right
is a treatise on
architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
written by the
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
VitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer , active in the 1st century BC. By his own description Vitruvius served as a Ballista , the third class of arms in the military offices...
and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus as a guide for building projects. The work is one of the most important sources of modern knowledge of Roman building methods as well as the planning and design of structures, both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). He is also the prime source of the famous story of
ArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity...
and his bath-time discovery.
In summary
Probably written around 25 BC , it is the only contemporary source on classical architecture to have survived in its entirety. Divided into ten sections or "books", it covers almost every aspect of Roman architecture. The books break down as follows:
- Town planning
Urban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
, architectureFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
or Civil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings...
in general, and the qualifications required of an architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
or more modernly the civil engineerA civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many professions of engineering. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses...
- Building material
Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more...
s
- Temples
In the ancient religion of Roman paganism, practitioners often performed their worship at a temple. Sacrifices would take place at an altar outside the temple, as this meant any mess was easier to clean up, and the ceremony could be attended by many. Roman temples were not large and were basically...
and the orders of architecture;
- continuation of book 3
- Civil buildings
The architecture of Ancient Rome at first adopted the external Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture...
- Domestic buildings
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
- Pavements
A pavement in architecture is a stone or tile structure, the pavement, which can serve as a floor or an external feature. Pavements can be made of flagstones which are used for things like paving gardens, tiles also there were mosaics which were commonly used by the Romans.When along the side of...
and decorative plasterThe term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris , lime plaster, or cement plaster. This article deals mainly with plaster of Paris / gypsum plaster....
work
- Water supplies
The ancient Romans typically built numerous aqueducts to serve any large city in their empire, as well as many small towns and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself, being the largest city, had the largest concentration of aqueducts, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed...
and aqueducts
- Sciences influencing architecture - geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers....
, mensuration, astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
, sundial{| align="right" | |}A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day...
- Use and construction of machines - Roman siege engines
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfare that brought them repeated success...
, water mills, drainage machines, Roman technologyRoman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years....
, hoistingA hoist is a device used for lifting or lowering a load by means of a drum or lift-wheel around which rope or chain wraps. It may be manually operated, electrically or pneumatically driven and may use chain, fiber or wire rope as its lifting medium. The load is attached to the hoist by means of a...
, pneumaticsPneumatics is the use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatics is that branch of technology,which deals with the study and application of use of pressurised gas to affect mechanical motion....
Roman architects were significantly different from their modern counterparts, acting as engineers, architects, artists, and craftsmen combined. Vitruvius was very much of this type, a fact reflected in
De architectura. He covers a wide variety of subjects which he saw as touching on architecture. This included many aspects which may seem irrelevant to modern eyes, ranging from mathematics to astronomy, meteorology and medicine. In the Roman conception, architecture needed to take into account everything touching on the physical and intellectual life of man and his surroundings.
Vitruvius thus deals with many theoretical issues concerning architecture. For instance, in Book 2 of
De architectura, he advises architects working with
brickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.-History:The oldest shaped bricks found date back to 7,500 B.C. They have been found in Çayönü, in the upper Tigris region, and in south east Anatolia close to Diyarbakir. Other more recent findings,...
s to familiarise themselves with pre-Socratic theories of matter so as to understand how their materials will behave. Book 9 relates the abstract
geometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers....
of
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
to the everyday work of the surveyor.
AstrologyAstrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer...
is cited for its insights into the organisation of human life, while
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
is required for the understanding of
sundial{| align="right" | |}A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day...
s. Similarly, Vitruvius cites
Ctesibius of AlexandriaCtesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps...
and
ArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity...
for their inventions,
AristoxenusAristoxenus of Tarentum was a Greek peripatetic philosopher, and writer on music and rhythm.He was taught first by his father Spintharus, a pupil of Socrates and also a musician, and later by the Pythagoreans, Lamprus of Erythrae and Xenophilus, from whom he learned the theory of music...
