. The grandeur that was Rome; a survey of Roman culture and civilisation:. of Rome towhich the pious traveller now directs his footsteps date fromthe Augustan period. Many of the temples of the Republicwere now rebuilt on the old plan with more sumptuous materials,as, for example, the round shrine of Mater Matuta,* commonlycalled the Temple of Hercules. Technical innovations includethe debasement of the Doric column by omitting those subtleflutings which gave it all the grace whereby its strength wassaved from clumsiness, and by erecting it upon a the Romans preferred the more exu
. The grandeur that was Rome; a survey of Roman culture and civilisation:. of Rome towhich the pious traveller now directs his footsteps date fromthe Augustan period. Many of the temples of the Republicwere now rebuilt on the old plan with more sumptuous materials,as, for example, the round shrine of Mater Matuta,* commonlycalled the Temple of Hercules. Technical innovations includethe debasement of the Doric column by omitting those subtleflutings which gave it all the grace whereby its strength wassaved from clumsiness, and by erecting it upon a the Romans preferred the more exuberant Corinthian orderwith its florid capital of acanthus foliage, a type which theGreeks had used very sparingly and seldom externally. Again,the Romans had discovered improved methods of constructionwhich enabled them to use a wider span in roofing, but theymade no artistic advantage out of this fact. On the contrary,by dispensing with t\\& peristyle or surrounding colonnade theyrendered the exterior of tneir temples much less interesting. * Plate 44, Fig. AUGUSTAN ROME The principal surviving relics of Augustan temples are eightcolumns of the Temple of Saturn * which still stand in the Forumat Rome. The celebrated Pantheon f is now recognised to bea work of Hadrians time though its plan probably repeats thatof the temple erected on the site by Agrippa. But the clearestpicture of the ecclesiastical architecture of the day is to beseen on the reliefs of the Altar of Peace, which reproduce theappearance of actual temples with almost photographic exacti-tude. The finest extant example is undoubtedly the temple atNismes, known as the Maison a graceful erection ofthis period which exhibits the Corinthian style without undueextravagance. As the Romans of this day had scarcely any trace ofgenuine religious feeling it is not surprising that they had littleof their own to contribute to temple architecture except wealthand magnificence. But they were naturally devoted
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