Greece, though a mild climate,is some times liable to rain : the architects of this country-, therefore, found it necessary to raise the roofs of their edifices to a ridge in the middle, the section being that of a rectilineal isosceles triangle: the base being the span or distance between the opposite walls. This form of roof; called a pediment roof, was frequently covered with marble tiles.
The Grecians surpassed all contempo rary nations in the arts of design ; the re rnains of their ancient structures are mo dels of imitation, and confessed standards of excellence. They were the inventors of three orders of architecture, of which we have already hinted, and which we shall detail in a subsequent part of this article. The remains of their sculptures far exceed that of any other people, and are, even at this day, most perfect models. Modern artists have no means so certain, in attuning a just knowledge of their pro fession, as in the study of those exquisite rnaster-pieces.
The progress of Grecian architecture appears to have occupied a period of about three centurtes, from the age of Solon to the death of Alexander ; and in this period it advanced rapidly, particu larly from the defeat of Xerxes to the death of Pericles, at which time it attain ed its utmost degree of excellence, and continued to flourish till the time it be came a Roman province.
Prior to the Macedonian conquest, all the temples of Greece, and its colonies in Sicily and Italy, appear to have been of the Doric order : and of one general form, though slightly varied in particular parts, as occasional circumstances mightrequire: their plan was an oblong, having one co lumn more on the flank than double the number of those front.
The ancie»t Etrurians have left many excellent monuments of taste, and to them is generally ascribed the method of build ing with small stone and mortar, made of calcareous stone ; and this seems proba ble, as the most ancient vestiges of ce mentitious buildings are to be found in the country which the present Tuscans inhabit.
They were employed by the Romans in many public works; the walls of the city of Rome were made of hewn stone, the capitol and the cloaca maxima are of their construction ; the last of these is esteemed a very extraordinary piece of architecture, as is sufficiently proved by its remains. To these people is attribu
ted the invention of one of the orders of architecture, called after them the Tus can.
We are told by Vitru•ius, that the in tercolmmns of their temples were wide, and that they were linteled with wooden architraves.
The 'Romans appear to have had their first knowledge of architecture from the Etrurians: but it was not till after the conquest of Greece, that they acquired a just relish for its beauties. It seems to have attained to its highest degree of ex cellence in the reign of Augustus, and continued to flourish till the seat of em pire was removed to Bizantium. The works of the Romans were much more numerous than those of any other people. The remains of their palaces, theatres, amphitheatres, baths, mausoleums, and other works, excite at this day the admi ration and astonishment of every-judicious beholder. Their first temples were round and vaulted, and hence they are account ed the inventors of the dome.- The plans of their buildings were more varied than those of the Greeks, who, excepting but in a few instances of small, but beautiful, specimens, such as the Tower of the Winds, and the monument of Lycicrates, erected their principal edifices upon rec tangular plans. The Romans constructed circular temples crowned with domes, amphitheatres upon elliptic plans, and their theatres, and many other buildings, upon mixt-lined plans. By this variety they formed a style that was both elegant and magnificent. But let it be remem bered,th at, notwith stan ding th e grandeur, the magnitude, and number of their works, their style was never so pure as in the flourishing ages of Greece. Among the Romans, entablatures were frequent ly omitted : columns were made to sup. port arches and groined vaults; arcades were substituted for colonades, and vaults fur ceilings. In several of their most magnificent public buildings, we find sto ries of arcades upon each other, or in the same front with the solid parts of the ma sonry, decorated with the orders, which, instead of forming an essential part in the construction, are degraded to idle and ostentatious ornaments. This is very con spicuous in the theatre of Marcellus, and in the Coliseum.