Architec- high, which brings the foot of their bases on a level with ture, the pavement of the Eastern portico. The columns are 27.167 feet high, including the bases and capitals, and the tops of the capitals are on a level with the top of the architrave of the Western front; their upper diameter is 2.858 feet, and their shafts are fluted.

The Pro

Eleusis.

cornice.

The height of that which is called, by Stuart, the Temple of Victory, and of the building on the opposite wing is 25.596 feet from the pavement to the top of the The columns are 19.196 feet high; and the upper diameter 2.729 feet, and the height of the entablature is 6.397 feet. The antæ pilasters of these two buildings are 3.027 feet broad, and their shafts are without diminution.

Under the present Propyleum have been found the substructions of a more ancient entrance to the Acropolis. But in front, where the inequalities of the rock must have rendered it necessary to form additional works for the purpose of carrying the roadway, no remains of any such works exist; it is, therefore, probable that they have been removed at some succeeding time. In the Northern wall, under the right wing, are the appearances of what some persons have supposed to be a triple entrance. It is, however, probable that they are but the intervals between buttresses supporting the wall of the building on this side; for, besides being too narrow, the sides of the buttresses are left in steps, and have not been made smooth, as the sides of gates would have been. A low, continuous wall is carried out from the ends of the steps in front of the Northern wing of the Propyleum, nearly as far as the pedestal; but Mr. Stuart is wrong in making a gateway through it, for no such thing appears.

This superb edifice was constructed by Mnesicles between the years 437 and 432 before Christ, and during the time that Pericles possessed the Government of Athens.

The Propyleum of Eleusis is now totally destroyed, pyleum of but from the account published in the Unedited Antiquities of Athens, it appears to have been, in some respects, similar to that which has been just described, being formed by two lateral walls, 60 feet asunder and 50 feet long, with a hexastyle portico of Doric columns both on the Northern and Southern fronts. There were five portals in a transverse wall, which led to the interior of the town, and, between the Northern front and the wall, was a double row of Ionic columns, three in each row. These columns resembled those of the Temple on the Ilyssus, and had Attic bases, of which the upper torus was fluted horizontally; the tops of the abaci were on the same level as the tops of the architraves in the entablatures of the porticos.

After passing through the Propyleum, there was found a peribolus, in the form of an irregular pentagon, enclosing a Temple of Ceres. The entrance to this enclosure was by a smaller Propyleum, or vestibule, about 48 feet in length, and as much in width; in the interior extremity of which were three portals formed by the side walls and by two intermediate piers; and in the middle of this vestibule, opposite the pilasters by which the piers are terminated, were two Ionic columns, similar to those of the Temple on the Ilyssus, with plain Attic bases, and an entablature only ornamented with

dentels in the cornice.

The Temple of Ceres was nearly a square on the plan, and the length of each side was equal to 180 feet, exclusive of the portico, which was on the Western front,

and consisted of a single row of twelve Doric columns, Part L with shafts quite plain, except very short flutes at top and bottom. In the interior of the Temple were two double rows of columns, in directions parallel to that of the portico, which is contrary to the general practice of the Greeks. When this ruin was measured, a fragment of one column alone retained its original position; the places of the others were ascertained by the holes in the pavement, which were intended to receive the plugs connecting it with the lower part of the shaft; a situation in which plugs are rarely found, though they are frequently found at every joint of the stones in a column. This pavement, being below the level of that in the portico, seems to indicate that it belonged to a crypt or subterranean chamber. Plutarch speaks of lower columns in the interior of this Temple, and, hence, it is probable that there must have been a double range, one above the other.

A little in front of the grand Propyleum was a Temple of Diana, consisting of a naos and pronaos, with no other columns than two between the antæ. The Temple was of a rectangular form; its cella 24.5 feet long and 16 feet wide, and the ascent to the pavement was by five steps. The columns were of the Doric Order and fluted, and the triglyphs returned quite round the flanks. In other Grecian Temples the roof terminates in stillicida, or dripping eaves, but in this, the cymatium, or upper moulding of the pediment cornice, was continued along the flanks, and a channel was hollowed in it, for the purpose of collecting the rain from the roof; which was then discharged by the lions' heads sculptured at intervals along that moulding.

of the

The external appearance of the dwelling-houses of the ancient Greeks seems to have been very simple, tenct the Republican spirit of that people not permitting any Greta of the Nobles to have their residences superior to those bou of the generality of the citizens; and it being thought highly indecorous to attempt, in the habitations of individuals, to rival the Temples of the Gods. Nothing remains, in Greece, of this class of buildings at the present day, and the only account we have of them is that which Vitruvius gives us, in the Xth Chapter of his VIth Book, where the internal disposition is said to have been made in the following manner.

