Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/258

* BOMAN ART. 234 EOMAN ART. these temples the Romans carried purely orna- mental decoration to a far higher degree of mag- nificence than the Greeks, as in the temples of Baalbek, and those of Castor and of Faus- tina in Rome. They used the Corinthian and Composite in place of the plainer Doric and Ionic orders, and adorned the interiors of their basilicas, baths, and palaces with incrustations of marble and mosaics in a great variety of colors. But although the Pantheon (q.v.) is one of the grandest structures extant, it was in their civic buildings that the Romans esijccially ex- celled; in their basilicas, vast halls, sometimes open, sometimes roofed or vaulted, for all sorts of public assemblies; in their fora, their miles of colonnades ail'ording sheltered passage through the streets, and in their colossal public baths (e.g. of Caraealla or of Diocletian), which could accommodate many thousands of bathers, and wliose courts, exedras, and halls — the latter of colossal size — were adorned internally in the most sumptuous manner with marble pavements and incrustations, mosaic, and delicate stucco relief in color. The Forum of Trajan, with its colossal memorial column, arch of triumph, basilica, and temple, was a stupendous aggrega- tion of architectural splendor. The Roman tri- umphal arclies (see Arch, Tkiumphal) and columns liave set the type for all subsequent works of this kind, and Roman sepulchral art was also remarkably successful, especially in tombs of moderate size. Monumental splendor, grandeur of scale, sumptuousncss of decoration, the Romans achieved in architecture to a degree which lias made their work the study and in- spiration of later ages. This Greco-Roman style spread rapidly over the whole Empire. In remote provinces the Roman army was employed in the erection of buildings and even entire cities, skilled designers being attached to each legion. New cities arose in Syria and Africa, with their amphitheatres, theatres, baths, and arches. The cities of Asia Minor were so thoroughly reconstructed that the remains of their earlier Greek architecture have disappeared under a mass of ruins of the Roman period, full of Hellenic spirit. Southern France became a great centre of Roman culture. The Pont du Gard, the amphitheatre and theatre at Aries, the arcli and monument at Saint-Remy, the tlieatre at Orange, the gates, temple, baths, and amphitheatre at NImes, are impressive works of the golden age, and are better preserved than the monuments of Rome itself. In Spain and in Rhenish Germany are important remains, like the Alcflntara bridge and the Porta Nigra at Treves. In Italy itself, notwithstanding the wholesale destruction of the Renaissance, many works of first-class importance remain outside of Rome, too numerous to catalogue here. In Northern and Central Italy we may mention only the amphitheatre at Verona, the temple of Minerva at Assisi, the stupendous ruins of the Villa of Hadrian >at Tivoli. The south of Italy, especially the region about Naples, has the most interest- ing monuments outside of Rome, such as the great amphitheatres at Capua, Puteoli, and Casinum (Cassino), the noble Arch of Trajan at Benevento, and finally the imrivaled ruins at Herculaneum and Pompeii. For both public and domestic Roman architecture of the best period, Pompeii is the great storehouse, because it [ire- seuts a, complete provincial city. See Pompeii. In North Africa the French have unearthed a scries of ruined Roman cities of great archi- tectural interest. The cities of Thysdrus, Suf- fetula, Lambessa, and Timgad, nearly all built between about a.d. 130 and 250, abound in mate- rials for study — basilicas, arches, temples, gates, fora, and tombs. The Roman remains in Syria may be divided into two classes : the reign of old Syro-Hellenie culture from the coast to the cities of Damascus, Antioch, and Edessa, and the in- land region along the desert line, where the Romans were first to establish cities. (See Pal- myra.) It is the desert cities that have kept their ruins most intact — Petra, Palmyra, Baal- bek ( Heliopolis), Jerash (Gerasa), and many smaller towns. The colonnades and temples at Palmyra of late date are among the most colossal of Roman ruins. In Asia Minor the largest temple was that of Hadrian at Cyzicus; all the theatres (except that of Priene) are Roman, and that at Aspendus is the best pre- served anywhere. Roman work is often inter- woven with Greek, as at Pergamum, Magnesia, Aizani, Ephesus. The buildings of Rome itself are too well known to require enumeration. Nearly all the types of temples are well represented. The theatre of Marcellus, the mausoleum of Hadrian, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the later more formal and regular Forum of Trajan; the triumphal arches of Titus, Septimius Severus, and Constantine; the sculptured memorial col- umns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius; scanty remains of basilicas, that of Maxentius being the most important; the Imperial palaces, on the Palatine; the Tabularium, the Senate House (S. Adriano), the Admiralty (Neptu- nium) ; the camp of the Praetorians; the Im- ])crial baths of Titus, Trajan, Caraealla, and Diocletian ; the unrivaled tombs of the Via Appia and the Vi.a Latina are the most con- spicuous examples of their several types. Con- stantinople was the field where the latest stage of Roman architecture was best displayed, while Rome itself was in decadence. Its memorial colunms of Arcadius and Theodosius, its hip- podrome, forum, basilicas, theatres, aqueducts, walls, were the greatest products of the fourth century, beginning with Constantine. Their infe- riority in style as well as construction is marked. Roman architecture remained by no means sta- tionary during the four centuries of the Empire. In constructive skill, composition, and the imion of sculpture with architecture there was almost continuous progress from Augvistus to Trajan, when Roman art reached its perfection. Then began, with Hadrian, a decline in taste and in constructive refinement. But in bold, effective composition and daring construction there was, if anything, an advance: witness the baths of Diocletian and the basilica of Constantine. Re- viewing Roman architecture as a whole, the Morld is more indebted to it than even to Greece for fertility and variety of invention. We have been ever since living on this technical and ideal inheritance. SCULPTURE AND PAINTING. The development of sculpture in Rome was relatively late. The chief incentive of Greek