PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 415* 



nated as the divine architect in the legends concerning the foundation of 



his sanctuaries." 



And further on he writes 



Thus " schools of poets came to form themselves, which were no less in- 

 timately connected with the sanctuary than were the art of sacred archi- 

 tecture and hieratic sculpture." 



But, as we have before seen, the lack of a priestly organization in 

 Greece obscured the development of the professions in general, and 

 that of architects among others. 



That much of the Koman cult was not indigenous, and that 

 importation of knowledge and skill from abroad confused the de- 

 velopment of the professions, we have seen in other cases. The 

 influence of the Etruscans was marked, and it appears that of the 

 religious appliances derived from them, architecture was one. 

 Duruy writes : 



" Etruria also furnished the architects who huilt the Roma quadrata of 

 the palatine, and constructed the first temples ; she provided even the flute- 

 players necessary for the performance of certain rites." 

 But the identity eventually established between the chief priest 

 and the chief architect, in the person of the Pontifex maximus, 

 while it illustrates the alleged connection, also reminds us of one 

 of the original causes for the priestly origin of the professions 

 the possession of learning and ability by priests. Among primi- 

 tive peoples, special skill is associated with the idea of supernatu- 

 ral power. Even the blacksmith is, in some African tribes, re- 

 garded as a magician. Naturally, therefore, the Roman who 

 either first devised the arch, or who first conspicuously displayed 

 skill in constructing an arch, was supposed to be inspired by the 

 gods. For though the arch is now so familiar that it does not 

 excite wonder, it must, when first used, have appeared an incom- 

 prehensible achievement. Hence a not unlikely cause, or at any 

 rate an ancillary cause, for the union of priest and bridge-builder. 



After the fall of the Roman Empire the social disorganization 

 which arrested mental activities and their products, arrested 

 architecture among them. Its re-commencement, when it took 

 place, was seen in the raising of ecclesiastical edifices of one or 

 other kind under the superintendence of the priestly class. Re- 

 ferring to the state of things after the time of Charlemagne, 

 Lacroix writes : 



" It was there that were formed the able architects and ecclesiastical 

 engineers who erected so many magnificent edifices throughout Europe, 

 and most of whom, dedicating their lives to a work of faith and pious de- 

 votion, have, through humility, condemned their names to oblivion." 

 Speaking of France, and saying that up to the tenth century 

 the names of but few architects are recorded, the same author 

 writes : 



