c. 600 – 100 BCE

Ancient Greece

Athens, Attica

The Greeks invented an architecture of human reason. Temples were calibrated in mathematical ratios, refined with optical corrections, and ordered by the three classical orders — Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Stone became a language of proportion, balance, and civic ideal.

• Post-and-lintel construction in marble
• The three orders: Doric · Ionic · Corinthian
• Entasis — subtle curvature for visual harmony
• The temple as the seat of the polis