BUILDING. 



200 years before tlie Clrriftian rera. From tliis period, 

 though the Romans adopted the Grecian arcliiteftiirc, they 

 did not rejeft their original mode of conlhtidtion. Tlitir 

 mod confiderable edifices are built with pebbles and rnbblc 

 rtones, grouted in mortar, wiih the areiies and angles and 

 facings of brick, or fmall rubble flones fcpiared, and (Irength- 

 ened at intervals, with regular bonding courfe's of (lone or 

 brick, running through the whole thicknefs. The wa.ls, fo 

 built, were generally incrullcd wilh llucco or marble. This 

 method of building is much more expeditious and econo- 

 mical than conftruflions of wrought Hone, which ocealion 

 a confiderable wade of n^aterials, extraordinary labour in 

 dreffinT and fquaring, and ncceffitate great expence in re- 

 luoviHg and elevating. By this method the Romans, em- 

 ploying all kinds of workmen, and materials to llie fmallcll 

 fragments, were enabled to raife the prodigious number of 

 edifices which furpafs, in extent, the monuments of any other 

 people. 



Vitruvius defcribes the different kinds of wall ufed in his 

 time in this manner. Tiie forts of walls are the ruliciilatei!, 

 which is now generally ufed, and the ancient, which is alfo 

 called the mccrtmn. Of thefe two, the reticulated is the 

 handfomeft ; but the joints are fo ordered, that in all parts 

 the courfes have an infirm pofition ; whereas, in the incertain, 

 the materials rell firmly one upon the other, and are inter- 

 woven together, fo that they are much ftronger than the re- 

 ticulated, though not fo han<jl'ome. Both forts are formed 

 of very fmall pieces, that the walls, being faturatcd with 

 mortar, may endure the longer; for the ftones being of a 

 porous and fpongy nature, abforb the nioillure from the 

 mortar, and when there is abundance of mortar, the wall hav- 

 ing more humidity, will no', fo foon decay, but will, on that 

 account, be rendered more durable ; for as loon as the hu- 

 midity is extrafted from the mortar by the fuftion of the 

 ftones, then the lime and fand feparating, the cement is dif- 

 folved, and the mortar, no longer uniting the materials, the 

 walls foon become ruinous. This may be obferved in fome 

 tombs near the city, which are built with marble, or hewn 

 {lone, and the internal parts rammed with rubble Hone ; the 

 mortar being, by length of time, drained of Its humidity by 

 the fuftion of the ftones, and the union of the jomts being 

 difTolved, they feparate, and fall to ruin. To avoid this er- 

 ror, (Vitruvius proceeds), the middle fpace muft be ftrength- 

 ened with abutments of the red hewn ftone, or bricks, or 

 common flints built in walls two feet thick, and bound to 

 the front with cramps. Another fort, is that called by the 

 Greeks empledon, which, (fays Vitruvius), iu alfo ufed by 

 our villagers. The faces of the ftones in this kind are 

 fmooth, the left is left as it grows in the quarry, being fe- 

 cured with alternate joints and mortar ; and our artificers 

 quickly raifing a ftiell, which fervesforthe faces of the wall, 

 fill the middle with rubble and mortar. But the Greeks 

 do not build in that manner ; they not only build the 

 facing courfes regularly, but alfo ufe alternate joints through- 

 out the whole thicknefs, not ramming the middle with rub- 

 ble, but building it the fame as the face ; befides this, tliey 

 difpofe Cngle pieces, which they call diatouos, in the thick- 

 nefs of the wall, extending from one face to the other, 

 which bind and exceedingly rtrengthen the walls. 



The works in wrought ftone of the Romans were, as 

 well as thofe of the Greeks, conftrudled without cement ; 

 but they ufed cramps and ligatures of iron and bronze 

 in extraordinary profufion. It is remarked by Mr. Wood, 

 in defcribing the great temple of Balbec, probably a work 

 of Antoninus Pius, that " the fhafts of thefe columns confift 

 of three pieces, joined moft exaftly without cement, which 

 is ufed in no part of thefe buildings, and ftrengthened by 



iron pins received into a focket worked in catli ftone. 

