TER IX.

THE BUILDINGS OF THE ROMANS.

The temples in Rome were not, as in Greece and Egypt, the structures
upon which the architect lavished all the resources of his art and his
science. The general form of them was copied from that made use of by
the Greeks, but the spirit in which the original idea was carried out
was entirely different. In a word, the temples of Rome were by no
means worthy of her size and position as the metropolis of the world,
and very few remains of them exist.

[Illustration: FIG. 125.--IONIC ORDER FROM THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA
VIRILIS, ROME.]

Ten columns are still standing of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
(now the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda): it occupied the site of a
previous temple and was dedicated by Antoninus Pius to his wife
Faustina. The Temple (supposed) of Fortuna Virilis, in the Ionic style
(Fig. 125), still exists as the church of Santa Maria Egiziaca: this
was tetrastyle, with half-columns all round it, and this was of the
kind called by Vitruvius "pseudo-peripteral." A few fragmentary
remains of other temples exist in Rome, but in some of the Roman
provinces far finer specimens of temples remain, of which perhaps the
best is the Maison Carree at Nimes (Fig. 126). Here we find the Roman
plan of a single cell and a deep portico in front, while the sides and
rear have the columns attached. The intercolumniations and the details
of the capitals and entablature are, however, almost pure Greek. The
date of this temple is uncertain, but it is most probable that it was
erected during the reign of Hadrian. The same emperor is said to have
completed the magnificent Temple of Jupiter Olympius at Athens, which
was 354 ft. long by 171 ft. wide. It consisted of a cell flanked on
each side by a double row of detached columns; in front was one row of
columns in antis, and three other rows in front of these, while there
were also three rows in the rear: as the columns were of the
Corinthian order, and nearly 60 ft. in height, it may be imagined that
it was a splendid edifice.

[Illustration: FIG. 126.--ROMAN-CORINTHIAN TEMPLE AT NIMES
(MAISON-CARREE). PROBABLY OF THE TIME OF HADRIAN.]

The ruins of another magnificent provincial Roman temple exist at
Baalbek--the ancient Heliopolis--in Syria, not far from Damascus. This
building was erected during the time of the Antonines, probably by
Antoninus Pius himself, and originally it must have been of very
extensive d