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Here begins Vitruvius' Book VI on architecture, being the
continuation from Book V.
Introduction
1. It is related of the Socratic philosopher Aristippus that, being
shipwrecked and cast ashore on the coast of the Rhodians, he observed
geometrical figures drawn thereon, and cried out to his companions: "Let us be
of good cheer, for I see the traces of man." With that he made for the city of
Rhodes, and went straight to the gymnasium. There he fell to discussing
philosophical subjects, and presents were bestowed upon him, so that he could
not only fit himself out, but could also provide those who accompanied him with
clothing and all other necessaries of life. When his companions wished to return
to their country, and asked him what message he wished them to carry home, he
bade them say this: that children ought to be provided with property and
resources of a kind that could swim with them even out of a shipwreck.
2. These are indeed the true supports of life, and neither Fortune's adverse
gale, nor political revolution, nor ravages of war can do them any harm.
Developing the same idea, Theophrastus, urging men to acquire learning rather
than to put their trust in money, states the case thus: "The man of learning is
the only person in the world who is neither a stranger when in a foreign land,
nor friendless when he has lost his intimates and relatives; on the contrary, he
is a citizen of every country, and can fearlessly look down upon the troublesome
accidents of fortune. But he who thinks himself entrenched in defences not of
learning but of luck, moves in slippery paths, struggling through life
unsteadily and insecurely."
3. And Epicurus, in much the same way, says that the wise owe little to
fortune; all that is greatest and essential is under the direction of the
thinking power of the mind and the understanding. Many other philosophers have
said the same thing. Likewise the
poets who wrote the ancient comedies in Greek
have expressed the same sentiments in their verses on the stage: for example,
Eucrates, Chionides, Aristophanes, and with them Alexis in particular, who says
that the Athenians ought to be praised for the reason that, while the laws of
all Greeks require the maintenance of parents by their children, the laws of the
Athenians require this only in the case of those who have educated their
children in the arts. All the gifts which fortune bestows she can easily take
away; but education, when combined with intelligence, never fails, but abides
steadily on to the very end of life.
4. Hence, I am very much obliged and infinitely grateful to my parents for
their approval of this Athenian law, and for having taken care that I should be
taught an art, and that of a sort which cannot be brought to perfection without
learning and a liberal education in all branches of instruction. Thanks,
therefore, to the attention of my parents and the instruction given by my
teachers, I obtained a wide range of knowledge, and by the pleasure which I take
in literary and artistic subjects, and in the writing of treatises, I have
acquired intellectual possessions whose chief fruits are these thoughts: that
superfluity is useless, and that not to feel the want of anything is true
riches. There may be some people, however, who deem all this of no consequence,
and think that the wise are those who have plenty of money. Hence it is that
very many, in pursuit of that end, take upon themselves impudent assurance, and
attain notoriety and wealth at the same time.
5. But for my part, Caesar, I have never been eager to make money by my art,
but have gone on the principle that slender means and a good reputation are
preferable to wealth and disrepute. For this reason, only a little celebrity has
followed; but still, my hope is that, with the publication of these books, I
shall become known even to posterity. And it is not to be wondered at that I am
so generally unknown. Other architects go about and ask for opportunities to
practise their profession; but I have been taught by my instructors that it is
the proper thing to undertake a charge only after being asked, and not to ask
for it; since a gentleman will
blush with shame at petitioning for a thing that
arouses suspicion. It is in fact those who can grant favours that are courted,
not those who receive them. What are we to think must be the suspicions of a man
who is asked to allow his private means to be expended in order to please a
petitioner? Must he not believe that the thing is to be done for the profit and
advantage of that individual?
6. Hence it was that the ancients used to entrust their work in the first
place to architects of good family, and next inquired whether they had been
properly educated, believing that one ought to trust in the honour of a
gentleman rather than in the assurance of impudence. And the architects
themselves would teach none but their own sons or kinsmen, and trained them to
be good men, who could be trusted without hesitation in matters of such
importance.
But when I see that this grand art is boldly professed by the uneducated and
the unskilful, and by men who, far from being acquainted with architecture, have
no knowledge even of the carpenter's trade, I can find nothing but praise for
those householders who, in the confidence of learning, are emboldened to build
for themselves. Their judgment is that, if they must trust to inexperienced
persons, it is more becoming to them to use up a good round sum at their own
pleasure than at that of a stranger.