 Moft of the bafes had two fuch fockcts, one circular and 

 another fcpiare, corrcfponding to two others of t!ie fame 

 (hape and dirnenfions in tlie underpirt of the ftiau. By 

 nicaliuing fome of the lirgcft of thel'e, which were circular, 

 we found tiie iron pin whieli they received mull have been a 

 foot long, and above a foot in diameter. When we ob- 

 ferved, by lindin;; fuch fockets in all the fallen fragmeiui 

 ot this tenplc, that each Hone had probably been ftitngtli- 

 entd in thib manner, wc were lef? furprifed at tlic qv.antitiis 

 ol iron faid to have been carried away by the Bafliaws 

 of Damafcus at dill'erent times from thefe ruins, on which 

 they had left evident marks of their violent, though un- 

 fuccefsful, attempts to get at the iron of the columns which 

 are ftariding. Mow much this method contributes to the 

 ftrength of the building, is remarkably fttn in the n-.oft 

 entire temple, w here a column has fallen againft the wall of 

 the cell with fuch violence, as to beat in the (tone it fell 

 againft, and break part of the (hafr, while the joinings 

 ot the fame fliaft have not been in the Icaft opened by llic 

 fliock." The ufe of metal was not confintd to cramps and 

 bolts, the ancients even conftrufted roofs of brop.ze ; the 

 portico of the Pantheon, before its fpoliatlon by Urbaa 

 VIII., was covered with beams and rafters of this material. 

 Tiled with marble, and fupported with granite columns ; 

 this poitico prefented a rare combination of grand and 

 beautiful architefture, with the richcft materials, and the 

 appearance of indeftruaibility. Serlio has prefervtd a defign 

 ot this metallic roof, which was formed of beann and 

 rafters, after the ufual methods of carpentry ; thefe were 

 united and fecured by pins and nails of the fame metal; 

 and as well to economife the material, as to IcfTen the 

 weight of the whole, the pieces were hollow. The interior 

 of the portico is divided by the columns into three divifions, 

 or aiflcs ; the two lateral were ceiled, and that in the middle 

 vaulted, alfo with bronze. The quantity av.d beauty of 

 this metal may be appreciated by the throne of St. Peter, 

 and the Baldaquin of the fame cathedral, the moft confi- 

 derable, beyond comparifon, of inodern works in bronze, 

 and wliofe enormous mafs is not the equivalent of the 

 fpoils of the Pantheon from which they were formed, 

 for an infcription on the portico of this edifice informs us, 

 that the cxeefs of this valuable metal was call into the 

 cannons of St. Angelo. 



Bronze was alfo ufed with magnificent profufion in the de- 

 coration of buildings ; thus many edifices preferve not 

 indeed the ornaments themfclves, thefe have long been torn 

 away by the rapacity of barbarifm, but the marks and 

 cramp-holes, by which were attached alto relievos or trophies 

 or infcriptions. 



It excites regret to refleft that the means cn-.ployed by 

 the ancients to increafe the beauty and enfure the folidity of 

 tiieir edifices, have, in many inftances, only ftrved to ac- 

 celerate their deftruftion ; the beautiful marbles of the 

 Grecian temples are continually carried oflF by Turkifh 

 carvers of grave ftones, or burnt into lime ; the inhabitants 

 near the fcite of the temple of Apollo Didymsus, appear 

 to have been principally fupported by this impious manu- 

 fafture. Palmyra and Balbec have long furnifhed mines of 

 metal to the neighbouring Baftiavvs ; the Colifeum bears, 

 in innumerable fcaffolding holes, the marks of an attempt 

 at its entire ruin in fearch of the cramps which conneft it« 

 ftones ; and the amphitheatre of Nifmes is ftill blackei;ed bv 

 combuftions kindled for the fame purpofe ; the temple of 

 Peace, the baths and palaces of the emperors, and indeedalmoft 

 all the edifices of grandeur and magnificence have been more 

 ruined by the violences of rapine than the iniwries of time. 



3 0.2 " It 