The house was divided into two principal parts; one, called andronitidis, contained the apartments appropriated to the male part of the family, and the other, called gynæconitis, contained those appropriated to the women; the latter occupied the Southern, and the former the Northern side of the building. The entrance is described as a narrow passage on the Southern side, and having a stable and servants' room situated, one to the left and the other to the right hand of it. After getting through the passage, there was found an open qua drangle, the Southern side of which consisted of the apartments just mentioned; on the right and left hand were the thalami, or chambers. This quadrangle con stituted, generally, an interior peristylium, being sur rounded by columns within the walls, on the four sides. A long passage on the exterior of the thalami, and on the Eastern and Western sides of the building, separated them from other apartments, which, being destined for the reception of strangers, were called renodochia; and these passages, from their situations between the aule, or courts, were called mesaule. On the Northern side of the peristylium was a covered space, opposite to the en trance, called prostas, which served as a porch, and

tec had, on each side, an apartment, of which one was 2 called thalamus, and the other antithalamus. At the extremity of the prostas was a passage leading to a vestibule, and from thence to a peristylium larger than the former. On either side of this passage were the æci, or apartments in which the mistress of the family dwelt. On one side of the vestibule was a dining room, or triclinium, so called, probably, from its containing a triple couch for the company at meals; and, on the other, a painted room, or room for pictures, called pinacolheca. The peristyle last mentioned formed the centre of the men's apartments; on the Eastern side of it were the libraries, and on the Western side the exedra, or places for study, conversation, and exercise. The Northern side was occupied by the aci, or apartments for the master of the family, and a vestibule in its centre led to a portico, which formed the exterior of the building towards the North.

From the dwelling-houses of the Greeks we may proeceed to describe, in a few words, the disposition of the parts of their Theatres. The form of these buildings on the exterior was nearly semicircular; they were generally situated on one side of a hill, and the seats of the spectators occupied its declivity; or if a solid rock served for the basis of a Theatre, the seats were formed by cutting its mass in the shape of steps; of which kind of Theatre there are several still in existence, but reduced to heaps of ruins.

These seats, or steps, were divided at intervals by broad flat surfaces, or landing-places, concentric with the steps; these were by the Greeks called diazomata ; and at the top of the steps was a colonnade, within which also were steps, serving as seats for spectators. Vitruvius prescribes that the upper edges of all the steps and diazomata should be in one right line, and he says that under the steps, in various parts of the building, were left vacuities, in which were put echeia, or brazen vessels, in order to increase the effect of the voices of the performers.

The curve formed by the lowest range of seats, or steps, was exactly equal to three-quarters of a circle, and within this curved line was a level space, which the Greeks called the orchestra, on which the dances were performed.

Beyond the chord line which limited the orchestra, was a level stage, raised about 10 or 12 feet above the orchestra, on which the actors performed their parts; this was called the logeion, and it was terminated by the scena, or wall against which the scenes were exhibited. Its length was nearly equal to the internal diameter of the Theatre, and its depth was limited by the circumference of the circle formed by completing the curve of the lower step surrounding the or

chestra.

The height of the scena depended upon the magnitude of the Theatre, and it is described by Vitruvius as equal to that of the colonnade on the top of the seats. Three doors were formed through it, of which the central one was for those performers who represented the citizens, and the other two for such as personated strangers; an arrangement which accorded with that prescribed for the entrances of private houses.

The colonnade at the top of the steps was roofed over, but the rest of the Theatre was without cover, except that a great piece of cloth was occasionally drawn over, to protect the spectators from the heat of the sun, or from a shower of rain. If a heavy rain took place, it

was necessary to suspend the performance, and the spectators retired to a covered portico behind the scena. Among the Ancients, the Theatrical representations took place by daylight.

The dramatic performances in the Greek Theatre were of three kinds; viz. Tragedy, Comedy, and Satire, and to each of these a particular kind of decoration was adapted. For Tragedy, the scene represented Palaces and Temples, of magnificent forms; for Comedy, streets with private dwelling-houses; and for Satire, were painted all the circumstances of a rural prospect. And to exhibit these different subjects, when required, there were placed, in vertical positions, in front of the wall of the scena, triangular prisms of wood, called periactoi, because they turned on axes: on each side of these was a painting, representing some part of one of the scenes which it was intended to exhibit, and when the parts relating to one subject were, by the revolution of the periactoi, brought into a plane surface, the scene was complete.