7. Nobody, therefore, attempts to practise any other art in his own home—as,
for instance, the shoemaker's, or the fuller's, or any other of the easier
kinds—but only architecture, and this is because the professionals do not
possess the genuine art but term themselves architects falsely. For these
reasons I have thought proper to compose most carefully a complete treatise on
architecture and its principles, believing that it will be no unacceptable gift
to all the world. In the fifth book I have said what I had to say about the
convenient arrangement of public works; in this I shall set forth the
theoretical principles and the symmetrical proportions of private houses.
Chapter One
On Climate as Determining the Style of the House
1. If our designs for private houses are to be correct, we must at the outset
take note of the countries and climates in which they are built. One style of
house seems appropriate to build in Egypt, another in Spain, a different kind in
Pontus, one still different in Rome, and so on with lands and countries of other
characteristics. This is because one part of the earth is directly under the
sun's course, another is far away from it, while another lies midway between
these two. Hence, as the position of the heaven with regard to a given tract on
the earth leads naturally to different characteristics, owing to the inclination
of the circle of the zodiac and the course of the sun, it is obvious that
designs for houses ought similarly to conform to the nature of the country and
to diversities of climate.
2. In the north, houses should be entirely roofed over and sheltered as much
as possible, not in the open, though having a warm exposure. But on the other
hand, where the force of the sun is great in the southern countries that suffer
from heat, houses must be built more in the open and with a northern or
north-eastern exposure. Thus we may amend by art what nature, if left to
herself, would mar. In other situations, also, we must make modifications to
correspond to the position of the heaven and its effects on climate.
3. These effects are noticeable and discernible not only in things in nature,
but they also are observable in the limbs and bodies of entire races. In places
on which the sun throws out its heat in moderation, it keeps human bodies in
their proper condition, and where its path is very close at hand, it parches
them up, and burns out and takes away the proportion of moisture which they
ought to possess. But, on the other hand, in the cold
regions that are far away from the
south, the moisture is not drawn out by hot weather, but the atmosphere is full
of dampness which diffuses moisture into the system, and makes the frame larger
and the pitch of the voice deeper. This is also the reason why the races that
are bred in the north are of vast height, and have fair complexions, straight
red hair, grey eyes, and a great deal of blood, owing to the abundance of
moisture and the coolness of the atmosphere.
4. On the contrary, those that are nearest to the southern half of the axis,
and that lie directly under the sun's course, are of lower stature, with a
swarthy complexion, hair curling, black eyes, strong legs, and but little blood
on account of the force of the sun. Hence, too, this poverty of blood makes them
over-timid to stand up against the sword, but great heat and fevers they can
endure without timidity, because their frames are bred up in the raging heat.
Hence, men that are born in the north are rendered over-timid and weak by fever,
but their wealth of blood enables them to stand up against the sword without
timidity.
5. The
pitch of the voice is likewise different and varying in quality with different
nations, for the following reasons. The terminating points east and west on the
level of the earth, where the upper and lower parts of the heaven are divided,
seem to lie in a naturally balanced circle which mathematicians call the
Horizon. Keeping this idea definitely in mind, if we imagine a line drawn from
the northern side of the circumference (N) to the side which lies above the
southern half of the axis (S), and from here another line obliquely up to the
pivot at the summit, beyond the stars composing the Great Bear (the pole star
P), we shall doubtless see that we have in the heaven a triangular figure like
that of the musical instrument which the Greeks call the "sambuca."
6. And so, under the space which is nearest to the pivot at the bottom, off
the southern portions of the line of the axis, are found nations that on account
of the slight altitude of the heaven above them, have shrill and very
high-pitched voices, like the string nearest to the angle in the musical
instrument. Next in order come other nations as far as the middle of Greece,
with lower elevations of the voice; and from this middle point they go on in
regular order up to the extreme north, where, under high altitudes, the vocal
utterance of the inhabitants is, under natural laws, produced in heavier tones.
Thus it is obvious that the system of the universe as a whole is, on account of
the inclination of the heaven, composed in a most perfect harmony through the
temporary power of the sun.
7. The nations, therefore, that lie midway between the pivots at the southern
and the northern extremities of the axis, converse in a voice of middle pitch,
like the notes in the middle of a musical scale; but, as we proceed towards the
north, the distances to the heaven become greater, and so the nations there,
whose vocal utterance is reduced by the moisture to the "hypatès" and to
"proslambanomenon," are naturally obliged to speak in heavier tones. In the same
way, as we proceed from the middle point to the south, the voices of the nations
there correspond in extreme height of pitch and in shrillness to the "paranetès"
and "netès."
