ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 



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Ionic, and Corinthian. These were all used in 

 Kome, but with some modifications ; the Doric, 

 for example, being never employed as in Greece, 

 being without fluting, and having the capital and 

 entablature altered, and a base added, so as to 

 make the style more similar to the others, with 



Fig. 1. Doric Arcade. 



which it was often associated. The Ionic had the 

 volutes turned out angularwise, so as to present 

 a similar face in each direction. The 

 favourite 'order' of the Romans, however, 

 was the Corinthian. It was invented in 

 Greece, but more fully developed in Rome, 

 where it suited the desire which existed 

 for richness and luxuriance in architecture. 

 Many fine examples of this style exist in 

 Rome (as the Pantheon and the temple of 

 Jupiter Stator) and in the provinces (as 

 the Maison Carree at Nimes and the Great 

 Temple at Baalbek), the capitals, wherever 

 found, being designed in endless variety. 

 The Composite order was an invention 

 of the Romans, and is sometimes called the 

 llnniiin order. It is a combination of the 

 Ionic and Corinthian. All these orders 

 were employed by the Romans, but in a 

 manner peculiar to themselves ; they com- 

 bined with the Greek orders the arch. This 

 feature, at first confined to substructuri's, 

 was gradually introduced into the visible parts of 

 the structure, and became finally an important 



duced, and from them arches were thrown which 

 supported the wall. This was the favourite style of 

 the Romans, and may be seen in all their important 

 works (amphitheatres, arches, baths, &c. ). They 

 piled one order above another, marking each story 

 with the entablature. As the style proceeded 

 vaulting and arching became more common, especi- 

 ally in internal construction, but the horizontal 

 ornamentation was never entirely abandoned. 

 Arches of the above construction were thrown from 

 pillar to pillar behind the entablature, but gradu- 

 ally the pier was omitted, and the arch openly 

 constructed from column to column, the architrave 

 bent round it, and the cornice continued horizon- 

 tally above, as at Diocletian's palace at Spalato. 



The buildings executed by the Romans are very 

 varied in their character, but the same style was 

 used for temples, baths, amphitheatres, triumphal 

 arches, tombs, &c. The earliest temples of which 

 remains now exist are those of Jupiter Stator in the 

 Forum, Jupiter Tonans, and Mars Ultor, all of the 

 Augustan epoch, and each with only three columns 

 left. These are supposed to have been nearly 

 peripteral, and it is worthy of notice that the cells 

 are all large, and one of them has an apse. 



One of the most interesting temples of Rome is 

 the Pantheon. The portico is of the age of Augus- 

 tus, but the rotunda is probably considerably later. 

 The dome of the interior is a splendid example of 

 the progress of Roman architecture in developing 



Fig. 2. Courtyard at Spalato. 



element in the elevations. The columns were placed 

 (fig. 1 ) at wide intervals, and set on pedestals to 

 give them and the entablature a proper proportion ; 

 whilst behind the columns square piers were intro- 

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Kg. 3. Transverse Section of Basilica of Maxentius. 



the use of the arch, and transferring the decoration 

 from the exterior to the interior. The former is in 

 this case totally sacrificed to the latter ; but the 

 interior has not yet been surpassed for holdings of 

 construction or simplicity and sublimity of effect 

 (see PANTHEON). Other examples of circular 

 temples, on a small scale, are found at Tivoli and 

 in Rome, both dedicated to Vesta. 



The greatest works of the Romans, however, 

 were not their temples. The Basilicas (q.v.), Am- 

 phitheatres (q.v.), and Baths (q.v.) are far more 

 numerous ana more stupendous as works of art, 

 and all show how well the Romans had succeeded 

 in producing an internal architecture, which at a 

 later period became so useful as a model for Chris- 

 tian buildings. The Basilica of Trajan is a type of 

 the Christian wooden-roofed churches ; while that 

 of Maxentius (fig. 3), with its great intersecting 

 vaults, and its vaulted aisles and buttresses, con- 

 tains the germs of the greatest Christian cathedrals. 

 The Roman amphitheatres have never been sur- 

 passed for size and grandeur, or for suitability to 

 their purpose. And of the baths sufficient remains 

 still exist, although much decayed, from the perish- 

 able nature of the brick and stucco employed in 

 their construction, to prove that the scarcely cred- 

 ible descriptions of contemporaries were surpassed 

 by the grandeur of the buildings themselves. Other 



