Great Colonnade at Apamea columns display two main designs: a plain one, and the distinctive spiral-flutes. Archaeologist Jean Lassus argues that the former dates back to the Trajanic period, while the latter to that of Antoninus Pius. The colonnade's porticoes were paved with extensive mosaics along the full stretch of the colonnade. Under the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I, several parts of the colonnade were restored. The street was narrowed to by adding a sidewalk on either side. Several stretches of the street had their Roman pavement replaced with a new pavement made of squared blocks of limestone. The new pavement also covered a completely
The Three Graces (Indianapolis) with a free-standing colonnade (reminiscent of that at the Canopus of Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli) and other architectural features. The simple design implemented using only the Graces may have been a cost-saving measure or a rejection of the grandiosity of the architectural plans, but it did not compensate for the relative size, and the sculpture was probably then considered unsatisfactorily small for its location. It seems likely that as the trees grew the sculpture became less adequate and needed to become more prominent. The chosen solution was to bring in a tall pedestal to elevate and effectively enlarge the sculpture.