorus is a Hellenized form of the Nabatean name Abodat. It is noted that Trajan may have first met the architect in Syria, where Apollodorus began his career and maintained his artistic ties. Furthermore he mentions that the stylistic and grammatical weakness of his inscriptions suggest Greek was not his native language and that his second language was Greek.
Neither Cassius Dio nor Procopius, scholars and historians of antiquity, mention his origins when writing of him. Little is known of his early life, but he started his career as a military engineer before meeting future emperor Trajan in Damascus, then being summoned to Rome by him when he was a consul in 91 AD, after his twentieth birthday, and later accompanying him during the Second Dacian War in 105 AD.

Works and style

Apollodorus was Trajan's favoured architect and engineer.
In Rome he designed and oversaw the construction of:
Outside the capital, Apollodorus designed the:
He is the author of Siege Engines, dedicated to an unnamed emperor, likely Trajan.
The director of the in Damascus, Fiorella Festa Farina, described the technical prowess of Apollodorus as stemming from his cultural roots and the architectural tradition of Syria; and that he owed his particular mastery to Nabataean culture filtered through Greek modes of thought. He was known for his practical and robust designs. It was likely due to his influence that domes became a standard element in Roman architecture.

Death

Cassius Dio reports that Apollodorus offended Hadrian by dismissing and ridiculing the emperor's forays into architecture, which led to his banishment and death. many modern historians cast doubt on this event. According to the historian Jona Lendering, modern scholarship views the anecdote as unlikely to have occurred, due to Hadrian's preoccupation with far greater threats to his power early in his reign, and that the criticism Apollodorus proffered was acted upon.