EARLY ROMAN DORIC All varieties of Roman columns, other than those distinctly marked by the design of their capitals as Ionic, Corinthian, or Com posite, are termed Tuscan (Etruscan), unless it is known that the frieze is decorated with triglyphs, which in Roman work thus again become the distinguishing feature of the Doric Order.
There are but three instances of the use of the Doric Order in Rome itself, although it was often employed in Pompeii, Asia Minor, Syria, and Northern Africa; and the few other Italian examples are almost invariably circumscribed by individual peculiarities in each particular case, and are probably the product of Greek workmen and closely copied from Greek Doric forms.
Difference between the Greek and Roman Doric Orders. All the Roman orders differ in the relation of the column heights to their diameters, but a certain amount of resemblance is traceable to the earlier Greek form in both the Ionic and the Corinthian. This is perhaps least true of the typical Roman Doric, taking the form given by Vignola as typical, as this Roman Doric column is less like the Greek form than either of the other Orders.
The Doric column of the Romans is eight diameters in height as compared to the seven diameters of the Greek Order, and is one seventh of its base diameter less at the neck; and it therefore differs, by the height of an entire diameter more than the other Roman Orders, from the general proportions of the Greek originals.
Aside from differences of proportion in the column shaft itself, and the different method of fluting the late Roman column, there is a very radical difference in the treatment of the entablature; while Vig nola has given in the pedestal an addition which first appears in the architecture of the Romans. There is very reasonable doubt whether any true Roman precedent can be found to sanction the use of this innovation with any Order, least of all with the Doric column. In the Temple at Cora, which must be considered as of Greek workmanship even though occurring under the Roman regime, the apparent pedestal shown in Fig. 107 is really a large buttress confining the step approach to the Temple. This cut also illustrates the close relationship that
exists between the early Roman work and its Greek originals.
The Roman Doric Order, as used in the first examples, varied but little from the preceding Greek types. The column generally has no base, while the echinus and the fluting of the column closely follow the Greek sections.
Temple at Cora, Italy. The only extant example of a rectangular Roman Doric temple is the one at Cora, the exact date of which is not known; but from probably contemporaneous remains, it has been thought that it is at least as early as 80 B. C. In the remains of this temple (Fig. 107), the column, although given a base, otherwise very closely resembles the Greek Doric Order; and the triglyph is placed on the corner angle of the building after the Greek custom.
Fig. 107 is a reproduction of one of the famous Brune drawings now owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The tem ple is square in plan, has a four-column or hexastyle portico, and in the main differs but little from preceding Greek work. The cornice includes a mutule over the metope, and a triglyph used on each face of the corner angles; and many of the moulding sections, as well as the fluting of the columns, are distinctively Greek. On the other hand the triglyphs are of different proportions, and the column has a base; while other of the mouldings—such, for instance, as those on the ante or pilasters—indicate the effects of Roman influence. This drawing is so arranged that the cornice is shown complete, with a part of the tile roof; and the column is cut so that the necking and the base, with the crowning mouldings of the stylobate or pedestal are both plainly displayed; while a plan of the underside or soffit of the cornice is shown at the right of the column. This pedestal is in reality only a projecting buttress, enclosing the space of the step approach, its top being level with the floor of the platform or stylobate. These early buildings were probably all executed by Greek workmen, which ex plains their close adherence to the Greek forms.