anta or pilaster, the
A shallow rectagular feature projecting from a wall, having a capital and a base and architecturally treated as a column.

architrave or epistyle
The lowest part of an entablature resting on the columns capitals and supporting the frieze.

attic-ionic base
Base of an Ionic column, consisting of an upper and lower torus, separated by a scotia and fillets

coffer
Recessed ornamental square or octagonal panels sunk in the ceilings of buildings. They were decorated with relief or pictorial, usually floral, designs.

cornice
1. (Antiq. and Byz.) Member of the entablature or the architrave that projects in the elevation of a secular or religious building. As a horizontal member it may run along a wall. The cornice may also be the projecting part of the roof, protecting the building from rain.2. (Byz. archit.) Decorative architectural element used to articulate the walls of a church, both on the inside and on the outside, by marking the division between the vertical wall and the spring of the vaults. It usually bears painted or sculptural decoration of vegetal or geometric motifs.

cyma / cymation
Moulding decoration with ovals or tri-cusps alternating with lotus flowers. It was meant to separate or to lay stress upon two surfaces. In ancient architecture we distinguish Doric, Ionic and Lesbian cymation, according to their decoration and section form.

entablature, the
The upper part of the classical order, that rests on the columns, it consists of the architrave, frieze and cornice.

ionic order, the
An architectural order devised in Ionia and developed in Asia Minor and the Greek islands in the 6th century BC. Its columns have elaborately moulded bases, fluted shafts (with fillets, ending in fillets), and volute capitals. The entablature consists of an three-fasciae archirave, a continuous frieze, usually richly decorated with reliefs, and a cornice. The Ionic order was more elaborate in dimentions, comparing with the Doric.

isodomic masonry (opus quadratum)
A type of masonry in which blocks of equal length and thickness are laid in courses, with each vertical joint centered on the block below.

orthostate
A course of blocks laid on edge, normally in the lower part of the wall of a building.

proconsul, -lis
A quite high ranking official, vir spectabilis according to the rank of the senate, who was inequable only to the Domestikos of the Scholae and to the Magister Militum per Orientem. The proconsul usually served as a governor of the Imperial provinces (i.e. in Asia Minor the provinces of Asia and Cappadocia). The office was demoted from the 9th century onwards and the term was in use until the 12th century meaning a dignity.

sima, sime
Part of architectural sculpture made of marble or clay. Its bears a meticulous appearance and it has a decorative character crowning the entablature. Its section is semicircural and it was used to channel water.