museum Imbrices and tegulae were first made by the
Greeks. Like
bricks, they were formed of wet
clay in a four-sided
mould, often shaped with a piece of wire, and then baked in an oven or
kiln. More sophisticated moulds were developed over time. Tegulae were originally made perfectly flat, or with nothing more than a ridge underneath the upper border, which allowed the tile to be "hung" upon a sloping roof so that it would not slide to the ground. Later, tegulae were formed with a raised border on the two vertical sides, which would channel rainwater to the bottom of the tile, rather than allowing it to seep between tiles to dampen the roofing materials. Another improvement occurred when these two raised borders were made to converge, forming a broad v-shaped
trapezoid with the narrowest edge downwards, nestling into the widest part of the tile below it to form a continuous channel. The imbrices completed the
waterproofing of the roof by arching over the joints between the vertical edges of the tegulae, dividing the roof into channels. Rain water flowed off the curved imbrices into the channels and down over the surfaces of the tegulae, and descended into the
gutter (
canalis). In formal architecture the
canalis had a plain or ornamented frontal piece set atop the
entablature, immediately above the
cornice. The semicircular opening at the front of the lowermost imbrex was often capped with an ornamental
fronton, and the spouts which drained the gutters were frequently decorated with
lions' heads (
capita leonina) or other fantastic or grotesque faces. By Roman times many tiles were being made under the auspices of various
Roman legions, and were imprinted with a stamp of the legion's insignia. Imbrices and tegulae are common finds in
archaeological sites, and their design and markings can be of use in dating the sites and identifying the inhabitants. Romans also often recycled broken tiles by incorporating them into
mortar. Tiles of
marble were first used around the year
620 BC. Besides the superior beauty and durability of the material, these tiles could be made of a much larger size than those of clay. Consequently, they were used in the construction of the greatest temples, such as the
Temple of Zeus at
Olympia, ==Gallery==