Rolph
JAMES, JR., an American merchant and public official, born in San Francisco, Cal., in 1869. He was educated in the public schools and at Trinity Academy, San Francisco, beginning his mercantile career in 1888. He became a member of the firm of Hind, Rolph & Co., in 1898. He was an officer and director of various banks and ship- He was also a building concerns, as well as a vicepresident of the Panama Pacific Inter- national Exposition. He was also a national Exposition. member and officer of the San Francisco merchant's exchange and of the ship owner's association of the Pacific Coast.
He was mayor of San Francisco for three terms, beginning 1911.
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. It can hardly be said that the early Romans had any style of architecture of their own, since they borrowed their ideas of building first from the Etruscans and afterward from the Greeks. In the time of Romulus their dwellings were of the rudest description, being chiefly com- ROMAN ARCHITECTURE posed of straw; and at a later period, their temples were only small square buildings, scarcely large enough to contain the statues of their deities. The first king who constructed works of a large class requiring architectural skill was Ancus Martius. His first attempt was the building of the city and port of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber. During the time of Tarquin the Elder the city was much improved by the skill and enterprise of the Etruscans the great Circus was built, and the walls of the city constructed of large hewn stones.
The great Cloaca, or public sewer, was also commenced, together with the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. The decoration and improvement of the city was greatly increased during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus; but the Capitol was not finished till after the expulsion of the kings. During the first two Punic Wars many temples were erected; but they do not appear to have been of great magnificence. Altogether, very little taste had been shown in the Roman buildings till their conquests extended and they became intimate with the more costly buildings of their enemies. Metellus Macedonicus, the contemporary of Mummius, the victor of Corinth, was the first who built a temple of marble at Rome; but from that time most of the larger edifices were built of that material. Grecian art and architects were also introduced about the same period.
Under Julius Cæsar, many new and magnificent buildings were erected; and during the Golden Age, under Augustus, most of the finest edifices were built; architects flocked from all quarters, and especially from Greece, to beautify the city. It was said of Augustus "that he found Rome built of brick and left it of marble." Under Vespasian and the Antonines architecture flourished, as the remains of the Coliseum and the temples of Antoninus and Faustina testify. After this period, however, architecture declined till Constantine transferred the seat of government to Byzantium, when a new style was introduced.
In comparing Greek and Roman architecture there can be no doubt that the former greatly excels in the matter of taste. Among the Greeks, moreover, religion was almost the sole purpose for which architecture seemed to exist; while among the Romans their temples were neither so extensive nor so numerous as their buildings of public utility or convenience. Besides a large number of engineering works, there are still the remains in Rome of fora, baths, palaces, circi, theaters, amphitheaters, libraries, halls of justice, triumphal arches, commemorative columns, mausolea, and sim- ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ilar buildings. The requirements of such edifices as these naturally led to the practice of composition and grouping, as one uniform pl plan of building would not have been suitable for such a variety of purposes. Another cause of variety lay in the employment of the arch, which allowed much greater latitude in compositions than the entablature of the Greeks. The semi-circular form of the arch next led to quite a new feature in architectural design-namely, the dome a feature which gave a totally distinct character to buildings in which it was employed. The Pantheon is the most remarkable example of this arrangement. The circular plan of building became also a favorite one for tombs and mausolea. Among the most noted of these was the mausoleum of Hadrian, remains of which now form the well-known castle of St. Angelo; and the tomb of Cæcilia Metella. A characteristic feature in Roman architecture, and one that entered largely in the system, is the employment of order above order in the same building. The style of architecture called the Roman order was invented by the Romans from the Ionic and Corinthian orders; and hence it is sometimes called the Composite order.