Gardens and promenades were made about the Theatres, for the entertainment of the company before and after the performance.

The nature of the Greek Theatre can be learned only from the description of Vitruvius; as no building of that kind exists entire in Greece, of an Age earlier than that of the Roman conquest. The plate, representing a plan of a Greek Theatre, which is given with this Work, is taken from the edition of Vitruvius, published by Mr. Wilkins: see pl. viii.

According to Suidas, a Theatre of wood was erected at Athens about 498 years before Christ, for the purpose of exhibiting a Drama of Pratinus, and the timbers gave way during the representation. After this, the Athenians erected one of stone, which was finished by Lycurgus, the Orator, about 170 years afterward. This was probably that called the Theatre of Bacchus, the ruins of which are yet to be seen at the South-Western angle of the Acropolis. It is formed by a semicircular excavation of the rock, from the inclining sides of which the seats of the spectators were cut, which, consequently, were supported by the rock itself. A semicircular wall is carried round the upper part of the excavation, and is strength ened by buttresses on the exterior of the Theatre. This wall, which probably formed the back of the colonnade above the seats, is 248 feet in diameter, and 7.8 feet thick, and has rectangular recesses made in it, with vaulted tops. The lower part of the wall of the scena remains in the gorge of the excavation, with part of the staircases at each extremity. This contains some semicircular-headed arches; but both it and the semicircular wall are of later date than the original Theatre, and probably were the work of Herodes Atticus.

Part I.

The Odeon was a building similar to a Theatre, and The Odeon intended for the exhibition of Musical performances. of Pericles. Pausanias describes one, which was erected at Athens by Pericles; and the authors of the Antiquities of that city suppose that a semicircular excavation in the rock of the Acropolis, below the South-Eastern angle, is the place in which it stood. It must have resembled a Theatre in form, but probably it had no scena, and in the gorge of the building might be a portico or colonnade. Pausanias says the roof was like the tent of Xerxes, which may imply that it was of a conical form. The colonnade was adorned with the prows and sterns, and the timbers of the roof were formed of the masts of the vessels which had been taken from the Persians.

Architecture.

Greek Theatres in

Europe.

In the Supplement to Stuart's Athens is given the present state of the few Greek Theatres the destruction of which is not so complete as to prevent any trace of their Remains of plan from being discovered. Of those situated in Europe, besides the Theatre of Bacchus beforementioned, we select the following. At Cheronea are the remains of some, the seats of which appear to have been partly cut in the rock, and in which the diazomata are visible. In one at Argos, the lower range of seats coincides with the circumference of the semicircle, but from the appearance of the ground, it is probable that the two upper ranges were flanked by two walls perpendicular to the scena, and touching the back of the diazomatæ above the first range. Two flights of steps are observable, considerably distant from each other, for the purpose of ascending from the lower to the upper ranges of seats; and there were, probably, two others close to the external walls. On the banks of the Alpheus, at Megalopolis, has been a Theatre, which was erected on one side of an artificial mound.

The Chora

ment of

Ruins of several Theatres are still to be seen in various parts of Asia Minor, and those which are in the best state of preservation are at Stratonicea, Miletus, and Laodicea; representations of which are given in the IId Volume of the Ionian Antiquities. In the walls are several semicircular-headed arches, formed by voussoirs, but not the smallest information can be obtained of the date of their construction; and, no doubt, they were erected at the time during which the Romans had possession of that part of the World. In one of the Theatres at Scythopolis, in Syria, Mr. Bankes has discovered a complete example of the echeic chambers under the seats, with a gallery of communication, afford ing access to each chamber, for the purpose of arranging and modulating the vases.

When an individual among the Greeks gave a theagic Monu-trical or musical entertainment, in which the performers contended with each other for the prize of superior skill, Lysicrates. it seems to have been customary to erect a monument in honour of those who gained the victory. The person who gave the entertainment was called Choragus, and the edifice was called a Choragic Monument. The most splendid of these is that which was erected by Lysicrates, about 330 years before Christ, and vulgarly known as the Lantern of Demosthenes. It has a square basement, or pedestal, 12.654 feet high, and each side of which is 9.541 feet long; above this are three circular steps, which support a cylindrical build ing, 7 feet diameter on the exterior, and 11.25 feet high; this consists of six pieces of marble in the form of portions of a cylinder, cut by planes passing through the axis, and placed together on the pedestal, so as to form an entire cylinder with its axis in a vertical position; but, at each of the six places of junction, a column is introduced in such a way that half of it appears to project beyond the face of the cylindrical wall. This wall is quite plain to within 1.6 feet of the top, where there is sculptured a row of tripods surrounding the building. The columns are of the same height as the cylinder, viz. 11.25 feet, including the bases and capitals, and that height is equal to 9.64 diameters.