(
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
's apprentice) for
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
,
AgatharchusAgatharchus or Agatharch was a self-taught painter from Samos who lived in the 5th century BC. He is said by Vitruvius to have invented scene-painting, and to have painted a scene for a tragedy which Aeschylus exhibited...
for
theatreTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
, and
VarroMarcus Terentius Varro , also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Roman scholar and writer.-Biography:...
for architecture.
Buildings
He sought to address the ethos of architecture, declaring that quality depends on the social relevance of the
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
's work, not on the form or workmanship of the work itself. Perhaps the most famous declaration from
De architectura is one still quoted by architects: "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight." This quote is taken from Sir
Henry WottonSir Henry Wotton was an English author and diplomat.-Life:The son of Thomas Wotton , brother of Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton, and grandnephew of the diplomat Nicholas Wotton, he was born at Bocton Hall in the parish of Bocton or Boughton Malherbe, Kent...
's version of 1624, and is a plain and accurate translation of the passage in Vitruvius
(I.iii.2): but English has changed since then, especially in regard to the word "commodity", and the tag is usually misunderstood.
Vitruvius also studied human proportions (Book 3) and his
canones were later encoded in a very famous drawing by
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
(
Homo Vitruvianus, "
Vitruvian ManThe Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius Pollio. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms...
").
Roman technology
The work is important for its descriptions of many different machines used for engineering structures such as
hoistA hoist is a device used for lifting or lowering a load by means of a drum or lift-wheel around which rope or chain wraps. It may be manually operated, electrically or pneumatically driven and may use chain, fiber or wire rope as its lifting medium. The load is attached to the hoist by means of a...
s,
craneA crane is a lifting machine, generally equipped with a winder , wire ropes or chains and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
s and pulleys, as well as war machines such as catapaults, ballistae, and
siege engineA siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s. He also describes the construction of
sundial{| align="right" | |}A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day...
s and
water clockA water clock or clepsydra is any timepiece in which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured.Water clocks, along with sundials, are likely to be the oldest time-measuring instruments, with the only exceptions being...
s, and the use of an
aeolipileAn aeolipile , also known as a Hero engine, is a rocket style jet engine which spins when heated. In the first century AD, Hero of Alexandria described the device, and many sources give him the credit for its invention.The aeolipile he described is considered to be the first recorded steam engine...
(the first
steam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2000 years...
) as an experiment to demonstrate the nature of atmospheric air movements (wind).
Aqueducts and mills
Books 8, 9 and 10 form the basis of much of what we know about Roman technology, now augmented by archaeological studies of extant remains, such as the
Pont du GardThe Pont du Gard is an aqueduct in the South of France constructed by the Roman Empire, and located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins, in the Gard département.-Name:...
in southern France. Numerous such massive structures occur across the former Empire, a testament to the power of
Roman engineeringRomans are generally famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments, although some of their own inventions were improvements on older ideas, concepts and inventions. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology...
. His description of
aqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
construction is short, but does mention key details especially for the way they were surveyed, and the careful choice of materials needed. His book would have been of assistance to Frontinus, a general who was appointed in the late first century AD to administer the many
aqueducts of RomeThis is a list of aqueducts in Rome listed in chronological order of their construction.- Ancient Rome :* Aqua Appia** built in 312 B.C.** source: springs to the east of Rome...
. He discovered a discrepancy between the intake and supply of water caused by illegal pipes inserted into the channels to divert the water. They went far in exploiting water power, as the set of no less than 16 water mills at Barbegal in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
demonstrates. The mills ground grain in a very efficient operation, and many other mills are now known.
Materials
Vitruvius describes many different construction materials used for a wide variety of different structures, as well as such details as
stuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a coating for walls and ceilings and for decoration...
painting.
CementIn the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed...
,
concreteConcrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water, and chemical admixtures...
and lime receive in-depth descriptions, the longevity of many Roman structures being mute testimony to their skill in building materials and design.
