1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Podium

PODIUM (Gr. πόδιον, diminutive of ποῦς, foot), the name in architecture for a continuous pedestal, or low wall on which columns are carried, consisting of a cornice or capping, a dado or die, and a moulded plinth. In the Etruscan and Roman temples the whole structure was raised on a podium, with a flight of steps on the principal front, enclosed between the prolongation of the podium wall.