Page:Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (Seyffert, 1901).pdf/69

Rh bridges, numberless remains of roads and aqueducts and viaducts, ramparts and gateways, palaces, villas, market-places and judgment-halls, baths, theatres, amphitheatres and temples, attest the versatility, majesty, and solidity of Roman architecture, most of whose creations only the rudest shocks have hitherto been able to destroy.

 Architecture, Orders of. In Greek architecture there were three orders of columns: the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. (I) Doric: Figures 1 and 2 give instances of the Doric style from the temple at Pæstum and the Parthĕnōn at Athens. The Doric column consists (a) of the shaft, which increases in diameter almost invisibly up to about one-quarter of its height, and diminishes slightly after that point. It has no base, but rests immediately on the stylobate. It is surrounded with semi-circular flutings, meeting each other at a sharp angle. These were chiselled with a cedarwood tool after the separate drums had been put together. (b) The capital (Lat. capĭtŭlum). This consists of three parts, (a) the hypŏtrăchēliŏn, or neck of the column, a continuation of the shaft, but separated by an indentation from the other drums. It is wider at the top than at the bottom, and is generally ornamented with several parallel and horizontal rings. (b) The ĕchīnus, a circular moulding or cushion, which widens greatly towards the top. (c) The abax or ăbăcus, a square slab supporting the architrave or episty̌lĭon. The height of the shaft is usually 5$1⁄2$ times, the distance between the columns 1$1⁄2$ times the diameter of the base of the column. The architrave is a quadrangular beam of stone, reaching from pillar to pillar. On this again rests the frieze, zōphŏros, so called from the metopes which are adorned with sculptures in relief. These metopes are square spaces between the triglyphs: the triglyphs are surfaces cut into three concave grooves, two whole grooves in the centre, and two half grooves at the sides. One is placed over each pillar, and one between each pair of pillars. The entablature is completed by a projecting cornice, a slab crowned with a simple heading-course, the lower surface of which is ornamented with sloping corbels (Gk. stăgŏnĕs, Lat. mŭtŭlī).

(II) Ionic Columns. An instance is given in fig. 3 from the temple on the Ilissus at Athens. These are loftier than the Doric, their height being 8$1⁄2$–9$1⁄2$ times the diameter of the lower part. The enlargement of the lower