2) Columns
List of Roman victory columns
The tallest Corinthian columns, a style which was particularly popular in Roman monumental construction, adorned the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, reaching a height of 19.82 m including base and capital; their shafts measure 16.64 m high. The next two tallest are those of the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome and of the Athenian Olympieion which are 17.74 m (14.76 m) respectively 16.83 m (14.00 m) high. These are followed by a group of three virtually identical high Corinthian orders in Rome: the Hadrianeum, the Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the Temple of Castor and Pollux, all of which are in the order of 14.80 m (12.40 m) height. All these colonnades, though, are eclipsed by the single Pompey's Pillar which is 26.85 m high with its base and capital (20.46 m without).
The tallest victory column was the Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, with the height of its top above ground being 39.72 m. It thus exceeds its model, Trajan's Column, by 4.65 m, chiefly due to its higher pedestal. In antiquity, the imperial capitals of Rome and Constantinople saw the erection of many more triumphal columns, some of which, like the demolished Column of Justinian, may well have exceeded these heights.
3) Dams
The dam at Cornalvo, Spain, is one of the tallest Roman dams still in use (28 m).
The largest arch dam was the Glanum Dam in the French Provence. Since its remains were almost completely obliterated by a 19th century dam on the same spot, its reconstruction relies on prior documentation, according to which the Roman dam was 12 m high, 3.9 m wide and 18 m long at the crest. Being the earliest known arch dam, it remained unique in antiquity and beyond (aside from the Dara Dam whose dimensions are unknown).
The largest arch-gravity dam was the Kasserine Dam in Tunisia, arguably the biggest Roman dam in North Africa with 150 m length by 10 m height by 7.3 m width. However, despite its curved nature, it is uncertain whether the 2nd century AD dam structurally acted by arching action and not solely by its sheer weight; in this case it would be classified as a gravity dam and considerably smaller structures in Turkey or the Spanish Puy Foradado Dam would move up in this category.
The largest bridge dam was the Band-e Kaisar which was erected by a Roman workforce on Sassanid territory in the 3rd century AD. The approximately 500 m long structure, a novel combination of overflow dam and arcaded bridge, crossed Iran's most effluent river on more than forty arches. The most eastern Roman civil engineering structure ever built, its dual-purpose design exerted a profound influence on Iranian dam building.
The largest multiple arch buttress dam was the Esparragalejo Dam in Spain, whose 320 m long wall was supported on its air face by buttresses and concave-shaped arches. Dated to the 1st century AD, the structure represents the first and, as it appears, only known dam of its type in ancient times, although portions of the Portuguese Muro Dam were similarly shaped.
The longest buttress dam was the 632+ m long Consuegra Dam (3rd–4th century AD) in central Spain which is still fairly well preserved. Instead of an earth embankment, its only 1.3 m thick retaining wall was supported on the downstream side by buttresses in regular intervals of 5 to 10 m. In Spain, a large number of ancient buttress dams are concentrated, representing nearly one-third of the total found there.
The longest gravity dam, and longest dam overall, impounds the Lake of Homs in Syria. Built in 284 AD by emperor Diocletian for irrigation, the 2000 m long and 7 m high masonry dam consists of a concrete core protected by basalt ashlar. The lake, 6 miles long by 2.5 miles wide, is the biggest Roman reservoir in the Near East and possibly the largest artificial lake constructed up to that time. Enlarged in the 1930s, it is still a landmark of Homs which it continues to supply with water. Further notable dams in this category include the little-studied 900 m long Wadi Caam II dam at Leptis Magna and the Spanish dams at Alcantarilla and at Consuegra.
The tallest dam belonged to the Subiaco Dams at the central Italian town of the same name. Constructed by Nero (54–68 AD) as an adjunct to his villa on the Aniene river, the three reservoirs were highly unusual in their time for serving recreational rather than utilitarian purposes. The biggest dam of the group is estimated to have reached a height of 50 m. It remained unsurpassed in the world until its accidental destruction in 1305 by two monks who fatally removed cover stones from the top. Also quite tall structures were Almonacid de la Cuba Dam (34 m), Cornalvo Dam (28 m) and Proserpina Dam (21.6 m), all of which are located in Spain and still of substantially Roman fabric.
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