COMPOSITE ORDER, in architecture, the last developed and most complex of the classical orders (see ORDER), so called because its capital is a compound of the volutes (spirals) of the Ionic order and the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian. The earliest example known is found in the arch of Titus at Rome (A.D. 8i). The form became common, however, only after the time of Hadrian (A.D. 117-138). The entablature was usually Corinthian, but in the Renaissance period Vignola and the other architects who arranged codifications of the orders developed a separate type based largely upon the temple of Venus at Rome (reign of Hadrian).