The Treasury Building is a prime example of Roman imitation
architecture in Washington D. C.
Washington D. C. The 4th
Rome
That the
city of Washington D.C. and its government buildings were
consciously modeled after the city of Ancient Rome during the
heyday of the Roman Empire there can be no doubt. The
architecture of the government buildings featuring the columns
and
the grandeur of the size of buildings like the White House and
the Capitol Dome
are clearly imitations of Rome. Pennsylvania
avenue which runs from
the White House to the Capitol Building and is flanked on either
side
by a myriad of government edifices is obviously inspired by the
old Roman Forum. There is even more compelling evidence
of the founders' obsession with classical Rome which is best
described in an excerpt from the
c-span
web site:
The framers of the Constitution chose "Senate" for the [ name of
] upper body because most of them had a classical education and
were very well versed in the ways and wisdom of the Roman
Republic. "Senate" was the name given the supreme council of
state in ancient Rome, and its members were called "Senators."
According to Donald Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historical Office, the
word "Senate" comes from the Latin, "Senatus," which means
council of elders. (It is also the root word for senility!)
Many of the original names for Washington locales were chosen
as a reflection of this fascination and respect for the model of
government provided by the Romans. For example, the original
Jenkins Hill was renamed "Capitoline Hill," after the one in Rome,
and now is known simply as Capitol Hill. Gooseberry Creek
became "Tiber Creek," which still runs underneath the Federal
Triangle.
For those of you not well versed in history the city of
Constantinople ( now Istanbul) which was founded in the 4th
century A.D. to administer the Eastern half of the Roman Empire
became known as the 2nd Rome. When Constantinople fell to the
Turks in 1453 Ivan the Great of Muscovy, who was married to a
Byzantine Princess, proclaimed Moscow to be the 3rd Rome and
declared himself to be Tsar of all the Russias. Tsar and Czar are
both
Slavic corruptions of the word Caesar.
