Some of the Roman Corinthian capitals are well designed, and have a very grand and imposing effect, as that of the Mars Ultor (Fig. 304) and the Pantheon. The Mars Ultor capital is undoubtedly fine and rich in the extreme; that of the Pantheon is more restrained; and in both of them is used the olive-leaf variety of acanthus, each tine or leaflet of which is hollowed out; and thus the whole capital in a full light would have a sparkling effect of light and shade, so that even at a great height and distance from the eye none of the modelling would be lost to sight.
The Roman Corinthian has more mouldings, and has modillions or brackets in the cornice instead of the usual Greek dentils (Fig. 305). The entablature from the Temple of Jupiter Tonans (Fig. 306) is an example of the inordinate love of over-richness and display that was so characteristic of the Romans.
The Baths of Caracalla and of Diocletian are the only ones that have remained to us in any state of preservation, and show from the remains what splendid examples of public buildings they must have been. They were built of brick mostly, and lined with stucco on which frescoes were painted.
Fig. 306.—Roman Corinthian, Entablature of Jupiter Tonans.
The Baths of Caracalla, at the foot of the Aventine Hill, were erected A.D. 217. They covered a rectangular piece of ground about 1,150 feet each way, and were a great assemblage of bath-rooms, public and private, of cold, vapour, and hot baths; swimming and other kinds of bath, gymnasium hall, libraries, reading-rooms, assembly halls, &c., all comprised under the one roof, surrounding the open courtyard in which was the principal swimming bath, in a building 730 ft. by 380 ft. in dimension. In the centre and at the back of this group of buildings was a circular hall, with a domed roof, called the Solar cell, the walls of which were lined with brass. Some of the finest of Roman statuary adorned these halls. The principal hall of the Baths of Diocletian, erected at the beginning of the fourth century A.D. is called the Ephebeum, and is still used as the Church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli. It is almost 300 ft. long by 90 ft. wide, and was restored by Michelangelo. Its roof consists of three great cross vaults supported by eight granite columns, 45 ft. in height. Another class of buildings that the Romans were fond of was the amphitheatres. Remains of them have been found throughout the Roman Empire, the most stupendous of which was the Coliseum or Flavian Amphitheatre. It was begun by the Emperor Vespasian and finished by his son Titus, and its ruins still attest to its greatness.
Fig. 307.—Bas-relief on the Arch of Titus. (P. & C.)
It is elliptical in plan, is four stories in height; the three lowest are pierced with eighty openings, semi-circular arched, with columns and piers between. The first story is Doric, the second Ionic, and the third Corinthian. Each column and pier is raised on a stylobate, and the columns carry entablatures continuously around the building.
