Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/225

 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. 167 V. Roofs. — Extreme care was bestowed upon the elaborately constructed, and highly-finished, roofs of the temples. These were of timber framing (Nos. 23 and 25), and were covered with large slabs of marble with cover- pieces which at the eaves were finished with richly carved ante- fixae (Nos. 16, ig c and 20 h, j). The acroteria or blocks of stone resting on the vertex and lower extremities of the pediment, and supporting statuary or orna- ments were characteristic fea- tures (Nos. 16 A, 20). The ceilings of the peristyles were coff'ered in stone with square or rectangular panels (No. 21), having carved enrichments, the richest examples being at the Parthenon (No. 23) and the Temple of Apollo Epicurius (No. 27). Coffered ceilings in framed timber probably roofed over the large span of the cella. E. Columns. — The orders were structural necessities wherever used. The column and beam are the keynotes of Greek archi- tecture, the fluting being carried out when the columns were in position. Orders never superimposed except to interiors of Temples (Nos. 20, 23, 28 B and 31 d). The only Greek use of pedestals appears to be that of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus (No. 31). The Tuscan Order, which is merely a simplified form of the Doric, was not employed by the Greeks. D. Roofs. — The noble vaults and domes described on page 117 constituted the important de- velopment, and in many cases were richly coffered, as at the Pantheon (Nos. 54, 55). Timber framing also appears to have been employed, and according to Horace, splendid wooden coffered ceilings were employed in the houses of the rich. Roof coverings were either of terra- cotta, as amongst the Etruscans, or of bronze in the more impor- tant buildings, as for example the Pantheon. According to Vitruvius flat terrace roofs were employed, which it is believed were constructed of T-iron and concrete, as in some of the larger halls of the Therms. The ceilings internally were of various geometric patterns, such as octagons and squares in com- bination, as at Baalbec. E. Columns — The orders were usedin connection with the arch, and gradually lost their struc- tural importance, being used in a decorative manner, as in the Colosseum at Rome, or in the Triumphal Arches. Orders often superimposed, as at the Colosseum (No. 62 a). The Romans introduced pedestals on which they placed the column to secure greater height. A canon of proportions, reduced to rules by Vitruvius, was gradually evolved for all the orders. The Tuscan Order has a plain unfluted column and simple entablature (No. 262 b). S. Paul, Covent Garden, is a good modern example by Inigo Jones The Doric Order (No. 38 a) was largely used by the Greeks, their most important buildings being The Doric Order (No. 38 b), was little used by the Romans, not being suited to their ideas of