 These steps were normally only at the front, and typically not the whole width of that.The Greek classical orders in all their details were closely followed in the façades of temples, as in other prestigious buildings.However the idealized proportions between the different elements set out by the only significant Roman writer on architecture to survive, Vitruvius, and subsequent Italian Renaissance writers, do not reflect actual Roman practice, which could be very variable, though always aiming at balance and harmony.