From Colosseum to Cathedral: Building Big in the European Dark Ages

Relatively speaking, much is known about the construction prowess of Roman engineers. The existence of structures such as amphitheaters like the Colosseum in Rome, temples like the Pantheon, aqueducts like Pont du Gard, structures like Hadrian's Wall, and the remnants of the network of Roman roads that crisscrossed the Empire give mute testimony to both how big and how well they could build. Similarly, the great churches of Florence, Chartres, Lincoln, Cologne and dozens of others give witness to the abilities of the cathedral builders of the Middle Ages. Although there are great gaps in our knowledge of the identities of the builders and their methods, what we know is encyclopedic compared to our knowledge of construction activities during Europe's "Dark Ages"—the seven centuries between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the great churches. This review reveals, however, that "building big" continued through those years.