. Rome : its rise and fall ; a text-book for high schools and colleges. to render more real, and toimpress more deeply upon our minds, the story we havebeen following (see Frontispiece), 289. Greek Origin of Roman Architecture; the Arch. —The architecture of the Romans was, in the main, an imi-tation of Greek models. But the Romans were not mereservile imitators. They not only modified the architec-tural forms they borrowed, but they gave their structuresa distinct character by the prominent use of the arch, whichthe Greek and the oriental builders seldom employed, thoughthey were acquainted w
. Rome : its rise and fall ; a text-book for high schools and colleges. to render more real, and toimpress more deeply upon our minds, the story we havebeen following (see Frontispiece), 289. Greek Origin of Roman Architecture; the Arch. —The architecture of the Romans was, in the main, an imi-tation of Greek models. But the Romans were not mereservile imitators. They not only modified the architec-tural forms they borrowed, but they gave their structuresa distinct character by the prominent use of the arch, whichthe Greek and the oriental builders seldom employed, thoughthey were acquainted with its properties. By means of itthe Roman builders vaulted the roofs of the largest build-ings, carried stupendous aqueducts across the deepest val- 456 ARCHITECTURE. 457 leys, and spanned the broadest streams with bridges thathave resisted all the assaults of time and flood to thepresent day. 290. Sacred Edifices. — The temples of the Romans werein general so like those of the Greeks that we need nothere take time and space to enter into a particular descrip-. The Pantheon, Interior. (From an old engraving.) tion of Mention, however, should be made of theircircular vaulted temples, as this was a style of building 2 The most celebrated of Roman temples was the Capitoline, whichcrowned the Capitoline hill at Rome. At the close of the Punic warsthe roof of the central portion of the building was covered with gildedtiles at an almost fabulous expense — $20,000,000 according to someauthorities. The brazen doors of the temple were also adorned withsolid plates of gold. The interior decorations were of marble andsilver. The walls were crowded with the trophies of war. We havealready learned of the fate of the treasures of the sanctuary at thehands of the barbarian Vandals (par. 279). 458 ARCHITECTURE, LITERATURE, LAW. almost exclusively Italian. The best representative of thisclass of sacred edifices is the Pantheon 3 at Rome, whichhas come down to our. own times in a
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