Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/194

 136 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. thus provided with a lofty basement, has columns of a sturdier proportion. The Temple of Jupiter, Spalato (in Diocletian's Palace) ("a.d, 284) (No. 59), is a further development of the Pantheon. Externally it is octagonal, surrounded by a low peristyle of Corinthian columns, but the interior of the cella is circular, 43 feet 8 inches in diameter, with four circular recesses and three square, the entrance corresponding to a fourth. Between these are placed eight Corinthian columns with Composite ones super- imposed, advanced slightly in front of the face of the wall. The whole is raised on a podium, and crowned with a remarkable domical vault constructed in tiers of brick arches, externally presenting a pyramidal form. The Circular Temple, Baalbec (a.d. 273) (No. 60 d, e, f), has a circular cella raised on a podium and approached by a flight of steps. It is surrounded by eight Corinthian columns, six of which are well advanced from the cella wall, and occupy the positions resulting from the division of a circle into seven equal parts. The entrance is placed centrally on the seventh division of the circle, and has a column on either side. The cella wall has Corinthian pilasters, between which are semicircular niches for statuary. The line of the entablature is curved inwards towards the cella between the six columns above mentioned. Internally it has superimposed Ionic and Corinthian orders. The Christian baptisteries erected in the following centuries were adapted from such circular temples as these just described, which are therefore extremely interesting with respect to architec- tural evolution. BASILICAS. These, erected as halls of justice and as exchanges for merchants, comprise some of the finest buildings erected by the Romans, and bear witness to the importance of law and justice in their eyes. These buildings are also interesting as a link between Classic and Christian architecture, as explained later on page 181. The usual plan was a rectangle, whose length was two or three times the width. Two or four rows of columns ran through the entire length, resulting in three or five aisles, and galleries were usually placed over these. The entrance was at the side or at one end, and the tribunal at the other on a raised dais, generally placed in a semicircular apse, which was sometimes partly cut oflf from the main body of the building by columns. Ranged round the apse were seats for the assessors, that in the centre, which was elevated above the rest, being occupied by the Praetor or Questor. In front of the apse was the altar, where sacrifice was performed before commencing any important business. The building was generally covered with a wooden roof^ and