Greek architecture: The Flowering and Decline of Greek Architecture

Between 700 b.c. and the Roman occupation (146 b.c.) all the chief works of Greek architecture were produced. The period in which all the major masterpieces were erected extended from 480 b.c. to 323 b.c. That incredibly productive era includes the reign of Pericles in Athens, in which the architects Callicrates, Mnesicles, and Ictinus flourished and in which the Parthenon and other great works were produced.

After the passing of power from Athens and Sparta to Asia Minor the pure traditions of the mainland were lost. The products of the following Hellenistic period show a decline from the Athenian tradition and reveal Asian influences. The Hellenistic architecture (see Hellenistic civilization) that thus arose (4th–3d cent. b.c.), exhibits florid and opulent elements and more complicated design. City planning, ignored by the mainland Greeks, was cultivated by the Hellenistic architects, among them Hippodamus; from them the Romans doubtless acquired their concepts of monumental civic design.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Other Structures
• The Greek Temple
• Ancient Greek Construction Methods
• The Orders of Greek Architecture
• The Flowering and Decline of Greek Architecture
• Origins of Greek Architecture
• Bibliography

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