- The Roman Portico was a porch in front of the entrance to a villa or Temple.
- It had a roof supported by columns in imitation of the Greek Pronaos. The columns sometimes formed a colonnaded walk around the Building.
The Pronaos
- This is the vestibule of a Greek Temple covered by a Portico and side walls, and separate from the Naos or Cella (Temple) within.
- Unlike the Greek Pronaos, the Roman Pronaos had columns but no surrounding wall.
The Columns
- Tetrastyle means there are four columns fronting the Portico.
- Hexastyle has six, such as the La Maison Carre
- Octastyle has eight, such as the Parthenon in Athens.
- Decastyle has ten.
Examples
- Parthenon in Athens (Octastyle)
- The columns run all the way round the building giving a colonnaded walkway around the Temple.
- Pantheon in Rome (Octastyle)
- La Maison Carre in Nimes (Hexastyle)
- The Portico is one third of the length of the Temple and the columns of the Portico run all the way around the building in the style of the Parthenon but with no walkway.
Porticos of Ancient Rome
- These are colonnaded entrances to Temples where the columns surround the building creating a walkway.
- Portico of Livia (Porticus Liviae 7 BCE )
- Portico of Pompey
- Portico of Octavia
- Porticus Minucia Frumentaria
- Porticus Aemilia
- The Docks of Ancient Rome consisted of a gigantic rectangular building supported by 294 pillars in rows of seven.
- Portico of the Palace of Domitian
- The North exterior of the Left Wing of the Palace was fronted by a Portico which ran along the north wall, then followed down the west wall.
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Pantheon, Rome