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STUDIES IN HELLENISTIC ARCHITECTURE. By FREDERICK E. WINTER. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (Phoenix Supp. 42). 2006. Pp. xxii, 464, 429 figs.
THE LONG AWAITED VOLUME Studies in Hellenistic Architecture by Frederick E. Winter is an important addition to the scholarly literature on the topic of architecture in the hellenistic period. This new survey in the English language expands upon earlier editions by incorporating the results of recent archaeological investigations from a number of sites and approaching the material in a slightly different manner. Winter covers a larger geographical area, includes a greater corpus of monuments, and, most importantiy, incorporates material from across the Adriatic, presenting a more comprehensive overview of hellenistic architectural achievements. The author acknowledges the problems associated with collecting and synthesizing the data, and discusses the controversies that exist in attempting to cover such a wide geographical area. Hellenic architectural influences in non-Greek populations of the eastern and western Mediterranean resulted in regional diversities, making the study of hellenistic architecture a difficult undertaking. Most importantly, Winter challenges the traditional starting date for the hellenistic period (323 B.C.) and argues for an earlier date, in the second third of the fourth century B.C., that coincides with changes in the political sphere reflected in the visual arts. However, the author also needs to bring to the attention of the reader the problems associated with the conventional date of 30 B.C. used to define the end of the hellenistic period and the beginning of the Roman, as discussed by Susan Alcock.1
This volume is divided into eleven chapters followed by a conclusion. Chapters One to Eight present the monuments typologically, while the remaining three chapters address general topics that pertain to the hellenistic style in the West, the role of landscape settings and architecture, and the architectural orders. The book's conclusion focuses on the profession of the architect in classical antiquity.
In the first three chapters the author investigates the architectural developments of hellenistic temples, sanctuaries, and stoas. Some important observations include the position of the sculptured column drums of the Artemision at Ephesos, which Bammer hypothesizes were placed at the top of columns, whereas Winter correcdy observes that at a height of 20m they would not have been...