Stillicidium, a dripping of water from the eaves (''stilla'', drop, ''cadere'', to fall), is the term in
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
given by
Vitruvius
Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...
(v. 7) to the dripping
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
of the roof of the
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
** Etrusca ...
temple.
Similar dripping eaves existed in most of the
Greek Doric temples in contradistinction to the
Ionic temples, where the water of the roof was collected in the cymatium or gutter and thrown out through the mouths of lions, whose heads were carved on the
cymatium
Cymatium, the uppermost molding at the top of the cornice in the classical order, is made of the s-shaped cyma molding (either ''cyma recta'' or ''cyma reversa''), combining a concave cavetto with a convex ovolo. It is characteristic of Ionic co ...
.
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{{1911, wstitle=Stillicidium, volume=25, pages=920–921
Ancient Roman architectural elements