An imbrex (plural imbrices) was a flat roofing tile used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Mission, or barrel, roof tiles For the towns named Tile, see Tile, Somalia and Tile, Lebanon. ... The Romans adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. ...
IMBREX (Latin for "tile"), in architecture the term given to the covering tile of the ancient roof: the plain tile is turned up on each side and the imbrex covers the joint.
In the simpler type of roof the imbrex is semicircular, but in some of the Greek temples it has vertical sides and an angular top.
In the temple of Apollo at Bassae, where the tiles were in Parian marble, the imbrex on one side of the tile and the tile were worked in one piece out of the solid marble.
The imbrex and tegula (plurals imbrices and tegulae) were interlocking roofing tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture as a waterproof and durable roof covering.
The tegula (Greek solenes) was a plain flat tile, or a flat tile with raised edges, which was laid flat upon the roof, while the imbrex (Greek kalupter) was a semi-cylindrical roofing tile, like a half-pipe, laid over the joints between the tegulae.
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.
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