called the Corinthian, and it has been supposed that the artist, in his desire to give his columns a greater delicacy than is possessed by those of the Ionic Order, adopted the harmonious proportions of a youthful maiden. The rich and sumptuous capital which crowns the Corinthian column originated, it is said, in the following circumstance:-A young Corinthian female died prematurely. After her interment, her nurse collected in a basket the toys which had pleased her when alive, placed the whole upon her grave, and covered them with a tile. It happened that the basket was placed over the root of an acanthus, and that the plant afterwards grew up round its exterior, and curled under the angles of the tile. This being observed by Callimachus, suggested to his fertile fancy the idea of the Corinthian capital; and though we may reasonably doubt the truth of this old legend, it is by no means improbable that the ornament in question was derived from the appearance of some vase encircled by a plant. Or it may have been suggested by the Egyptian column, whose head is occasionally ornamented with sculptured leaves of the palm or lotus.

The earliest example of the Doric style in existence is the Temple at Corinth, built about 650 B.C. Putting aside the fables of a lively

imagination, we may conclude that this order was derived from the rock-cut tombs of Egypt. Its finest specimens are, the Temple at Ægina, those of Theseus and the Parthenon at Athens, of Minerva at Sunium, of Jupiter at Olympia, and of Apollo Epicurius at Bassæ. There are also admirable examples at Girgenti, Syracuse, Segeste, and Pæstum.

The Ionic Order arose about 500 B.C., and would seem to have been greatly indebted to the influence of Assyrian art. The finest examples now in existence are, the Temples of the Erechtheum, and the Wingless Victory, at Athens; of Diana, at Ephesus; and of Minerva Polias, at Priere.

The Corinthian was the latest style introduced, having been first used about the time of Alexander the Great. For the beauties of this rich and graceful order we need only refer to the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, and the Temples of the Winds and of Jupiter Olympius at Athens.

Besides the above styles, the Greeks frequently used Caryatides, or female figures, instead of columns, as in the Erechtheum at Athens; and Telamones, or giants, as at Agrigentum.

Greek temples are technically distinguished as tetrastyle when the portico has four columns,

or hexastyle when it has six columns. When a row of columns is continued along both sides, the arrangement is called peripteral; and a temple constituted on this plan is said to be a hexastyle peripteral, as in the following figure.

The cella, or temple proper, is a square chamber included within four walls.

The Romans borrowed the general

plan and architectural character of their sacred edifices from the Greeks, just as from Hellas they derived their art, literature, and science. Roman wisdom was, to a great extent, imported. But Greece was not their sole fountain-head, and, in architecture, while taking from the Greeks the three orders-Doric, Ionic, and Corinthianthey derived from the Etrurians the circular arch and the circular form of temple. Their favourite style was the Corinthian, which they greatly improved and developed, as in the Pantheon and Temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome, and the famous Maison Quarrée, or Amphitheatre, at Nîmes. The Composite Order, a combination of the Ionic and the Corinthian, was invented by them.

With the Greek orders the Romans combined the arch. They also placed the columns more

widely apart, and set them on pedestals, to secure for them and the entablature a nobler character. Behind the columns they placed square piers, and from these sprung massive arches, which supported the wall. They also loved to build one order above another, defining each stage or story with an entablature, as in the Coliseum. On the whole, the Roman architecture was distinguished by its luxuriance, variety of effect, richness, and massiveness of construction; the Greek, by the harmony of its proportions, its delicacy, grace, and majestic simplicity.

A

I.

Athens.

THE ACROPOLIS.

THENS is one of those cities whose name and memory are immortal; which, spite of its political decadence, spite of the ravages of fire and sword, spite of the iconoclastic fury of barbarian conquerors, will always command the reverence and the admiration of men. A thousand years unfold about it their wondrous glories; art, science, literature, the heroic deeds and heroic thoughts of heroic spirits, invest it with associations of undying interest; and the pilgrim paces its way-worn streets with a feeling of tender awe, as if he walked in the presence of the Immortals. Here Plato mused; here Socrates taught; here Miltiades was welcomed by applauding citizens after the overthrow of Persian power at Marathon; here Alcibiades displayed the glowing promise of his youth, and Pericles moved among men like one born to command. Here Aristides earned by his integrity the hate of