Waterhouse, Percy Leslie: The story of architecture throughout the ages: an introduction to the study of the oldest of the arts for students and general readers (London: B. T. Batsford, 1924)

56 THE STORY OF ARCHITECTURE
taken from the temples of the Egyptians, for
there exists a striking resemblance between
some of the bell-shaped capitals of Egypt and
the earliest Greek examples of the Corinthian
order; but to the Greek artists is due
the introduction of the angle volutes and
of the acanthus decoration, which combine
to make the capital such an exquisite work
of art.
Although the Alexandrian age was an era of
great magnificence, it was, in reality, a decadent
period so far as art was concerned ; and after
the death of Alexander (323 b.c.) architecture
never recovered its lost ground. It must be
remembered that true Greek architecture ceased
almost immediately after the country had come
under the baneful influence of conquering Rome
—i.e., about the beginning of the second cen-
tury b.c. Among the vast undertakings of this
Roman period was the temple of the Olympian
Zeus at Athens, a magnificent building of the
Corinthian order, begun about 170 B.c., but not
completed until 300 years later. When Sulla
entered Athens with his army, he carried off
several of the capitals and other portions of
this temple to Rome, where they probably
served the Romans as models of the Corinthian
order.
Before leaving Greece, mention must be made
of some buildings of which remains exist, other
than temples. The largest structures were the
theatres for dramatic representations, which were