It is worth noting that Vitruvius advises that
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
should not be used to conduct drinking water, clay pipes being preferred. He comes to this conclusion in Book VIII of De Architectura after empirical observation of the apparent labourer illnesses in the plumbum foundries of his time. In 1986 the United States banned the use of lead in plumbing due to lead poisoning's neurological damage. However, much of the water used by Rome and many other cities was very hard, and coated the inner surfaces of the pipes, so
lead poisoningLead poisoning is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body...
was most unlikely.
Vitruvius gives us the famous story about
ArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity...
and his detection of adulterated gold in a royal crown. When Archimedes realised that the volume of the crown could be measured exactly by the displacement created in a bath of water, he ran into the street with the cry of "
EurekaEureka is an exclamation used as an interjection to celebrate a discovery.-Archimedes:...
!", and the discovery enabled him to compare the density of the crown with pure
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
. He showed that the crown had been alloyed with
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, and the king defrauded. We are not told what happened to the metal worker who crafted the crown, but no doubt he suffered a painful fate.
Dewatering machines
He describes the construction of
Archimedes' screwArchimedes' screw, the Archimedes screw, the Archimedean screw or the screwpump is a machine historically used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches...
in Chapter X, although doesn't mention Archimedes by name. It was a device widely used for raising water to irrigate fields and dewater mines. Other lifting machines he mentions include the endless chain of buckets and the
reverse overshot water-wheelFrequently used in mines and probably elsewhere , the reverse overshot water wheel was a Roman innovation to help remove water from the lowest levels of underground workings. It is described by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura published circa 25 BC...
. Remains of the water wheels used for lifting water have been discovered in old mines such as those at
Rio TintoRio Tinto may refer to:*Rio Tinto Group, a multinational mining company** Rio Tinto Alcan, the mining company's aluminum division** Rio Tinto Stadium, a soccer stadium in Sandy, Utah, USA sponsored by the above company...
in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
and Dolaucothi in west
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
. One of the wheels from Rio Tinto is now in the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
, and the latter in the National Museum of Wales. The remains were discovered when these mines were re-opened in modern mining attempts. They would have been used in a vertical sequence, with 16 such mills capable of raising water at least 96 feet above the water table. Each wheel would have been worked by a miner treading the device at the top of the wheel, by using cleats on the outer edge. That they were using such devices in mines clearly implies that they were entirely capable of using them as water wheels to develop power for a range of activities, not just for grinding corn, but also probably for sawing timber, crushing ores,
fullingFulling or tucking or walking is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker. The Welsh word for a fulling mill is pandy...
and so on.
Force pump
CtesibiusCtesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps...
is credited with the invention of the force pump which Vitruvius describes as being built from
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
with valves to allow a head of water to be formed above the machine. The device is also described by
Hero of AlexandriaHero of Alexandria . was an ancient Greek mathematician who was a resident of a Roman province ; he was also an engineer who was active in his native city of Alexandria...
in his "Pneumatica". The machine is operated by hand in moving a lever up and down. He mentions its use for supplying fountains above a reservoir, although a more mundane use might be as a simple fire-engine. One was found at Roman Silchester or Calleva Atrebatum in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and another is on display at the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
. Their functions are not described but they are both made in bronze, just as Vitruvius specifies.
Vitruvius also mentions the several
automatonAn automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.- Etymology :...
s that
CtesibiusCtesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps...
invented, and intended for amusement and pleasure rather than serving a useful function.
Central heating
He describes the many innovations made in building design to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. Foremost among them is the development of the
hypocaustA hypocaust is an ancient Roman system of central heating. The word literally means "heat from below", from the Greek hypo meaning below or underneath, and kaiein, to burn or light a fire...
