Another type of Greek column, which the Romans borrowed beginning in the Middle Republican Period was the Ionic, which had come from Asia Minor, that is from the west coast of what we now call Turkey. It had similarities to the Doric, but also fundamental differences. Its column had a base, was more slender than the Doric, had flutes with rounded ends, and rows to an echinus that was ornately decorated. There was still a flat, but now ornate, abacus at the very top of the Capitol. But in between the acinus and the abacus was a volute member that gave the Ionic its distinctive look, like it's wearing a little voluted hat. This volute could be turned at a 45 degree angle at the corner of the temple to adjust to the right angle turn of the building. Just as a Doric, the Ionic had an architrave, but it was more decorative and had bands on it, known it Latin as fasciae, F-A-S-C-I-A-E. Above this came a plain frieze course, which was often decorated with sculptures, and which had the advantage of no triglyphs and no metopes and therefore, no angled triglyph problem to worry about, as we had with Doric. The column bases of the Ionic, when they were used in Rome, tended to have a profile that had a projecting, rounded molding called a torus, and a hollowed out area called a scotia, followed at the bottom by another torus, which projected a little further out. The pediment, tympanum, and framing cornices, or borders, to the pediment, were the same as with Doric. The Temple of Portunus, in Rome, is a perfect example of our Ionic style, dating to the later 2nd century BCE. On the University of Arizona campus, the Forbes Building, built in 1915, is in part, a good example of the Ionic style. Now, can you describe the Ionic characteristics of this building as we pan up it? And can you note the main thing that is wrong, or missing, from this example of Tucson Ionic? The Etruscans preferred to simplify and adapt the Greek styles. Oh, they lacked fine stone, but under Greek influence, they developed their own approach to temple building. This came early on to be be known as the Tuscan temple type, the Tuscan column looked like a simplified version of the Doric. It could have a base, often simple, sometimes just a plinth, and a simple molding. The columns were often left unfluted. There was an architrave, but no frieze above, nor triglyphs and metopes. One advanced directly up right into the pediment, which was open, no timpedum, and fitted with decorative plaques protecting the upper beam heads. Tuscan temples were often squarish in form, with steps only in the front. They were normally then raised up on a podium, rather than featuring steps all around, as a Greek temple had. Tuscan columns, as well as Greek columns, often swelled out slightly at the center, in addition to tapering in, as they went up. Originally this swelling out at the center was done to correct the optical illusion that columns, that were actually straight up and down, were sagging in the middle. The swelling out at the center of the columns is known as entasis, E-N-T-A-S-I-S, and it might sometimes be exaggerated. You see it in Doric, particularly in early Doric. Or we see it in Tuscan column forms, and we also even see it a little bit in Ionic. Because these early temples were largely built of wood, the Tuscan style was largely of wood, it was necessary to provide wide overhangs, and an abundant terra cotta use for plaques to protect the temple from exposure to weather. Thus, a high and detailed kind of cresting occurs around the pediment. On the Arizona campus, Herring Hall, built in 1901, is an example of what we might call the later Tuscan style. Now, how many typical Tuscan characteristics can you name when you look at Herring Hall? The most famous Tuscan style temple in ancient Rome was the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the Capitoline Hill, built about 509 BC by the last Etruscan king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, shortly before he was deposed. It was one of the biggest temples in the entire Mediterranean, and it was intended to put Rome on the map as a major city. Oh, it lacked the beautiful marble of the Greek temples, but it was still enormously impressive. Some of its ruins have recently been incorporated into the Capitoline Museum's complex on Rome's Capitoline Hill. And nearby was found a bronze sculpture of the symbol of Rome, a life-sized she-wolf. Come and have a look at it.