8. That it is a fact that things are made heavier from being in places
naturally moist, and higher pitched from places that are hot, may be proved from
the following experiment. Take two cups which have been baked in the same oven
for an equal time, which are of equal weight, and which give the same note when
struck. Dip one of them into water and, after taking it out of water, strike
them both. This done, there will be a great difference in their notes, and the
cups can no longer be equal in weight. Thus it is with men: though born in the
same general form and under the same all-embracing heaven, yet in some of them,
on account of the heat in their country, the voice strikes
the air on a high note, while in
others, on account of abundance of moisture, the quality of tones produced is
very heavy.
9. Further, it is owing to the rarity of the atmosphere that southern
nations, with their keen intelligence due to the heat, are very free and swift
in the devising of schemes, while northern nations, being enveloped in a dense
atmosphere, and chilled by moisture from the obstructing air, have but a
sluggish intelligence. That this is so, we may see from the case of snakes.
Their movements are most active in hot weather, when they have got rid of the
chill due to moisture, whereas at the winter solstice, and in winter weather,
they are chilled by the change of temperature, and rendered torpid and
motionless. It is therefore no wonder that man's intelligence is made keener by
warm air and duller by cold.
10. But although southern nations have the keenest wits, and are infinitely
clever in forming schemes, yet the moment it comes to displaying valour, they
succumb because all manliness of spirit is sucked out of them by the sun. On the
other hand, men born in cold countries are indeed readier to meet the shock of
arms with great courage and without timidity, but their wits are so slow that
they will rush to the charge inconsiderately and inexpertly, thus defeating
their own devices. Such being nature's arrangement of the universe, and all
these nations being allotted temperaments which are lacking in due moderation,
the truly perfect territory, situated under the middle of the heaven, and having
on each side the entire extent of the world and its countries, is that which is
occupied by the Roman people.
11. In fact, the races of Italy are the most perfectly constituted in both
respects—in bodily form and in mental activity to correspond to their valour.
Exactly as the planet Jupiter is itself temperate, its course lying midway
between Mars, which is very hot, and Saturn, which is very cold, so Italy, lying
between the north and the south, is a combination of what is found on each side,
and her preëminence is well regulated and indisputable. And so by her wisdom she
breaks the courageous onsets of the
barbarians, and by her strength of hand thwarts
the devices of the southerners. Hence, it was the divine intelligence that set
the city of the Roman people in a peerless and temperate country, in order that
it might acquire the right to command the whole world.
12. Now if it is a fact that countries differ from one another, and are of
various classes according to climate, so that the very nations born therein
naturally differ in mental and physical conformation and qualities, we cannot
hesitate to make our houses suitable in plan to the peculiarities of nations and
races, since we have the expert guidance of nature herself ready to our
hand.
I have now set forth the peculiar characteristics of localities, so far as I
could note them, in the most summary way, and have stated how we ought to make
our houses conform to the physical qualities of nations, with due regard to the
course of the sun and to climate. Next I shall treat the symmetrical proportions
of the different styles of houses, both as wholes and in their separate
parts.
Chapter Two
Symmetry, and Modifications in it to Suit the Site
1. There is nothing to which an architect should devote more thought than to
the exact proportions of his building with reference to a certain part selected
as the standard. After the standard of symmetry has been determined, and the
proportionate dimensions adjusted by calculations, it is next the part of wisdom
to consider the nature of the site, or questions of use or beauty, and modify
the plan by diminutions or additions in such a manner that these diminutions or
additions in the symmetrical relations may be seen to be made on correct
principles, and without detracting at all from the effect.
2. The look of a building when seen close at hand is one thing, on a height
it is another, not the same in an enclosed place, still
different in the open, and in all
these cases it takes much judgment to decide what is to be done. The fact is
that the eye does not always give a true impression, but very often leads the
mind to form a false judgment. In painted scenery, for example, columns may
appear to jut out, mutules to project, and statues to be standing in the
foreground, although the picture is of course perfectly flat. Similarly with
ships, the oars when under the water are straight, though to the eye they appear
to be broken. To the point where they touch the surface of the sea they look
straight, as indeed they are, but when dipped under the water they emit from
their bodies undulating images which come swimming up through the naturally
transparent medium to the surface of the water, and, being there thrown into
commotion, make the oars look broken.
