Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (aka Vitruvius) was a Roman architect & engineer who lived in the 1st Century BC. Using the measurements of an average man, he established the scale, proportions & orders we now associate with classical architecture. These principles were intended to ensure that design would feel comfortable in the way it was used, as well as pleasing to the human eye. In De Architectura, he asserts that a structure must adhere to the Vitruvian Triad; solid, useful & beautiful.
The Parthenon is a Doric temple with Ionic features, such as the continuous sculpted frieze running around the exterior of the cella (inner chamber of the temple). It is large in proportion because it was not built to a human scale, rather to that of the gods (ie. the goddess Athena), which were believed to be of monumental size. Several studies have deduced that the Parthenon's proportions can be approximated to the golden ratio, but no evidence has been found to suggest it was ever considered in the design.
As the largest amphitheatre of the Roman empire, the Colosseum also appears to have been designed to the proportions of the gods. However, it was built as three stories of superimposed arcades in a tiered arrangement, which allowed it to accommodate over 50,000 people. The Romans invented tickets & assigned seating, reportedly allowing all 50,000 people to enter & be seated in 15 minutes.
The Parthenon is a Doric temple with Ionic features, such as the continuous sculpted frieze running around the exterior of the cella (inner chamber of the temple). It is large in proportion because it was not built to a human scale, rather to that of the gods (ie. the goddess Athena), which were believed to be of monumental size. Several studies have deduced that the Parthenon's proportions can be approximated to the golden ratio, but no evidence has been found to suggest it was ever considered in the design.
As the largest amphitheatre of the Roman empire, the Colosseum also appears to have been designed to the proportions of the gods. However, it was built as three stories of superimposed arcades in a tiered arrangement, which allowed it to accommodate over 50,000 people. The Romans invented tickets & assigned seating, reportedly allowing all 50,000 people to enter & be seated in 15 minutes.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Leonardo_da_Vinci-_Vitruvian_Man.JPG
http://pximagez.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Parthenon-Athens-Greece-Wallpaper.jpg
https://lh4.ggpht.com/b3b2Tp8gvvqe9bDoydzFNyKx0YVgjt8Z2M5ZGCTGoc3yenFoWRHHw1P1n2H-85HQ8YXcFg=s110
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000AiZWu1fAeQ4/s/650/650/Colosseum-Italy.jpg
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/631310/Vitruvius
Vitruvius, Pollio (transl. Morris Hicky Morgan, 1960), The Ten Books on Architecture. Courier Dover Publications.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Vitruvius.aspx
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/
Banister Fletcher, History of architecture on the Comparative Method, pp 119-123.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/101542/cella
Beard, Mary (2010). The Parthenon. Profile Books. p. 118.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-origin-of-the-greek-gods.html
Van Mersbergen, Audrey M., "Rhetorical Prototypes in Architecture: Measuring the Acropolis", Philosophical Polemic Communication Quarterly, Vol. 46, 1998.
Markowsky, George (January 1992). "Misconceptions About the Golden Ratio". The College Mathematics Journal 23 (1): 2–19.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-3000/largest-amphitheatre/
Ian Archibald Richmond, Donald Emrys Strong, Janet DeLaine. "Colosseum", The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford University Press, 1998.
ALFÖLDY, GÉZA (1995). "Eine Bauinschrift Aus Dem Colosseum.". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 109: 195–226.
Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby), A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 1929.
http://pximagez.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Parthenon-Athens-Greece-Wallpaper.jpg
https://lh4.ggpht.com/b3b2Tp8gvvqe9bDoydzFNyKx0YVgjt8Z2M5ZGCTGoc3yenFoWRHHw1P1n2H-85HQ8YXcFg=s110
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000AiZWu1fAeQ4/s/650/650/Colosseum-Italy.jpg
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/631310/Vitruvius
Vitruvius, Pollio (transl. Morris Hicky Morgan, 1960), The Ten Books on Architecture. Courier Dover Publications.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Vitruvius.aspx
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/
Banister Fletcher, History of architecture on the Comparative Method, pp 119-123.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/101542/cella
Beard, Mary (2010). The Parthenon. Profile Books. p. 118.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-origin-of-the-greek-gods.html
Van Mersbergen, Audrey M., "Rhetorical Prototypes in Architecture: Measuring the Acropolis", Philosophical Polemic Communication Quarterly, Vol. 46, 1998.
Markowsky, George (January 1992). "Misconceptions About the Golden Ratio". The College Mathematics Journal 23 (1): 2–19.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-3000/largest-amphitheatre/
Ian Archibald Richmond, Donald Emrys Strong, Janet DeLaine. "Colosseum", The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford University Press, 1998.
ALFÖLDY, GÉZA (1995). "Eine Bauinschrift Aus Dem Colosseum.". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 109: 195–226.
Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby), A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 1929.