Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

COLUMNA. COL UL MNA. 327
which spring generally two rows of acanthus To these three orders the Roman architects
leaves, surmounted at each corner by a small added two others, which have, however, no claim
volute, the spaces between the volntes being oc- to be considered as distinct orders. The Tuscaa
cupied by flowers, masks, or arabesques, or by an- is only known to us by the description of Vitruother pair of volutes intertwining with each other. vius, as no ancient example of it has been preIn the earlier examples, however, there is fre- served. It was evidently nothing more than a
quently only one row of acanthus leaves; and in modification of the Roman Doric, stripped of its
the so-called Tower of the Winds the volutes are ornaments. The Roman or Composite Order is
wanting, and the capital consists only of an only a sort of mongrel of the Corinthian and Ionic;
astragal, a single row of acanthus leaves, and a the general character being Corinthian, except
row of tongue-shaped leaves. In all the examples, that the upper part of the capital is formed of an
except the last-mentioned, the abacus, instead of Ionic capital with angular volutes: and both
being square, as in the other orders, is hollowed at capital and entablature are overloaded with ornathe edges, and the middle of each edge is orlia- ments. The engraving is from the triumphal arch
mented with a flower. The ornaments of the of Titus, which is considered the best example.
capital were sometimes cast in bronze. The order
seems to have been invented about the time of the. _
Peloponnesian War; but it did not come into general I >,
use till some time afterwards. The earliest known f
example of its use throughout a building is in the
choragic monument of Lysicrates, which was built
in B. c. 335 (see Diet. qf Biog. art. Lysicrattes), lmand
from which the following engraving is taken.' /a,:o.; —,exe
For further details respecting the orders and
their supposed history, see the 3d and 4th books
of Vitruvius, the work of Mauch, and Stieglitz's
A rclhiioogie der Baukunst.
It only remains to mention smne other uses of
columns, besides their ordinary employment for
supporting buildings either within or without.
Columns in long rows were used to convey
water in aqueducts (Crates, ap. Atlisen. vi. 94);
and single pillars were fixed in harbours for mooring ships. (Od. xxii. 466. Some of these are
found yet standing.
Single columns were also erected to commemorate persons or events. Among these, some of the
most remarkable were the colulnae rostratae,
called by that name because three ship-beaks proceeded friom each side of them, and designed to
record successful engagements at sea (Virg. Geoxg.
iii. 29; Servius, ad loc.). The most important
and celebrated of those which yet remain, is one
__O__________f erected in honour of the coansl C. Duillius, on'-> -____ - {occasion of his victory over the Carthaginian fleet.,
a. c. 261 (see the annexed woodcut). It was
originally placed in the forum (Plin. tI. N. xxxiv.
I ), and is now preserved in the museum of the
Y 4