The Neo-classical Style became popular in the second half of the 18th Century. Neo-classical Style is largely based on the classical styles of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was a popular style at the time mainly due to the travelling of wealthy Englishmen and the intereste in the archeological excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 1750's. Rams Heads, Urns, Wreaths and Greek Key Borders were often used in silver designs with large areas often left plain. Neo-Classicism was linked to contemporary political events. It was also a replacement of the sensuality and triviality of the Rococo style with a style that was more logical, solemn and moralizing. Silver Makers often modelled candlesticks on the the classic fluted stone columns of the Greeks and Romans. When Napoleon I rose to power in France, the style was modified to serve his propagandistic needs.