Phileus
an eminent Ionian architect, whose name is variously written in different passages of Vitruvius, which, however, almost undoubtedly refer to the same person.
In one passage (vii. Praef. § 12) we are told that
Phileos published a volume on the Ionic temple of Minerva at Priene ; then, just below, that
Phiteus wrote concerning the Mausoleum, which was built by him and Satyrus ; in another passage (1.1.12), he quotes from the commentaries of
Pythius, whom he calls the architect of the temple of Minerva at Priene; and, a fourth passage (4.3.1), he mentions
Pytheus as a writer on architecture.
A comparison of these passages, especially taking into consideration the various readings, can leave no doubt that this Phileos, Phiteus, Pythius, or Pytheus, was one and the same person, although it is hardly possible to determine the right form of the name : most of the modern writers prefer the form
Pytheus. From the passages taken together we learn that he was the architect of two of the most magnificent buildings erected in Asia Minor, at one of the best periods of the architecture of that country, the Mausoleum, which he built in conjunction with SATYRUS, and the temple of Athena Polias, at Priene; and also that he was one of the chief writers on his art.
The date of the erection of the Mausoleum was soon after 0l. 106. 4, B. C. 353/2, the year in which Mausolus died; that of the temple at Priene must have been about twenty years later, for we learn from an inscription that it was dedicated by
Alexander (
Ion. Antiq. vol. i. p. 12).
This temple was, as its ruins still show, one of the most beautiful examples of the Ionic order.
It was peripteral, and hexastyle, with propylaea, which have on their inner side, instead of Ionic pillars, pilasters, the capitals of which are decorated with gryphons in relief.
Further Information
Ion. Antiq. vol. i. e. 2; Choiseul-Gouffier, pl. 116; Mauch,
die Griech. u. Röm. Bauordnungen, pl. 40, 41; R. Rochette,
Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 381-383.
[
P.S]
