MONUMENTS. The term monument is applied to structures which are characteristic or remarkable on account of their being erected as memorials, and also, though loosely, to those buildings which express some form of worship, or have peculiar Prominence on account of their beauty, proportion or grandeur. In modern times, churches are often erected as memorials to individuals, and yet the term monumcnt is not applied to them except in the vague general sense named above. It is evident, therefore, that such buildings may be commemorative monuments, as well as columns or tombs. Se pulchral monuments are the memorials most commonly erected. In Egypt, pyramids are monumental on account of their size, showing very little of so-called architectural art. There are about 100 of these, each containing a room which was used as a royal sepulchre. The Great Pyramid built by Khufu, called by the Greeks, Cheops, about 950 B.C., measures 764 feet square at its base and is 482 feet high. As Saint Peter's, at Rome, is about 15 feet less in height, it could be covered by the shell of this pyramid. In Assyria and Chaldwa there are few temples and no tombs remaining of sufficient architectural importance to be classed as monuments. Important buildings in these countries were placed on huge mounds or ter races of earth, which raised them above the surrounding country, but as these structures were mainly of unburned bricks, they have fallen into shapeless mounds.
The earliest existing Greek monuments are found at Mycena and Tiryns. The Lion Gate at Mycena shows two large lions rampant on each side of a column, carved in bas-relief above the lintel; and this sculpture is wholly monumental in character, related both to reli gious and dynastic associations. The gateway at Mycetue is one of the earliest of porches or towers of entrance which were among the chief monuments of Greek art: these were the Propylaea of which the most important was that of the Acropolis of Athens, with the small Ionic temple of Nike Apteros close by. The choragic monument erected by Lysicrates to commemorate his choral victory may still be seen at Athens. This was built at the time of
Alexander's conquest, when Athens was de clining and Asia Minor was being filled with magnificent temples of the Corinthian order. Other choragic monuments still exist at Athens in a partly ruined condition. The Tower of Winds, or Clepsydra of Andronicus, was erected at Athens about 100 ac., but this was rather a utilitarian structure, as it served as a meas ure of time. Other Greek monuments were the Arch of Hadrian, of the later Roman period; entrances to other temple sites, similar to the Propylaea of the Acropolis, as that of Eleusis; theatres, colonnades, stadia and gymnasia. Greek tombs that remain at the present time are nearly all to be found in Asia Minor, the best known being the Mausoleum at Halicar nassus. The small Greek monuments and tombstones are very simple and refined in detail. Of the same epoch are the rock-cut tombs of Asia Minor. Some of these are of great beauty, the exterior face of the living rock having been smoothed and made vertical, and adorned with magnificent bas-reliefs of very large size.
The principal Roman monuments were on a large scale, the rough work being executed by cheap labor, soldiers, barbarians or slaves. The Roman Forum was crowded with temples, arches and individual memorials. Arches were characteristic products of Roman civilization and were generally erected in honor of some victorious general or in commemoration of some great event.
Columns were also frequently erected. The column of Trajan is still standing in Rome. It is 133 feet high and has a spiral line of figures in relief from the foot to the top of the shaft, showing the story of one of Trajan's cam paigns. There is a staircase within the column leading to the top. The sepulchral monuments of the Romans were generally small. One of the larger ones was the circular tomb of Had rian, now the castle of San Angelo. Small sepulchral monuments lined the sides of Roman roads for miles outside the city. Many have been found at Pompeii. The tomb of Cacilia Metella, a characteristic example, was built by Crassus, about 60 ac. It was circular in plan, with a square base.