, a type of
central heatingA central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
where hot air developed by a fire was channelled under the floor and inside the walls of public baths and
villaA villa was originally an upper-class country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably. After the fall of the Republic, a villa became a small, fortified farming compound, gradually re-evolving through the Middle Ages into luxurious,...
s. He gives explicit instructions how to design such buildings so that
fuel efficiencyFuel efficiency, is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance...
is maximised, so that for example, the
caldariumright|thumb|230px|Caldarium from the Roman Baths at [[Bath, England]]. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor....
is next to the
tepidariumThe tepidarium was the warm bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system.The specialty of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from the walls and floor.There is an interesting example at Pompeii; this...
followed by the
frigidariumA frigidarium is a large cold pool to drop into after enjoying a hot Roman bath. The Caldarium and the Tepidarium opened the pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores. There would be a small pool of cold water or sometimes a large Swimming pool.An octagonal example measuring over...
. He also advises on using a type of regulator to control the heat in the hot rooms, a
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
disc set into the roof under a circular aperture which could be raised or lowered by a
pulleyA pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...
to adjust the ventilation. Although he does not suggest it himself, it is likely that his dewatering devices such as the
reverse overshot water-wheelFrequently used in mines and probably elsewhere , the reverse overshot water wheel was a Roman innovation to help remove water from the lowest levels of underground workings. It is described by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura published circa 25 BC...
was used in the larger baths to lift water to header tanks at the top of the larger
thermae, such as the
Baths of DiocletianThe church of San Bernardo alle Terme recycled one of only two circular towers in the rectangular boundary of the baths, flanking its southwestern wall...
and the
Baths of CaracallaThe Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction....
.
Surveying instruments
That he must have been well practised in surveying is shown by his descriptions of surveying instruments, especially the water level or
chorobatesA chorobates was a kind of level used in classical antiquity. It was composed of a wooden frame, made in the form of a beam which was fitted with a water level, and two supports at the end of the beam. It is described by Vitruvius . It is believed to be the instrument that was used to level the...
, which he compares favourably with the
gromaGroma may refer to:* Groma language, spoken in SE Asia* Groma surveying, the principal Roman surveying instrument-See also:*Krama, a sturdy traditional Cambodian garment with many uses, including as a scarf...
, a device using plumb lines. They were essential in all building operations, but especially in aqueduct construction, where a uniform gradient was important to provision of a regular supply of water without damage to the walls of the channel. He describes the
hodometerA surveyor's wheel, also called a clickwheel, hodometer, waywiser, trundle wheel, or perambulator is a device for measuring distance.-Origin:...
, essentially a device for automatically measuring distances along roads, a machine essential for developing accurate itineraries, such as the Peutinger Table.
Sea Level Change
In Book IV Chapter 1 Subsection 4, there is a description of thirteen Athenian cities in Asia Minor, "the land of
CariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
", in present day Turkey. These cities are given as:
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period....
,
MiletusMiletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
,
MyusMyus, Caria was an ancient city-state and was one of twelve major settlements formed in the Ionian Confederation, called the Ionian League. The city was said to have been founded by Cyaretus , a son of Codrus....
,
PrienePriene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of the then course of the Maeander River, from today's Aydin, from today's Söke and from ancient Miletus...
,
SamosSamoš is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovačica municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,247 people .-External links:*...
,
TeosTeos or Teo was a maritime city of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus, colonized by Orchomenian Minyans, Ionians, and Boeotians...
,
ColophonColophon was a city in the region of Lydia in antiquity dating from about the turn of the first millennium-BC. It was likely one the oldest of the twelve Ionian League cities, between Lebedos and Ephesus and its ruins are in the eponymously named modern region of Ionia.The city's name comes from...
, Chius,
ErythraeErythrae or Erythrai later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus , on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae, at an equal distance from the mountains Mimas and Corycus, and directly opposite the island of Chios.In...
,
PhocaeaPhocaea, or Phokaia, was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia in 600 BC, Emporion in 575 BC and Elea in 540 BC.-Geography:Phocaea was the most...
