The Gilded Age. The name, popularized by American author Mark Twain, conjures images of gold and jewels, lavish palaces, and wealth beyond imagination. And indeed, during the period we know as the Gilded Age — the late 1800’s to the 1920’s — American business leaders amassed huge fortunes, creating a suddenly-rich baron class with a fondness for ostentatious displays of newfound...
Neoclassical architecture describes buildings that are inspired by the classic architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. In the United States, it describes the important public buildings built after the American Revolution, well into the 1800’s. The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. is a good example of neoclassicism, a design chosen by the Founding Fathers in 1793. The prefix Neo- means...
Fine Arts is an opulent subset of the Neoclassical and Greek Revival architectural styles. A dominant design during the Gilded Age, Fine Arts was popular but short-lived in the United States from roughly 1885-1925. Also known as Fine-Arts Classicism, Academic Classicism, or Classical Revival, Fine Arts is a late and eclectic form of Neoclassicism. It combines classical architecture from ancient...
Inn, building that affords public lodging, and sometimes meals and entertainment, to travelers. The inn has been largely superseded by hotels and motels, though the term is often still used to suggest traditional hospitality. Inns developed in the ancient world wherever there was traveling for trading purposes. Ancient Persia’s extensive highway system featured inns. Along caravan...
Roman road system, outstanding transportation network of the ancient Mediterranean world, extending from Britain to the Tigris-Euphrates river system and from the Danube River to Spain and northern Africa. In all, the Romans built 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of hard-surfaced highway, primarily for military reasons. The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Apia (Apia Way), begun by...
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