Excavated evidence long ago convinced most archaeologists that the ancient Greeks knew little about the graceful art of arch building and practiced it less. Greek architects apparently preferred to cover the space between their classic columns with great stone beams called traves; discoveries indicated that the arch came into its own as a triumph of Etruscan and Roman engineering. Now Mario Napoli, superintendent of Excavations for Antiquities in Salerno, has dug up a chiseled arch that he feels sure is genuine Greek.
Napoli's arch, built in the 5th century B.C., at about the same time as the Parthenon, was found in...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
