The Herculaneum gate of Pompeii and the baths of Caracalla in Rome are examples of Roman brick structures.īricks were made by hand until about 1885. They built walls, forts, cultural centre, vaults, arches and faces of their aqueducts. The Romans used brick for public and private buildings over the entire Roman empire. The kiln fired bricks measured 1 or 2 Roman feet by 1 Roman foot, and sometimes up to 3 Roman feet with larger ones. Roman bricks differed in size and shape from other ancient bricks as they were more commonly round, square, oblong, triangular and rectangular. These were bricks stamped with the mark of the legion who supervised the brick production. The Romans succeeded in introducing fired bricks to the entire country thanks to mobile kilns. They only used white or red clay to manufacture bricks. The Romans prefered to make their bricks in spring, then they stored them for two years before selling or using them. From this moment on, bricks could be made without the heat of sun and soon became popular in cooler climates. The greatest breakthrough came with the invention of fired brick in about 3,500 Bc.