The Entablature. The architrave and frieze of the entablature of the Roman Order is in the main similar to the Greek; but the cor nice, in the general proportions and details of its mouldings, more near ly approaches that used with the earlier Corinthian column of the Greeks. is often elaborately carved, as in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, Fig. 123.
Examples. It is unfortunate that the continual tearing down of early Roman work, to which we have already re ferred, in order that suc cessive Emperors m i g h t erect buildings in the loca tions already occupied by the structures of their pred ecessors, should have de stroyed for us practically all the early architecture of the city of Rome. The re sult is, that, for examples of the Ionic Order, we are re stricted to the two buildings w h i c h have already fur nished us with a Doric col umn on the first story, and one o t h e r example—and that a very fine one—in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, where fluted shafts are em ployed in the engaged col umns which decorate the walls of the cella.
Fortunately we are able to indicate the chronological order in which these few examples were erected. The Tem ple of Fortuna Virilis, possibly of Greek workmanship, dates from the early part of the first century B. C., being probably erected before the arcade of the Tabularium. The Theater of Marcellus, 23 B. C., and the Colosseum, 72 A. D., followed. In one other Roman build ing, the Temple of Saturn, was the Ionic Order used, although here it is of a rather debased type.
The capital from the Fortuna Virilis, as shown in Fig. 124, sufficiently displays the char acter of its cutting and the general "stubby" effect of the entire cap. The entablature used on this tem ple is rather crude in type, and is therefore not illustrated. The Ro man Ionic cap shown in the upper part of the same figure, is a much more interesting, if later and more elaborate, example, and its general lines are more worthy of being copied. The examples of the Colos
seum and the Theater of Marcellus are also to be considered as special uses of superimposed and engaged Orders on the second stories of these buildings. Of the two, that on the Theater of Marcellus is much the better, as it has been more carefully studied in proportion and detail as well as in relation to its position and to the entire building, than that on the Colosseum. This Order is shown in Fig. 125. The Order shown in Plate LI, on the left of the plate, is the pilaster used in the Baths of Diocletian at Rome, and is interesting for the propor tions of its entablature, although this entablature is too fine in scale for the treatment of the column itself, where the coarse fluting and heavy cutting of the cap and base would ordinarily suggest a heavier and much less finely moulded crowning member. On this plate, at the right, is also shown a simple system of proportioning the Roman Ionic Order that should prove valuable in redrawing or reproducing a col umn of this general type. The Roman Ionic Order drawn in Plate XIII, Part I, shows on a larger scale the entablature and capital ac cording to Vignola, and was supposedly adapted by him from the second-story Order of the Theater of 1\Iarcellus, perhaps the most beautiful example of antiquity. This plate should be compared with Fig. 125, in which the actual Order from the Theater of ?Jarcellus is shown.
The Roman Ionic Order shown by Palladio is given in Plate XIV, Part I, and should be compared with that given in Plate XIII, Part I. Its special value lies in the fact that it shows a cornice with modillions, which in modern practice it is frequently desirable to use with an Ionic column; and a precedent for the proportions of the entablature when used in this way, it is sometimes difficult to find.