,
ClazomenaeKlazomenai was an ancient Greek city of Ionia and a member of the Ionian Dodecapolis , it was one of the first cities to issue silver coinage.-Location:Klazomenai is located in modern Urla on the western coast of...
, Lebedos,
MeliteMelite was one of the naiads, daughter of the river god Aegaeus, and one of the many loves of Zeus and his son Hercules. Given the choice, she chose Hercules over Zeus who went off in search of other pursuits...
and later a fourteenth,
SmyrnaeansSmyrna was the ancient city now in Turkey, represented by modern İzmir. Located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia and aided by its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence before the Classical Era....
. Myus, the third city, is described as being "long ago engulfed by the water, and its sacred rites and suffrage". This sentence indicates that at the time of Vitruvius's writing it was known that sea-level change and/or land subsidence occurred. The layout of these cities is in general from South to North so that it appears that where Myrus should be located is inland. If this is the case then since the writing of De architectura the region has either experienced soil rebound or a sea-level fall. Though not indicative of sea-level change, nor speculation of such, many Roman ports suffered from silting. Roman salt works in Essex County, England today are located at the 5 meter contour implying this was the coastline. These observations only indicate the extent of silting and soil rebound affecting coastline change since the writing of De architectura.
Survival and rediscovery
Vitruvius' work is one of many examples of Latin texts that owe their survival to the palace
scriptoriumScriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
of
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
in the early 9th century. (This activity of finding and recopying classical
manuscriptA manuscript is a recording of information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s is part of what is called the
Carolingian RenaissanceThe Carolingian Renaissance was a period of intellectual and cultural revival occurring in the late eighth and ninth centuries, with the peak of the activities occurring during the reigns of the Carolingian rulers Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. During this period there was an increase of...
.) Many of the surviving manuscripts of Vitruvius' work derive from an existing manuscript that was written there,
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...
manuscript Harley 2767. These texts were not just copied but also were known at the court of Charlemagne, since his historian, the bishop
EinhardEinhard was a Frankish courtier, a dedicated servant of Charlemagne, of whom he wrote his famous biography, Vita Karoli Magni, and Louis the Pious....
, asked for explanations of some technical terms at the visiting English churchman
AlcuinAlcuin of York or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus was a scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert at York...
.
Many copies of
De architectura, dating from the eight to the fifteenth centuries, did exist in manuscript form during the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
and ninety-two are still available in public collections. But they appear to have received little attention. Many of the specialized Latin terms, used by Vitruvius, were no longer understood. And besides, none of the original illustrations, needed to understand the text, had survived. In 1244 the Dominican friar
Vincent of BeauvaisThe Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais wrote the Speculum Maius, the main encyclopedia that was used in the Middle Ages.-Early life:...
made a large number of references to "De Architectura" in his compendium of all the knowledge of the Middle Ages "Speculum maius".
Vitrivius' work was "rediscovered" in 1414 by the
FlorentineFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
humanistHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
Poggio Bracciolini, who found it in the Abbey of St Gallen,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
. He publicized the manuscript to a receptive audience of
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
thinkers, just as interest in the classical cultural and scientific heritage was reviving.
The first printed edition (
editio princeps), an incunabula version, was published by the
VeroneseVerona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient...
scholar Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in 1486 (with a second edition in 1495 or1496). But none was illustrated. The Dominican friar Fra Giovanni Giocondo produced the first version illustrated with
woodcutWoodcut — formally known as xylography — is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s in
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
in 1511. It had a thorough philosophical approach and superb illustrations.
Translations into
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
were in circulation by the 1520s, such as the translation with new illustrations by
Cesare Cesarianoright|thumbnail|A 1521 [[Italian language]] edition of [[De architectura]], translated and illustrated by Cesare Cesariano.Cesare di Lorenzo Cesariano was a late 15th-early 16th century architect and architectural theorist in Milan, known to Donato Bramante ca...