The columus may be said to be of the Corinthian Order; their shafts are fluted, and the longitudinal fillets that separate the channels, end at top in points of leaves. The base of each column consists of two tori

with a scotia between them, and is connected with the pedestal by a congé, or inverted cavetto; the upper

torus is in the form of an inverted echinus. The capital Pa is separated from the shaft by a groove surrounding the column, and consists of elegant foliage, disposed about a cylindrical block, which seems to be a continu ation of the shaft of the column; a small row of plain leaves, resembling those of the lotus, surrounds it at bottom, and above these is a taller row, composed of clusters of leaves resembling those of the nettle. From the middle leaf in front rise two stems, each of which afterwards divides into two others; of these one pair diverges to the right and left, and curls under the angies of the abacus, the other forms double volutes in front of the capital. The groove which separates the shaft from the capital of the column, seems to leave the lower course of foliage unsupported, and gives the column an unfinished appearance; but if, as is probable, the groove was intended to contain a metallic moulding or row of ornaments encircling the column, that objection is removed: we may observe, however, that though the column is, undoubtedly, in itself, highly elegant, yet the cutting of the capitals by the wall of the building must have always produced a disagreeable effect when the columns were viewed in flank.

The architrave is divided horizontally into three facia, and the frize is sculptured with figures represent ing the story of Bacchus and the Tyrrhenian pirates; in the cornice is a row of dentels resting upon the frize, and the entablature is crowned with a row of plain knobs instead of a cymatium. This kind of ornament above the cornice seems to have been very common in the ancient Temples, if we may judge from the many medals on which it is represented, though scarcely any example of it occurs, except in this building.

The frize and architrave are each formed of one block of marble, cut in the form of a ring; these are crowned by the roof, which is a solid piece of marble, approaching to a conical form on the exterior, and the interior is excavated in the form of a segment of a sphere. The whole roof, or tholus, rests upon the cylindrical wall, like that of the Temple of the Winds; the exterior is sculptured to represent a thatch, or covering of laurel leaves, and from the centre rises a tall flower, on which formerly stood a tripod. The tops of the leaves of the tholus approach nearer to a horizontal plane toward the top than they do toward the foot, which gives to the external surface the appearance of a curve of contrary flexure. There is no entrance to the building, nor is there any aperture to give light to the interior. See pl. vi. fig. 6.

de

of th

rchitec

ture.

nains of

cian Pa

re.

A very ancient edifice, probably a Palæstra, formerly existed at Thoricus, on the South-Eastern coast of Attica. It was of a rectangular form, 104.67 feet long, and 48 feet wide, and consisted of a space enclosed by columns, but without walls; the columns stood on a general basement formed in steps on each side, and were of the Doric Order, fluted at top and bottom only, but no part of the entablature remains. The number of columns in front of the building was seven, from which it is inferred that the building could not have been a Temple; since then there must have been a column opposite the doorway, contrary to the practice of the Ancients, and to every notion of convenience; the number in flank was fourteen. The height of the columns is 17.441 feet, and the lower diameter 3.317 feet.

In the Island of Delos also appears to have been a Palæstra, which, from the name of Philip of Macedon inscribed on the architrave, was probably erected in the time of that Monarch, though its form and the occasion of its erection are both unknown. The columns are of the Doric Order, and their style is lighter than that of any other known example of the Order. The height of the column is 19.305 feet, and the lower diameter is 2.958 feet; consequently, the height is equal to 6.5 times the diameter, and the height of the entablature is 4.912 feet, or of that of the column.

The face of the architrave is in a vertical plane, which, if produced, would fall about the middle of the length of the column in front; the faces of the metopes are in the same plane, and those of the triglyphs project about two inches in front, as is the case in the frize of the Temple of Apollo, in the same Island. The echinus in the capital has nearly the form of an inverted frustum of a cone. This must be considered as the latest example of what may be called the Grecian Doric; that Order, soon after this time, ceased to be employed in Greece, and instead of it was substituted the Corinthian.

