A RECENT VISIT TO THE DALMATIAN COAST. 55 
forms of construction of the oldest temples, which were of wood. 
The various members of the entablature, architrave, frieze, and 
cornice, had their respective origin in the square beams laid from 
post to post, in the ends of the cross beams, and in the projecting 
boarding which covered the rafters and ties of the roof. The 
entablature was the one persistent element in all Greek and 
Roman art, and continued for a long time after the trabeated or 
beamed construction had lost its real structural meaning ; it was 
in fact what a naturalist would term a vestigial phenomenon. In 
this portico of the vestibule we see quite clearly that the architect 
Fig. 5. 
had abandoned the idea of the entablature being a beam, whilst 
at the same time it retained all its traditional elements. The next 
step, the omission of the frieze and cornice, and the complete 
emancipation of the arch from its traditional style, was a compara- 
tively short one. The record of this further evolution is beautifully 
shown in the arcading of the peristyle (fig. 6). Here the frieze 
and cornice of the quondam entablature are omitted, and the 
