你知道在你居住的地方有多少种建筑吗？试着去数一数。当然最多的是住宅。那其他的有多少种呢？——譬如教堂、银行、商店、法院、图书馆，等等。
希腊的建筑种类不多，但罗马却有多种建筑——不仅有陵墓、神庙、房屋和宫殿——还有拱门和高架渠桥梁和澡堂法院和大厅剧院和竞技场但也有冒牌货，虽然并非都是这样，有些建筑物确实宏伟和壮观。罗马大部分建筑物如今都已成废墟，但有这么一栋建筑——不仅至今岿然挺立，而且人们还在使用。它叫“万神殿”，意指“供奉众神”的神庙。万神殿的正面是由科林斯式柱子撑起的门廊，门廊的背面有幢圆形建筑物，上面是一个倒扣的碗形混凝土大拱顶。支撑拱顶的圆形墙壁有二十英尺厚。神庙里唯一的窗户是开在拱顶上的圆口。窗口处没安玻璃，但由于它高高在上远离地面，所以即便下大雨也不会把殿里的地面淋湿。
这种“矩形屋”在罗马式建筑中是最精致的建筑之一，因为它的支撑柱既有科林斯柱式，又有所有柱形。
然而矩形屋却没建在罗马，而建在当今的法国。当年建造它时法国是罗马帝国的一部分，但建造者是罗马人。在法国人们称它为卡雷尔神庙，就是矩形屋的意思。
那时，罗马演员演戏的剧院没有屋顶。座位也是石砌的，成半圆形排立，层层向上围成斜坡，正如我们今天看到的那样。在法国一个叫做奥兰治的小镇上，有座罗马剧院，至今还在演戏。
尼禄是罗马历史上最坏的君主之一，也是最差的建筑者之一。他为自己建造过一座大型宫殿，四面环绕着公园和湖泊。这座宫殿被命名为“尼禄金殿”。后来的统治者将它摧毁了。尼禄还给自己刻过一尊巨型雕像。据某些作家说，这尊雕像高达一百二十英尺。如今只有底座尚存。
尼禄巨型雕像的附近有个大型露天竞技场，建造时间晚于尼禄雕像，叫做“圆形竞技场”。这座露天竞技场有点像露天足球场。但里面进行的可不是足球比赛，而是人与人的决斗，或人与兽的搏斗。竞技场看台座位是石砌的，按椭圆形呈梯状排立。外围墙有四层楼高；稍微矮点的也有三层楼高的，则是一排排拱门。从第一层，或从平地上的建起的拱门之间，立着陶立克柱式。从第二层建起的拱门间竖着爱奥尼亚柱式。而从第三层的拱门间竖立的则是科林斯柱式，第四层是靠墙而立的混合式壁柱。竞技场如今已是一片废墟，但主体部分却依然挺立。罗马圆形露天竞技场所能容纳的观众数量等同于现在的体育场，但还有个更大一点的竞技场，叫做“大马戏场”。它所能容纳的人数和一个大城市的人口一样多，甚至比现今最大的体育场所能容纳的人数还要多。这里说的马戏场指的不是今天的马戏场；它指的是一个环形场地，而大马戏场指的是最大的环形竞技场地。
这个大竞技场的大部分建筑结构如今已不复存在，只残留一些根基。罗马人还盖过公共澡堂，因为普通人的家里根本就没有洗澡的地方。这些澡堂可大了，里面有带拱顶或拱门的房间，可供一千甚至更多的人同时洗澡。这里不仅有冷水浴、热水浴、温水浴，而且还有健身房、游戏室、休息室等。这些都是供休闲娱乐的公共场所。
罗马人还建造了脱离建筑主体的拱门，专为迎接打了胜仗的君主带领他的士兵凯旋而归。这些拱门叫做“凯旋门”。其中有个叫做“提图斯凯旋门”，是为庆祝提图斯征服和摧毁耶路撒冷所建。提图斯凯旋门是一个大型的单拱门。
还有一座拱门叫做“君士坦丁凯旋门”，是为庆祝罗马第一个成为基督徒的君王——君士坦丁而建。君士坦丁凯旋门有一个大拱和两个小拱，分立两边。你还可以从两幅图画的背景中看到斗兽场。
罗马人所建造的桥梁在他们所造的建筑物中算是最坚固最实在的。有些桥梁的建造却不是让行人跨越，而是让水穿流。这种桥梁的顶端有一个水槽，将水从源头引进城。它看起来就像是桥梁托起了河流！这种承载流水的拱桥叫做“高架渠”，也就是起导水管或排水管的作用。我们今天通过大型的时上时下的地下管道将河水、湖水或库水送进城，但罗马人却是通过高架渠，而不是水管来引水入城，而这些高架渠——有的甚至有五十多英里长——要倾斜到足够的高度才能让水总是沿着小坡往低处流。
罗马人还建造了另外一种建筑物，这种建筑物后来成为基督教堂的范本。这些建筑物有法院或公共大厅，它们被称作“长方形廊柱大厅式基督教堂”。这种教堂外观比较长，里面矗立着一排排柱子支撑着整个屋顶。还有一个中心走廊和两个侧边走廊，中心走廊上方的天顶要比周围的天顶都要高，正如我们现在看到的大多数教堂一样。我们会在下一章介绍更多关于这种教堂的知识。
TRIMMINGS
装饰物
MEN wear ties and collars.Ladies wear ornaments and trimmings.Buildings wear trimmings，too，to keep them from looking too plain and unfinished.These trimmings on buildings we call moldings and borders.The Greek and Roman builders used moldings and borders of certain shapes and designs，and builders nowadays use many of the same moldings and borders.
Perhaps you have never examined closely the panels of a door，the edges of a doorway or window，the picture molding under the ceiling，or other trimmings around the outside of a building，but if you should notice them you may be surprised to see that most of them are not just flat strips.They have different shapes.The different shapes of these moldings have names just as the boys and girls you know have names，so you can become acquainted with them.
I’ll introduce them to you：
There is a molding that is square as seen from the edge，and so simple that you might think a name unnecessary.It is called a fillet，which means a ribbon or band.In olden times women —and men，too—wore a fillet aroundNo.67-1
