The greatest works of the Romans, however, were their temples. The basilicas (q.v.),` amphitheaters (q.v.), and baths (q.v.) are far more numerous and more stupendous as works of art, and all show how well the Romans had succeeded in producing an internal architecture, which at a later period became so useful as a model for Christian buildings. The basilica of Trajan is a type of the Christian wooden-roofed churches; while that of Maxentius with its great intersecting vaults, its vaulted aisles, and but tresses, contains the germs of the greatest Christian cathedrals. The Roman amphi theaters (q.v.) have never been surpassed for size and grandeur, or for suitability to their purpose. And of the baths (q.v.), sufficient remains still exist, although much decayed, from the perishable nature of the brick and stucco employed in their construction, to prove that the scarcely credible descriptions of contemporaries were surpassed by the magnificence of the buildings themselves.
Among the other varied public works of the Romans are their aqueducts (q.v.) and bridges, triumphal arches (q.v.), pillars of victory, and tombs. Of the tombs of the Romans, tlie earliest and best specimen is that of Cmcilia Metella (wife of Crassus), on the Appian Way. It consists (like most Roman tombs) of a round drum placed on a square basement, and was probably surmounted by a conical roof. The tomb of Augustus was similar, on a very large scale, and the sloping roof was broken into terraces planted with trees. That of Adrian (now the castle of St. Angelo in Rome) is
another enormous example. The tombs were generally ranged along the ways leading to the gates of cities.
The later tombs of Rome are well worthy of study, as they contain many specimens of the transition toward the Christian style. They are generally vaulted, frequently with domes, as, for instance, the tombs of St. Helena and Sta. Costanza. Mr. Fergusson also places the so-called " temple of :Minerva Medici" among the tombs. It is a beau tifully arranged building with ten sides, all containing deep niches (except the side with the door), surmounted by a clear-story, with ten well-proportioned windows. The vault is polygonal inside and outside; and the pendentives, ribs, buttresses, etc., which played so important a part in the Christian architecture both of the east and west, are distinctly need in its construction.
Of the domestic architecture of the Romans. we have many wonderfully preserved specimens in Herculaneum and Pompeii, showing both the arrangements and decora tions of the dwellings of all classes. Of the great palaces and villas, however, none remain except the palace of Diocletian, at Spalatro, in Dalmatia. It is an important building, as it shows many steps in the progress of the style.