Ionic.
The Romans were much more unfortunate in their modifications of the Ionic order than in those which they introduced into the Doric. They never seem to have either liked or understood it, nor to have employed it except as a mezzo termine between the other two. In its own native East this order had originally only been used in porticoes between piers or antæ, where of course only one face was shown, and there were no angles to be turned. When the Greeks adopted it they used it in temples of Doric form, and in consequence were obliged to introduce a capital at each angle, with two voluted faces in juxtaposition at right angles to one another. In some instances—internally at least—as at Bassæ (Woodcut No. [142]) they used a capital with four faces. The Romans, impatient of control, eagerly seized on this modification, but never quite got over the extreme difficulty of its employment. With them the angular volutes became mere horns, and even in the best examples the capital wants harmony and meaning.
180. Ionic Order.
When used as a three-quarter column these alterations were not required, and then the order resembled more its original form; but even in this state it was never equal to the Greek examples, and gradually deteriorated to the corrupt application of it in the Temple of Concord in the Forum, which is the most degenerate example of the order now to be found in Roman remains.