106

HISTORY OF ARCHITKCTUUE.
I'n I.
of the lieight of the ortler, bein<!; as -ISHfi : 1
-0000. The diminution of the shaft \s not so
much as in the Ionic, being only
f'^J^,
of the lower diameter. The Temple of the Sybil at
'I'ivoli presents quite a distinct species, and is the romance of the art, if we may be allowed
such an expression. Tlie mean height of tlie columns is 9-853 diameters, being ratlier
slenderer than the height recommended by
Vitruvius (Lib. iv. c. 9.).
The attic base,
tthich will be considered in another portion of the work, was frequently emi)loyed by
the Roman artists.
264. Tile invention of the Composite order is attributed, with every probability, to the
Romans. It resembles generally the Corinthian, the main variation consisting in the part
itbove the second tier of leaves in the capital. The following table exhibits the general
proportions of three exam])les :

Example.
Height divided
by lower Dia-
meter in Knglisli
I-eet.
Diame-
ters
in
Height.
10-6R2
8-2G0
10-495
Kntablaturein
Terms of the
Diameter.
Height of Ca-
pital in Terms
of the Dia-
meter.
Dia-
meter at
toi> Ol'
Shaft.
Arch of Titus - -
Arch of Severus
Baths of Dioclesian
J2 065 _
2
"07
2i 847 _
2 887
48 476
4619

2
-.533
2-316
2-3
1-287
1-144
1-181
887
882
-802
265. Tlie mean of these makes the entablature a little less than one fifth of the entire
leight of the order, the ratio being as -1955: 1-0000. The diminution of the shaft in
'& ^ ''"^ lower diameters. The mean height of the columns is 9-806 diameters. A
strongly marked feature in Roman architecture is the stylobate or pedestal for the
eception of columns, which was not used by the Greeks. In the examples, it varies in
leight, but, generally speaking, it is very nearly four diameters of the column
;
a mean of
;hose used in the triumphal arches comes out at
3-86 diameters. Another difference from
Greek architecture is in the form of the Roman pilaster, which was sometimes so strongly
narked as to form a sort of square column with cajiitals and bases similar to those of the
:()lumns it accompanies, except in being square instead of circular on the plan. It is di-
ninished in some buildings, as in the portico of the Pantheon, and in that of jMars Ultor,
vhile in others, no such diminution takes place. The reader will recollect that the Greek
intve were never diminished, that their projection was always very small, and that the mould-
ngs of their capitals were totally different from the columns with which they are connected.
266. But the most wonderful change the Romans etlected in architecture was by the in-
roduction of the arch; a change which, by various steps, led, through the basilica, to the
ronstruction of the extraordinary Gothic cathedrals of Jairope, in its progress oiiening
leauties in the art of which the Greeks had not the remotest conception. These matters
vill be more entered into in the next section: we only have to observe here, that its import-
mce \V'as not confined to the passage of rivers by means of bridges, but that it enabled the
Romans to supply in the greatest abundance to their cities water of a wholesome quality,
ivithout which no city can exist. To the introduction, moreover, of the arch, their
riumphal edifices were indebted for their principal beauties
;
and without it their theatres
uid amphitheatres would have lost half their elegance and magnificence. Whence the arch
ame is not known. It is now considered to have been borrowed from the Etruscans,
ind was employed at Rome in the oldest constructions of the Kings, as early as b.c. 640.
[ii the section on Egyptian architecture, the subject has already been noticed.
267. The use of coujiled columns and niches exhibits other varieties in which the Romans
lelighted
;
but the former are not found till an age in which the art of architecture bad
legun to decline.
268. 'I'here is still another point to wliich the reader's attention must be directed, and it
s almost a sure test of Roman or Greek design
;
namely, the form of the mouldings of an
jrder on their section. In purely Greek architecture, the contours of the mouldings are
ill formed from sections of the cone, whilst in that of the Romans, the contours are all
,)(>rtio6 of circles.
2;>9. Under tlie climate of Rome it became necessary to raise the pitch of the roof higher
;liaii was necessary in Greece; hence the Roman pediment was more inclined to the
ho'-izon. As, however, when we consider the practical formation of roofs generally, we
shall
investigate the law which, forced by climate upon the architect, governed the iiicli-
Miition of the pediment, the reader is referred, on that point, to the place in ihiswoik
where the subject of roofs is treated. (See Book II. Ch III., sec. iv., par. 2027.)