their heads，to keep their hair in place and as an ornament.Nowadays，buildings often wear fillets just as an ornament.A fillet，as seen from the edge，is like the drawing at the left.
When a fillet is sunken in，like a square groove，it is called simply asunken fillet.It is like this drawing on the right.
Here is a molding that is half round as seen from the edge.Architects call it a torus，but to carpenters it is a “half-round.”
Here is the torus，or half-round，sunk in，forming a round hollow or groove.Its right name is cavctto，which means a little cave，but carpenters call it a groove.
Here is a molding that，seen from the edge，looks like the curveof an egg.It is called by architects an ovolo，which means egg-shaped，but carpenters just say “egg molding.”
Here is a molding that is hollowed out with the same egg shaped curve.It is called a scotia.
Here is a molding with a curve like an S.The hollow is at thebottom.It is called an ogee—just like the ex-clamation “Oh gee”！
The ruler you use in school may be in the shape of ogee molding.
Here is a molding also with an S curve，the hollow at the top.It is called acyma，which means a wave.
Do you think you can recognize these moldings when you see them and call them by name？They are in couples—four couples.One is raised and one is hollow；one fits into the other.
Mr.and Mrs.Fillet
Mr.Torus and Miss Cavetto Mr.Ovolo and Miss Scotia Mr.Ogee and Miss CymaUsually，instead of just one simple molding，two or more of these moldings are used，one alongside the other and there are several beautiful moldings made by such combinations.
In most of the combinations，the square fillet is used between the curved moldings.This arrangement of square and curve makes the curved moldings stand out more sharply，thus：
See how many of these moldings you can find in your own house or in some one else’s house.
There are also several kinds of borders.The simplest is the zigzag，which is also called the chevron because it is like the chevron that a soldier wears on his sleeve.It’s something like the first writing a child tries to do.
The next simplest is the scallop.It is called that because it is like the edge of the scallop shell.It’s like this：
or upside down like this：
The embattled is like this：
The embattled border is sometimes called the Wall of Troy，because Troy had a wall around it，with spaces through which the soldiers could shoot their arrows，and pieces of wall behind which they could jump.
The meander is like this：
The Meander was a river in Asia Minor that flowed in this very crooked way.If you goto school walking in a line that makes a design like this，we say you are meandering.
The fret or key is like this：
It looks something like a row of keys.
The dentil is like this：