The earliest Roman art dates back to the overthrow of the Etruscan kings and the establishment of the republic in the year 509 BC. For history, the end of Roman art and thus the beginning of medieval art coincide with the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the moving from the capital of the Empire of Rome to Constantinople in 330. However, both Roman style and its pagan theme continued to be represented for centuries, often reproduced in Christian images.
The Roman temples were the result of a combination of Greek and Etruscan elements: rectangular floor plan, gable roof, deep atrium with free columns and a staircase in the facade giving access to the podium or base. The Romans retained the traditional Greek orders (Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian), but invented two others: Tuscan, a kind of Doric order without striations in the shaft, and the composite, with a capital created from the mixture of Ionic and Corinthian elements. . Maison Carrée, from the French city of Nimes (c. 16 AD), is an excellent example of the Roman Templar typology.