I O N 



tTieafre at I^aodicea, however, this order has a pulvinsted 

 frieze, whofe height is rather lefs than a fifth of that of tlie 

 whole entablature. In the temples of Bacchus at Teos, 

 and of Minerva Polias at Priene, the architraves are divided 

 into three facii bolow the cymatium. In all the Aliatic 

 fpccimens, the crowning moulding is a fii:ia refta, lefs in 

 projettion than in height ; the dentils are conllantly ufed, 

 and their height is about a mean proportion between that of 

 the fima redta and that of the larimer ; it being always 

 greater than the height of the larisner, and lefs than that of 

 the fima rcfta. The cymatium of the denticulated band 

 being wrought aimed entirely out of the foiTit of the corona, 

 recelfed upwards, its eltvation is almofl concealed from the 

 eye of the beholder. The height of the cornice, from the 

 top of the fima, to the lower edge of the dcntib, is about 

 equal to that of the architrave. The altitude of the fiieze, 

 exclufive of its cymatium, or upper mouldings, may be 

 taken at about a fourth of the whole entablature. To give 

 it a greater proportion, would make the entablature too 

 high for the colum.ns. 



In the Ionic examples of Greece, there is a conftant ratio 

 between the upper part of the cornice, from the lower edge 

 of the corona upwards, and the height of the entablature, 

 which is nearly as two to nine. This is a very diftindl divi- 

 fion, occafioiied by the great rccefs of the moiddings under 

 the corona ; for wliith reafon the cornice is not reckoned 

 too ciumfy, though the whole denticulated band and cyma- 

 tium of the frieze be introduced below it ; and this feems to 

 be the c!;aradteri(l:ic difference between the European and 

 Asiatic Ionics. This order, as found in Ionia, is complete ; 

 while the fpecimens of Attica want the dentil band, though 

 in other refpefts they are very beautiful. But the mod ex- 

 quillte remains we have of this order, are to be found in the 

 temple of Minerva Polias at Priene, which, for beauty of 

 proportion and elegance of decoration, exceeds every other 

 ipecimen. 



Plate XXVIII. exhibits a reprefentation with the propor- 

 tions of this magnificent example, the proportions being 

 marked upon the outline. 



Plale I. exhibits iwfgs. I, 2, 4, y, different bafes applicable 

 to the Ionic orders, fig. i. from the temple of Jupiter Olym- 

 pius ; Jig. 2. from that of Minerva Polias, at Athens ; Jig. 4. 

 an Ionic bafe according to Vignola ;_^i>. 5, elevation of the 

 capital of the temple of Minerva Polias, at Athens. This 

 is perhaps the motl elegant fpecimen that is to be found of 

 the Ionic capital. 



loxic Architrave, bafe, capital, corniche, entablature, freeze, 

 pedJlaL See the fubftantivcs. 



ioxic Dialed, in Grammar, a manner of fpeakmg pecu- 

 liar to the people of Ionia. 



At filft, it was the fame with the ancient Attic ; but 

 pafilng into Afia, it did not arrive at that delicacy and per- 

 fection to vihich tlte Athenians attained ; inflead of that 

 it rather degenerated in Afia Minor ; being corrupted by the 

 admiifion of foreign idioms. 



In this dialect it was that Herodotus, Hippocrates, and 

 Galen wrote. See Dialkct. 



Ionic Stfl was the firfl of the ancient feds of philofophers, 

 and was called the Ionic fchool. 



The founder of this fe& was Thsrles, (fee his article,) 

 who, being a native of Miletus,. in I^i.ia, occafioncd his 

 fo lowers to affiimethc appeliation of Ionic. 



It was the dilHnguilhing tenet of this feci, that water 

 was the principle of aU natural ihinga-. 



This is what Pindar alludes to in the beginning of his 

 £i!l Olympic Ode. 



BuL Thales could not mean to aiTert, that water is the 



I O N 



efllfientcaufc of the formation of bodies; but merely, tl.at 

 this is the element from which they are produced. It is not 

 improbable, that by "water,'' he meant to cxprcfs the 

 fame idea, which the Cofmogonifts exprcfTcd by the word 

 cliaos, the notion annexed to which was that of a turbid 

 and muddy mafs, from which ail things were produced. 

