Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/339

 Bk IV. Ch. III. TEMPLES. 307 The next class of temples, called pseudo-peripteral (or those in which the cella occupies the whole of the after-part), are generally more modern, certainly more completely Roman than these last. One of the best specimens at Rome is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, a small building measuring 72 ft. by 120. There is also a very elegant little Ionic temple of this class called that of Fortuna Virilis ; while the Ionic temple at Concord, built by Vespasian, and above alluded to, appears also to have been of this class. So was the temple in the forum at Pompeii ; but the finest specimen now remaining to us is the so-called Maison Carree at Nimes, which is indeed one of the most elegant temples of the Roman world, owing probably a great deal of its beauty to the taste of the Grecian colonists lono; settled in its neighborhood. It is hexastyle, with 11 columns in the flanks, o of which stand free, and belong to the portico ; the remaining 8 are attached to the walls of the cella. The temple is small, only 45 ft. by 85 ; but such is the beauty of its ])roportions and the elegance of its details that it strikes every beholder with admiration. The date of this temple has not been satis- factorily ascertained. From the naitholes of the inscription on the frieze it has been attempted to make out the names Caius and Lucius Caesai-, and thei-e is nothing in the style of its architecture^ to contradict this hypothesis. Even if the build- ings in the capital were such as to render this date ambiguous, it would scarcely be safe to apply any argument derived from them to a i)rovincial example erected in the midst of a Grecian colony. But for their evidence Ave might almost be inclined to fancy its style represented the age of Trajan. The Temple of Diana in the same city is another edifice of singular beauty of detail, and interesting from the pecu- liarity of its plan. Exclusive of the portico it is nearly square, 70 ft. by 65, and is divided into three aisles, Avhich are all covered with ribbed stone vaults of a larger and bolder design in de- tail than those of Gothic form and singularly interesting as the origin of much that we find afterwai-ds. There are some of the arrangements of this building which in its ruined state it is dif- ficult to understand, but these are not important. Throughout this building the details of the architecture are unsur- passed for variety and elegance by anything found in the metrop- olis, and are applied here with a freedom and elegance bespeaking the presence of a Grecian mind even in this remote corner of the empire. Another interesting feature is the porch. This was supported 187. Plan of Maison Carree at Ninies. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in. 18S. Plan of Temple of Diana at Nimes. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.