DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42497#0381
III.]
On the Details of Roman Architechire.
75
in Photo. No. 1343, supposed to be the base of the Temple of
Hercules (or some say of Spes), found at the Porta Maggiore
The arch with voussoirs was introduced at a very early period; for
though we find in the Mamertine Prison the dome constructed on
the horizontal principle like that of the treasury of Atreus at My-
cenae, the fountain of Hippocrates at Cos, the Lion Tomb at Cni-
dus, and other very early works of the Greeks, we find in a contem-
poraneous structure, the Cloaca Maxima, the arch with voussoirs
employed throughout.
The Greeks were unacquainted with this description of arch, and
its natural sequence the dome, as the walls of Assos of this period,
and the tomb of Mausolus, b.c. 353, sufficiently witnessk. It has
been urged that they were acquainted with it, but that as it was op-
posed to their principle of architecture—the horizontal—they dis-
dained to make use of it; but it is improbable that so intelligent
a people should have neglected so manifest an improvement in con-
struction ; they would rather have embodied it in their system, and
have made the other architectural forms to harmonize with it.
The remains next in date to those mentioned, and those in
which the order is first visible, are the columns and entablature
of the Temple of Spes, b.c. 261, in the church of S. Nicholas in
Carcere (Photo. No. 663): these, it will be seen, are of a rude
unfluted Doric, with clumsy capitals, more nearly approaching the
Greek Doric than any subsequent work. The entablature consists
of a shallow cornice composed of a corona, with a cavetto beneath,
a deep frieze without triglyphs, and a narrow architrave. The
church of S. Nicholas is built on the sites of three temples, those of
Spes, Juno Sospita, and Pietas. The entablature of the last-men-
tioned temple was Ionic of the usual form. Its proportions re-
semble those of one I dug up on the site of the Temple of Minerva
Polias at Priene, which, it appears from an inscription on one of
its pilasters, was consecrated by Alexander on his march through
Asia Minor, about the year b.c. 334: for this reason it may be
supposed to be of the Republican period, and of about two
or three centuries before the Christian era1. This entablature
has a bold cymatium, a massive corona, and dentels, with simple
mouldings above and below. The frieze would appear, from the
number of cramp-holes in it, to have been ornamented with metal
plates. The architrave had two fascia. There is also an internal
1 See Note E, at the end of this 1 This temple was rebuilt B.c. 180,
Section. by M. A. Glabrius, duumvir. (Livii
k See Note F. Hist., lib. xl. c. 34.)
On the Details of Roman Architechire.
75
in Photo. No. 1343, supposed to be the base of the Temple of
Hercules (or some say of Spes), found at the Porta Maggiore
The arch with voussoirs was introduced at a very early period; for
though we find in the Mamertine Prison the dome constructed on
the horizontal principle like that of the treasury of Atreus at My-
cenae, the fountain of Hippocrates at Cos, the Lion Tomb at Cni-
dus, and other very early works of the Greeks, we find in a contem-
poraneous structure, the Cloaca Maxima, the arch with voussoirs
employed throughout.
The Greeks were unacquainted with this description of arch, and
its natural sequence the dome, as the walls of Assos of this period,
and the tomb of Mausolus, b.c. 353, sufficiently witnessk. It has
been urged that they were acquainted with it, but that as it was op-
posed to their principle of architecture—the horizontal—they dis-
dained to make use of it; but it is improbable that so intelligent
a people should have neglected so manifest an improvement in con-
struction ; they would rather have embodied it in their system, and
have made the other architectural forms to harmonize with it.
The remains next in date to those mentioned, and those in
which the order is first visible, are the columns and entablature
of the Temple of Spes, b.c. 261, in the church of S. Nicholas in
Carcere (Photo. No. 663): these, it will be seen, are of a rude
unfluted Doric, with clumsy capitals, more nearly approaching the
Greek Doric than any subsequent work. The entablature consists
of a shallow cornice composed of a corona, with a cavetto beneath,
a deep frieze without triglyphs, and a narrow architrave. The
church of S. Nicholas is built on the sites of three temples, those of
Spes, Juno Sospita, and Pietas. The entablature of the last-men-
tioned temple was Ionic of the usual form. Its proportions re-
semble those of one I dug up on the site of the Temple of Minerva
Polias at Priene, which, it appears from an inscription on one of
its pilasters, was consecrated by Alexander on his march through
Asia Minor, about the year b.c. 334: for this reason it may be
supposed to be of the Republican period, and of about two
or three centuries before the Christian era1. This entablature
has a bold cymatium, a massive corona, and dentels, with simple
mouldings above and below. The frieze would appear, from the
number of cramp-holes in it, to have been ornamented with metal
plates. The architrave had two fascia. There is also an internal
1 See Note E, at the end of this 1 This temple was rebuilt B.c. 180,
Section. by M. A. Glabrius, duumvir. (Livii
k See Note F. Hist., lib. xl. c. 34.)