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From http://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2016/07/05/the-physics-of-ancient-roman-architecture/#5153c6334350

The Physics Of Ancient Roman Architecture
Chad Orzel
July 5, 2016

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that there’s a great deal of science involved in the construction of something as colossal as the Pantheon, but in the general reductionist spirit of physics, we can break it down to a really simple balance of two forces: gravity pulling the components of the roof down, and forces from the concrete and bricks of the structure trying to keep it up. The Pantheon succeeds because its designers did a brilliant job of playing these off against each other, but an inherently three-dimensional structure like a dome is really complicated, so in the traditional manner of physics analysis, we’ll simplify it further, because the essential idea is captured by another signature feature of Roman architecture, the arch.

Read the full article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2016/07/05/the-physics-of-ancient-roman-architecture/#5153c6334350