C.) was the Doric, followed by Ionic, Corinthian, Composite, and Tuscan (16th Century). The Greeks preferred the Doric and Ionic styles; the Romans, the more ornate Corinthian or the combination style known as Composite. .
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Column & Order.
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The terms Doric, Ionic, et al., are also the names of the orders of classical architecture. The order refers to the column plus its top [see diagram] and bottom. The base of the Doric column was the floor, whereas other orders had an extra piece. The Doric order includes metopes (where there might be sculpted drawings of history, myths, and religious events) which are separated by triglyphs. In other orders this area, the frieze, might be covered by continuous reliefs uninterrupted by the triglyphs. Other scenes might be displayed in the pediment, the triangular area within the cornice. .
In addition to being the earliest, and the style used in the Parthenon, the Doric column is also the simplest. Not only does it stand on the bare floor, but it is topped by a plain capital (a convex disk [called an echinus] .
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Acanthus Leaf.
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Ionic Capital.
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and a square block [called an abacus] formed from a single piece of marble) instead of the intricate scroll work of the Ionic or elaborate acanthus leaves of the Corinthian. Just beneath the echinus is the neck of the column, the hypotrachelion, a continuation of the column but separated by indentations and decorated with parallel, horizontal rings. The abacus holds up the architrave, a four-sided stone beam reaching from one pillar to the next, which, together with the frieze and cornice forms what's called the entablature. The central part, called the shaft, was made of separate circular pieces joined together in the center. The exterior of the shaft has (traditionally, 20) vertical carved ridges, referred to as fluting. .
Mathematics and proportion determine size and shape of the columns.