508 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



of Corinth, and the most legitimate example 

 at Athens is in the choragic monument of 

 Lysicrates. The Corinthian order was much 

 employed in the subsequent structures of 

 Rome and its colonies. The finest Roman ex- 

 ample of this order is that of three columns 

 in the Campo Vaccina, at Rome, which are 

 commonly considered as the remains of the 

 temple of Jupiter Stator. 



Caryatides. The Greeks sometimes de- 

 parted so far from the strict use of the orders 

 as to introduce statues, in the place of col- 

 umns, to support the entablature. Statues of 

 slaves, heroes, and gods appear to have been 

 employed occasionally for this purpose. The 

 principal specimen of this kind of architecture 

 which remains is in a portico called Pandro- 

 seum, attached to the temple of Erectheus at 

 Athens, in which statues of Carian females, 

 called Caryatides, are substituted for columns. 

 Roman. Architecture. Roman archi- 

 tecture possessed no originality of any value ; it 

 was founded on copies of the Greek models, 

 and these were modified to suit circumstances 

 and tastes. The number of orders was aug- 

 mented by the addition of the Tuscan and 

 Composite. 



Tuscan Order. This order is not unlike 

 the Doric, and is chaste and elegant. The 

 shaft had a simple base, ornamented with one 

 torus, and an astragal below the capital. The 

 proportions were seven diameters in height. 

 Its entablature, somewhat like the Ionic, con- 

 sisted of plain running surfaces. 



The Composite Order. Of this there were 

 various kinds, differing less or more either 

 in the ornaments of the column or in the 

 entablature. The simplest of this hybrid or- 

 der was that which combines parts and pro- 

 portions of the Doric, the Ionic, and the 

 Tuscan. 



The temples of the Romans sometimes re- 

 sembled those of the Greeks, but often differed 

 from them. The Pantheon, which is the most 

 perfectly preserved temple of the Augustan 

 age, is a circular building, lighted only from 

 an aperture in the dome, and having a Corin- 

 thian portico in front. The amphitheater 

 differed from the theater, in being a com- 

 pletely circular or rather elliptical building, 

 filled on all sides with ascending seats for 

 spectators, and leaving only the central space, 

 called the arena, for the combatants and pub- 

 lic shows. The Coliseum is a stupendous 

 structure of this kind. The aqueducts were 

 stone canals, supported on massive arcades, and 

 conveying large streams of water for the supply 

 of cities. The triumphal arches were com- 

 monly solid oblong structures ornamented with 

 sculptures, and open with lofty arches for pas- 



sengers below. The edifice of this kind most 

 entire in the present day is the triumphal arch 

 of Constantine, at Rome. 



The basilica of the Romans was a hall of 

 justice, used also as an exchange or place of 

 meeting for merchants. It was lined on the 

 inside with colonnades of two stories, or with 

 two tiers of columns, one over the other. The 

 arliesv Christian churches at Rome were some- 

 times called basilicae, from their possessing an 

 internal colonnade. The monumental pillars 

 were towers in the shape of a column on a 

 pedestal, bearing a statue on the summit, 

 which was approached by a spiral staircase 

 within. Sometimes, however, the column was 

 solid. The thermae, or baths, were vast struc- 

 tures, in which multitudes of people could 

 bathe at once. They were supplied with warm 

 and cold water and fitted up with numerous 

 rooms for purposes of exercise and recreation. 

 Italian Architecture. After the dis- 

 memberment of the Roman empire, the arts 

 degenerated so far that a custom became prev- 

 alent of erecting new buildings with the frag- 

 ments of old ones, which were dilapidated and 

 torn down for the purpose. This gave rise to 

 an irregular style of building, which contin- 

 ued to be imitated, especially in Italy, during 

 the dark ages. It consisted of Grecian and 

 Roman details, combined under new forms, 

 and piled up into structures wholly unlike the 

 unique originals. Hence the names Graeco- 

 Gothic and Romanesque architecture have 

 been given to it. After this came the Italian 

 style, which was professedly a revival of the 

 classic styles of Greece and Rome, but adapted 

 to new manners and wants a kind of transi- 

 tion from ancient to modern times. Its great 

 master was Andrea Palladio, a Venetian (born 

 1518, died 1580). 



There are considerable variety and beauty in 

 the foliate and other enrichments of an archi- 

 tectural character in many structures in Italy, 

 but very little ornament enters into the co- 

 Iv.mnar composition of Italian architecture. 

 Friezes, instead of being sculptured, are swol- 

 len ; the shafts of columns are very seldom 

 fluted, and their capitals are generally poor ill 

 the extreme ; moldings are indeed sometimes 

 carved, but not often ; rustic masonry, ill- 

 formed festoons, and gouty balustrades for 

 the most part supply the place of chaste and 

 classic ornaments. 



The Chinese Style The ancient Tar- 

 tars and wandering shepherds of Asia appear 

 to have lived from time immemorial in tents, 

 a kind of habitation adapted to their erratic 

 life. The Chinese have made the tent the 

 elementary feature of their architecture ; and 

 of the?r style anyone may form au idea by in- 