, a pupil of the architect Bramante, in
ComoComo is a city in Lombardy, Italy, north of Milan. Situated at the southern tip of the south-west arm of Lake Como, it is the capital of the province of Como and directly borders the comunes of Blevio, Brunate, Capiago Intimiano, Casnate con Bernate, Cavallasca, Cernobbio, Grandate, Lipomo,...
in 1521. It was rapidly translated into other European languages the first
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
version was published in 1528 and the first French versions followed in 1547 (but contained many mistakes). The first Spanish translation was published in 1582 by Miguel de Urrea and Juan Gracian. The most authoritative and influential edition was publicized in French in 1673 by
Claude PerraultThough Claude Perrault is best known as the architect of the eastern range of the Louvre Palace in Paris , he also achieved success as physician and anatomist, and as an author, who wrote treatises on physics and natural history.Aside from his influential architecture, Perrault is best regarded...
, commissioned by
Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
in 1664.
The first English translation followed in 1692. It was an abridgment based on the French version of Claude Perrault. Curiously, English-speakers had to wait until 1771 for a full translation of the first five volumes and 1791 for the whole thing. Sir
Henry WottonSir Henry Wotton was an English author and diplomat.-Life:The son of Thomas Wotton , brother of Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton, and grandnephew of the diplomat Nicholas Wotton, he was born at Bocton Hall in the parish of Bocton or Boughton Malherbe, Kent...
's 1624 version,
The Elements of Architecture, was more of a free adaptation than a literal translation, while a 1692 translation was much abbreviated. Thanks to the art of printing Vitruvius' work had become a
hermeneuticsHermeneutics is the study of interpretation theory, and can be defined as either the art of interpretation, or the theory and practice of interpretation. Traditional hermeneutics - which includes Biblical hermeneutics - refers to the study of the interpretation of written texts, especially texts in...
with illustrations and became widely dispersed.
Impact
The rediscovery of Vitruvius' work had a profound influence on architects of the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
, prompting the rise of the Neo-Classical style. Renaissance architects, such as Niccoli, Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, found in "De Architectura" their rationale for raising their branch of knowledge to a scientific discipline as well as emphasising the skills of the
artisanAn artisan is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, household items, and tools...
.
The English architect
Inigo JonesInigo Jones is regarded as the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
and the Frenchman
Salomon de CausSalomon de Caus was a French engineer and once credited with the development of the steam engine.Salomon was the elder brother of Isaac de Caus. Being a Huguenot, he spent his life moving across Europe....
were among the first to re-evaluate and implement those disciplines that Vitruvius considered a necessary element of architecture: arts and
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
s based upon number and
proportion (architecture)Proportion is the relation between elements and a whole. - Architectural proportions :In architecture the whole is not just a building but the set and setting of the site. The things that make a building and its site "well shaped" include the orientation of the site and the buildings on it to the...
. The 16th century architect Palladio considered Vitrivius his master and guide, and made some drawings based on Vitruvius' work before conceiving his own architectural precepts.
See also
- Frontinus
- Naturalis Historia
Naturalis Historia is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny...
- Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
- Roman architecture
The architecture of Ancient Rome at first adopted the external Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture...
- Roman engineering
Romans are generally famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments, although some of their own inventions were improvements on older ideas, concepts and inventions. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology...
- Roman technology
Roman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years....
- Vitruvian Man
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius Pollio. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms...
Reference works
Translated in 1914 as "Ten Books on Architecture" by
Morris H. MorganMorris Hicky Morgan was professor of classical philology at Harvard University.Although he didn't get a classical schooling in Graduate School he would immediately after his graduation be appointed to the teaching staff. After the death of Frederic D. Allen in 1899 he would succeed to the chair of...
, Ph.D, LL.D. Late Professor of Classical Philology in
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
. The full text of this translation is available from the
Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain...
, see external links
- B. Baldwin: The Date, Identity, and Career of Vitruvius. In: Latomus 49 (1990), 425-34
- D. Rowland - T.N. Howe: Vitruvius. Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, ISBN 0-521-00292-3
External links