Ancient Greek civilization developed three basic architectural styles, or “orders,” which were defined with great detail by students of classical architecture during the Italian Renaissance. The three orders were the Doric, the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric order was the most basic of the three, the earliest in the chronology of ancient Greek architecture and the most widespread.

The great Roman civilization that followed the Greeks adopted their architectural disciplines and adapted them according to their own cultural tastes. The most ornate of the Greek orders, the Corinthian, became even more fanciful at the hands of Roman craftsmen. And the Doric order was simplified even further to become the Roman-inspired Tuscan order. One addition to the Doric column design that was developed in Roman architecture was the Tuscan base, the footing for the Tuscan column.