with circular and square panels, richly decorated with arabesques or mythical figures, and cupids in low relief of fine stucco; the mouldings or divisions in higher relief, and having the water leaf or the egg and dart enrichment ([Plate 9.)]
The architectural frieze and the sepulchral urn and sarcophagi of this period were often decorated with festoons (figs. 4 and 5, [plate 9]), and were supported by cupids or by candelabra ([plate 9]), or by the skulls of oxen, as on the frieze from the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, here given, which is no doubt a survival of the sacrificial custom of worship.
The architectural basilica and forum of Trajan, erected A.D. 114, by Apollodorus, a Greek of Damascus, was of the utmost magnificence, the remains attesting to the skill and artistic craftsmanship of the Romans. Apollodorus also erected the marble column of Trajan, having a rectangular pedestal 18 feet high, and richly sculptured with the dresses, armour and standards of the Roman army. This pedestal supports a column of the Tuscan order of architecture 97¼ feet high and 12 feet in diameter, enriched with a series of spiral bands, having bas-reliefs representing the successive events of the Dacian War by the Emperor Trajan.
This magnificent and well preserved relic of antiquity furnishes a complete epitome of the costumes and the arms and armour of that period. Another well-preserved column, similar to that of Trajan, was erected in Rome by Marcus Aurelius A.D. 174, the subjects of its reliefs being the war with the Marcomans. Large marble urns, or Tazzas, enriched with Bacchanalian figures, surrounded with foliage and birds and animals; magnificent tables, chairs, couches, and candelabra, of bronze, enriched with silver damascening, together with the choice remains of sculpture and mosaics, all indicate the luxuriousness and love of magnificence of the wealthy Roman citizens.
In Roman architectural ornament we see the most powerful modelling combined with the use of the continuous scroll growing from a nest of foliage, repeated in their painted decorations (see Pompeian). This elaboration of the typical Greek ornamentation and the rounded serrations of the Acanthus, forms the chief characteristic of Roman ornament, which is wonderfully bold, and vigorous in conception and execution, but deficient in the refinement and delicacy of Greek art.
POMPEIAN ORNAMENT. [Plate 10.]