The remains of a building coming under the denomination of a Palæstra are still to be seen at Athens. The authors of the Antiquities of Athens call it the Stoa, and they suppose it to be that which Pausanias calls Poikile, and from which the followers of Zeno had the name of Stoics; but from the indications of a Roman style observed in it, the conductors of the recent edition of that Work, think it may have been one of the buildings erected by Hadrian.

It is a rectangular enclosure, 376 feet long and 252 feet broad; and in the middle of one of the shorter sides is an entrance gate, elevated on a stereobata, to the top of which there is an ascent by six steps. This portico, which is 34 feet long and 21 feet broad, has four Corinthian columns in front, and is covered by a pediment roof. The whole extent of this side of the enclosure is also ornamented with Corinthian columns detached from the wall, and standing on pedestals as high as the top of the stereobata; and the entablature of the wall is broken vertically, so as to project from the wall over each column. The two lateral walls of the quadrangle are extended about 16 feet beyond the line of

VOL. V.

conversation.

There are traces, quite round the interior of the quadrangle, of a peristyle or colonnade, consisting of a double row of columns at about 23 feet from the walls; and near the middle of the quadrangle are some old foundations, but it is impossible to determine to what they have belonged.

Part I.

At Pæstum, in Italy, are the remains of a peristyle Peristyle at which, as has been said, was formerly considered to be Pæstum. part of a pseudodipteral Temple, but the destination of which is now thought to have been very different. The columns stood upon a rectangular basement, 177 feet long and 75 feet wide, with each side formed in steps like those surrounding a Temple. In front were nine Doric columns, a circumstance which, one would think, might have led to a suspicion that the building could not have been a Temple, since one of the columns must have been opposite the entrance. The peristyle has eighteen columns in each flank, and there is a row of columns along the middle of the interior, and parallel to the flanks, probably for the support of a general roof, which, as there was no cella, would require such support from the impossibility of getting materials long enough to extend across the breadth of the edifice. A work thus constructed may, with great probability, be supposed to have been intended for the performance of gymnastic exercises, for the delivery of Philosophical lectures, or it may have served as a market-place.

3.04

The height of the columns is 20.965 feet, and the diameter at bottom is 4.709 feet; but the sides of the shaft are remarkably curved; at one-third of the height the diminution is of the lower diameter; at two-thirds the diminution is, and at the top of the shaft is Where the antæ of a Temple would be, there are here two pilasters which present some peculiarities. They are 20 feet high, including the capital, the height of which is 3 feet; the breadths at top and bottom are nearly equal to the upper and lower diameters of the columns, and the sides are curved in a similar manner. A plain fillet separates the shaft from the capital, which has the form of a cavetto, projecting at top and resembling that which crowns Egyptian buildings; it is covered by a square abacus, and has a small ornament suspended from each angle.

The peristyle was crowned by an entablature, of which the face of the architrave, if produced, would fall a little within the foot of the column; and a large moulding, now destroyed, separated this member from the frize. The exterior of the frize is in a vertical plane, which falls a little within the hypotrachelion, and there are no triglyphs. The cornice is entirely lost.

It is right to observe here, that, in modern Architecture, the name of Portico is given only to the columns. and roof placed before a doorway; but the Romans applied the term, generally, to any system of columns supporting a roof. Thus the colonnade surrounding a building on the exterior, or any court in the interior, was called, indifferently, peristyle or porticus.

2 M

Architec

ture.

The reason

in the formation of

Temples.

CHAPTER VII.

The Principles of Grecian Architecture.

It seems to have been the intention of the ancient of adopting Architects that the lengths, breadths, and heights of proportions Temples, as well as the dimensions of all their members, should constantly bear certain proportions to each other; so that all such buildings might be constructed according to a system founded on the established relations between the parts of which they were composed. This is what is signified by Vitruvius, in the Ist Chapter of the IIId Book; and the reason given by this writer for adopting such a system of proportions in sacred edifices is, that the different parts of the human figure bear also certain proportions to each other, which are nearly constant; and he means to infer that because Nature has thought fit to use proportions in the formation of her noblest creature, proportions should also be used in those edifices which, being appropriated to the worship of the Deity, ought to be of the most perfect construction.

The propor

and breadth

The relations between the several members of the Grecian Orders will be presently exhibited from the existing examples of those Orders; we purpose here only to show what relations, if any, subsisted in the general elements of the Temples themselves.

