ABSTRACT
This part has outlined what amounts to several thousand years of architectural development. The architectural styles inspired by the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Rome and Greece have, at various times, waxed and waned in popularity. However, they undoubtedly still have a powerful influence on architecture today. Revered and respected, their architectural legacy is worthy of more detailed investigations by all students of architecture and the reader is encouraged to seek more detailed texts on this topic listed in the Bibliography. An understanding of the Classical Orders, their origins and development is relevant for many later architectural periods and for a variety of building types.