 (Sec CiiAo.s.) It has been much debated, whether Thales, 

 befides the palfive principle in nature, which he called water, 

 admitted an intelligent, elBcient caufe. Thofe who have 

 maintained the affirmative lay great ftiefs upon fundry apho- 

 rifms concerning God, which are afcribrd by the ancients to 

 this philofojjher, particularly the following j that God is 

 the moll ancient being, who has neither beginning nor end ; 

 that all things are full of God ; and that the world is the 

 beautiful work of God. They alfo allege the tcftimony 

 of Cicero, who fays, (De Nat. Deor. I i. c. 10.) that 

 Thales taught, that water is the firil principle of all things, 

 and that God is that mind which formed all things out of 

 water. Thofe who are of the contrary opinion, urge that 

 the ancients, and even Cicero himfelf, though not very con- 

 fidently, afcribe to Anaxagoras the Iionour of having firfl 

 reprefented God as the intelligent caufe of theuniverfe, and 

 they add that the evidence in favour of Thales reds only 

 upon traditional tcdimony, which n.ay be oppof^.-d by other 

 authorities. (Elem. Alex. Strom, l.'ii. p. 364. Aug de 

 Ca. Dei. 1. viii. c. 2. Eufeb. Prep. Evang. 1. i. c. 7 ). 

 The truth may probably be this ; that Thales, though he 

 did not exprefsly maintain an independent mind as the effi- 

 cient caufe of nature, admitted the ancient doctrine con- 

 cerning God, as the aniinatii.g principle or foul of the 

 world. Concerning the material uurld, Thales taught, th.t 

 night exided before day, which doftrine he prob:ib!y bor- 

 rowed from the Grecian theogonies, which placed Nu. l-',or 

 Chaos, among the fird divinities. He held that dar.-. ;;rc 

 fiery bodies ; that the moon is an opaque body illuminated 

 by the fun, and that the earth is a fplierical body, placed 

 in the middle of the univerfe. In mathematics, Thales is. 

 faid to have invented fevcral fundamen'al propofitions, which 

 were afterwards incorporated into the elements of Euclid ; 

 particularly the following theorems, <uis. that a circle is bi- 

 feded by its diameter ; that the angles at the bafe of an ifof- 

 ceies triangle are equal ; that the vertical angles of two in- 

 terfeding hues are equal; that, if two angles and one fide 

 of one triangle be equal to two angles and one fide of another 

 triangle, the remaining angles aud fides are refpedively 

 equal ; and that the angle in a femicircle is a right angle. 

 Of bis knowledge of the piiji.iples of menfuration, and 

 confequeiitly cf thedodrineof proportion, his indrudions 

 to the Egyptian prieds for finding the height of their pyra- 

 mids, are a fullicient proof. His method was this; at the 

 termination of the fliadow he ereded a HafFperpen 'icuiar to 

 the lurface of the earth ; and thus obtained two right-angled 

 triangles, which enabled him to infer the ratio of the height 

 of the pyramid to the length of its fhadow, from the ratio of 

 the height ofthedaiVto the length of its diadow. (Laert. 1. i. 

 § 24, 25. 27. Proclus in Eudid. 1. i. Plin. Plift. Nat 

 1. xxxviii. c. 17.) Aftronomy, as well as mathematics, 

 feems to have received confiderableimprovcm.ent from Thales.. 

 He was able to prcdid an eclipfe, though probably with no 

 great degree of accuracy as to the time; for Herodotus, 

 who relates ihis fad (1. i.), only fays, that he foretold the 

 year in whichit would happen. He taught the Greeks the 

 divifion of the heavens into five zones, and the folditial and 

 equinodial points, and approached fo near to the kr.ow- 

 ledge of the true length of the folar revolution, that he cor- 

 reded their c.ilcndar, and made their year to contain 365 . 

 dajs. The feeds of natural fcience,' which had been fown 