In the IVth Chapter of the IVth Book, Vitruvius, tion between speaking of rectangular Temples surrounded by columns, the length states that the length of the Temple should be double of Temples. its breadth; and, as he mentions afterward the proportions of the cella and pronaos, his meaning probably is, that that proportion should subsist between the two sides of a parallelogram which pass through the centres of the surrounding columns, or which circumscribe the bottoms of all their shafts.

Distribution of the columns in front and flank.

But though there is an approximation to this proportion in all the Greek examples, it cannot be said that it holds good precisely in any one of them. In the Temple of Jupiter, at Selinus, the length is to the breadth in the ratio of 2.05 to 1; in the Temple of Theseus, these terms are to one another as 2.3 to 1; and from a mean of the six best examples of the Doric Order in Greece and Sicily, the proportion between the length and breadth is as 2.21 to 1.

In order to give to the flank and front of a Temple the proportions he requires, measuring on lines passing through the centres of the columns of the peristyle, Vitruvius directs that the number of intercolumniations

on each flank should be double the number on each face; which, if all the diameters of the columns and the intervals between them were respectively equal, would be quite correct; but in the Greek Temples these two conditions do not take place; and as the central intercolumniation is made wider than the others, in order to afford sufficient space for persons who are to enter the door, while those of the flanks are nearly all equal; it follows, that by this rule the length of the Temple would be found less than twice its breadth. In order, perhaps, to approach nearer to the required ratio, the Temples of Jupiter, at Selinus and at Egina, have the number of columns in flank exactly double the number in front, and, in fact, in those examples, the length is to the breadth as 2.1 to 1, which is nearly the proportion pr scribed by Vitruvius.

But in the later examples of the Doric Order, the Greek Architects seem to have intended to increase the

ratio of the length to the breadth, by adopting a rule Part nearly as simple as that of Vitruvius; for we find in the Temples of Theseus and of Minerva Parthenon, at Athens, and in those of Juno Lucina and of Concord, at Agrigentum, the number of intercolumniations in flank is double the number of columns in front, or which is the same thing, the number of columns in flank is one more than double the number in front; and in these examples, the lengths of the Temples are to their breadths nearly in the ratio of 2.3 to 1. The propor tion is still higher in the two smaller Temples at Selinus, and in that at Ægesta, which have the number of columns in flank greater, by two, than double the number in front. Perhaps the Greeks were led into this deviation from the simplicity of the first rule, by some idea of the beautiful appearance afforded by a long line of flank columns, when viewed by an eye situated near one extremity of the building.

were no

strictly

We should be cautious of adopting, too literally, the The gen opinion often asserted of the perfection of that system propert of proportions which prevails in the Grecian Architecture. It has been alleged that the magnitude of any hered one member being given, the form of the whole building, and the distribution of all its parts were determined from it by invariable rules; but this must be understood with some limitation, for the whole practice of the Greeks shows that, in their Architectural works, they used their discretion, and indulged in considerable liberty. It may, however, be safely affirmed, that when a Greek Temple of any given Order was to be built, it was only necessary to decide upon three arbitrary points; viz. the diameter of the column, the number of columns in front, and the species of intercolumniation; then every part of the edifice might be determined by established proportions, with a few modifications depending upon local or other circumstances.

Vitruvius seems to consider that a particular number of columns was necessary in front of each of the different species of Temples; viz. six for peripteral, eight for pseudodipteral, and ten for hypethral Temples; but this rule has not been adhered to in practice; the latter kind of Temples, for example, have sometimes ten, sometimes eight, and, occasionally, only six columns in front. On contemplating the forms of the Greek Temples, we cannot avoid perceiving that they possess a great and noble simplicity of character; every member appears to have its use, and the horizontal lines of the stereobata and entablature, being unbroken, permit the length and breadth of the edifice to be appreciated at once by the eye.

of the

cian D

colum

The Orders, or systems of Architecture, are distin- Dime guished by the forms of the columns, and of the entablature above them; and from the account that has been given of the most celebrated buildings of Greece, we shall be able to draw some conclusions respecting the general features of the Orders employed in that Country; and obtain a knowledge, not of the propor tions which are to be invariably adhered to in the construction of an Order, but of those from which a deviation may be permitted, only within certain limits, which are authorized by these examples.

The following Table, formed from the Works referred to in the preceding account, exhibits, in one view, the dimensions, in English feet, of the columns and entablatures belonging to the principal examples of the Grecian Doric Order, and will be useful in enabling us to ascertain the characteristic proportions of that Order