ARCHITECTURE. 
from this circumstance it is probable, that 
the method of reducing calcareous stones 
into lime for mortar was unknown at this 
time. The walls of Babylon are described 
to be one of the seven wonders of the 
world ; they were first built by queen Se- 
miramis, in the time of her regency, dur- 
ing the minority of her son Ninias ; and it 
would seem that they were afterwards im- 
proved by the great Nebuchadnezzar. Of 
these mighty works there are no re- 
mains, nor hardly any trace of the ancient 
city. 
In the ruins of Persepolis, though the 
columns are of a character somewhat diffe- 
rent from those of Egypt ; yet the Egyp- 
tian style of building may be retraced in 
various parts of these ruins. Diodorus Siculus 
says, that the famous palaces of Susa and 
Persepolis were not built till after the con- 
quest of Egypt by Cambyses, and that they 
were both conducted by Egyptian architects; 
it therefore seems probable that the Per- 
sians received the art of building in un- 
wrought stone from the Egyptians. 
The Phoenicians were also very cele- 
brated for their arts of design, but few or 
none of their works have reached the pre- 
sent time. 
In the vast structures of Asia and Africa, 
greatness of design, ponderosity of parts, 
and stones of immense magnitude, seem to 
have been more regarded than elegance or 
utility : in all those great works there is no 
trace of an arch, but what is excavated out 
of the solid rock, or may be made of a 
single stone. The Greeks profess to have 
derived the knowledge of architecture 
from the Egyptians, but the art of building 
has been so much improved by trans- 
planting, that scarcely any trace of the ori- 
ginal remains : their edifices were at first 
constructed of wood and clay, but they 
soon began to imitate the wooden posts 
and beams of the original hut in stone and 
marble : from this imitation arose the first 
order in architecture, which also gave birth 
to two others. This ingenious people, fa- 
voured by nature with marble and other 
building materials, and, like the Egyptians, 
being anxious to make their works durable’ 
employed very weighty stones in the con- 
struction, which, although laid without ce- 
ment, as was the practice of all ancient 
nations, yet they were jointed with the ut- 
most accuracy, which is the reason of the 
perfect state of their edifices at this day. 
There is little doubt but that the Greeks 
were the inventors of the arch, though they 
never considered it as an ornament ; it is 
only to be found in the theatres and gym- 
nasia; the apertures of walls and intereo- 
lunms being linteled. 
Greece, though a mild climate, is some- 
times liable to raiu ; the architects of this 
country, therefore, found it necessary to 
raise the roofs of their edifices, to a lidge 
in the middle, the section being that of a 
rectilineal isosceles triangle : the base be- 
ing the span or distance between the oppo- 
site walls. This form of roof, called a pe- 
diment roof, was frequently covered with 
marble tiles. 
The Grecians suipassed all contempo- 
rary nations in the arts of design ; the re- 
mains of their ancient structures are mo- 
dels of imitation, and confessed standards 
of excellence. They were the inventors 
of three orders of architecture, of which 
we have already hinted, and which we 
shall detail in a subsequent part of this ar- 
ticle. The remains of their sculptures far 
exceed that of any other people, and are, 
even at this day, most perfect models. Mo- 
dem artists have np means so certain, in 
attaining a just knowledge of their profes- 
sion, as in the study of those exquisite mas- 
ter-pieces. 
The progress of Grecian architecture 
appeals to have occupied a period of about 
three centuries, from the age of Solon to 
the death of Alexander; and in this period 
it advanced rapidly, particularly from the 
defeat of Xerxes, to the death of Pericles 
at which time it attained its utmost degree 
of excellence, and continued to flourish 
till the time it became a Roman province. 
Prior to the Macedonian conquest, all 
the temples of Greece, and its colonies in 
Sicily and Italy appear to have been of the 
Doric order; and of one general fomi, 
though slightly varied in particular parts, as 
occasional circumstances might require: 
theii plan was an oblong, having one co- 
lumn more on the flank than double the' 
number of those in front. 
The anoient Etrurians have left many 
excellent monuments of taste, and to them 
is generally ascribed the method ofbuiiding 
with small stone and mortar, made of cab 
careous stone ; and this seems probable, as 
the most ancient vestiges of cementitious 
buildings are to be found in the country 
which the present Tuscans inhabit. 
They were employed by the Romans in 
many public tvorks; the walls of the city of 
Rome were made ot hewn stone, the capitol 
and the cloaca maxima are of their con- 
struction ; the last of these is esteemed a 
very extraordinary piece of architecture, as 