3. Now whether this appearance is due to the impact of the images, or to the
effusion of the rays from the eye, as the physicists hold, in either case it is
obvious that the vision may lead us to false impressions.
4. Since, therefore, the reality may have a false appearance, and since
things are sometimes represented by the eyes as other than they are, I think it
certain that diminutions or additions should be made to suit the nature or needs
of the site, but in such fashion that the buildings lose nothing thereby. These
results, however, are also attainable by flashes of genius, and not only by mere
science.
5. Hence, the first thing to settle is the standard of symmetry, from which
we need not hesitate to vary. Then, lay out the ground lines of the length and
breadth of the work proposed, and when once we have determined its size, let the
construction follow this with due regard to beauty of proportion, so that the
beholder may feel no doubt of the eurythmy of its effect. I must now tell how
this may be brought about, and first I will speak of the proper construction of
a cavaedium.
Chapter Three
Proportions of the Principal Rooms
1. There are five different styles of cavaedium, termed according to their
construction as follows: Tuscan, Corinthian, tetrastyle, displuviate, and
testudinate.
In the Tuscan, the girders that cross the breadth of the atrium have
crossbeams on them, and valleys sloping in and running from the angles of the
walls to the angles formed by the beams, and the rainwater falls down along the
rafters to the roof-opening (compluvium) in the middle.
In the Corinthian, the girders and roof-opening are constructed on these same
principles, but the girders run in from the side walls, and are supported all
round on columns.
In the tetrastyle, the girders are supported at the angles by columns, an
arrangement which relieves and strengthens the girders; for thus they have
themselves no great span to support, and they are not loaded down by the
crossbeams.
2. In the displuviate, there are beams which slope outwards, supporting the
roof and throwing the rainwater off. This style is suitable chiefly in winter
residences, for its roof-opening, being high up, is not an obstruction to the
light of the dining rooms. It is, however, very troublesome to keep in repair,
because the pipes, which are intended to hold the water that comes dripping down
the walls all round, cannot take it quickly enough as it runs down from the
channels, but get too full and run over, thus spoiling the woodwork and the
walls of houses of this style.
The testudinate is employed where the span is not great, and where large
rooms are provided in upper stories.
3. In width and length, atriums are designed according to three classes. The
first is laid out by dividing the length into five parts and giving three parts
to the width; the second, by dividing it into three parts and assigning two
parts to the width; the third, by using the width to describe a square figure
with equal sides, drawing a diagonal line in this square, and giving the atrium
the length of this diagonal line.
4. Their height up to the girders should be one fourth less than their width,
the rest being the proportion assigned to the ceiling and the roof above the
girders.
The alae, to the right and left, should have a width equal to one third of
the length of the atrium, when that is from thirty to forty feet long. From
forty to fifty feet, divide the length by three and one half, and give the alae the result.
When it is from fifty to sixty feet in length, devote one fourth of the length
to the alae. From sixty to eighty feet, divide the length by four and one half
and let the result be the width of the alae. From eighty feet to one hundred
feet, the length divided into five parts will produce the right width for the
alae. Their lintel beams should be placed high enough to make the height of the
alae equal to their width.
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From Mau
Plan of a typical Roman house.
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5. The tablinum should be given two thirds of the width of the atrium when
the latter is twenty feet wide. If it is from thirty to forty feet, let half the
width of the atrium be devoted to the tablinum. When it is from forty to sixty
feet, divide the width into five parts and let two of these be set apart for the
tablinum. In the case of smaller atriums, the symmetrical proportions cannot be
the same as in larger.
For if,
in the case of the smaller, we employ the proportion that belong to the larger,
both tablina and alae must be unserviceable, while if, in the case of the
larger, we employ the proportions of the smaller, the rooms mentioned will be
huge monstrosities. Hence, I have thought it best to describe exactly their
respective proportionate sizes, with a view both to convenience and to
beauty.
6. The height of the tablinum at the lintel should be one eighth more than
its width. Its ceiling should exceed this height by one third of the width. The
fauces in the case of smaller atriums should be two thirds, and in the case of
larger one half the width of the tablinum. Let the busts of ancestors with their
ornaments be set up at a height corresponding to the width of the alae. The
proportionate width and height of doors may be settled, if they are Doric, in
the Doric manner, and if Ionic, in the Ionic manner, according to the rules of
symmetry which have been given about portals in the fourth book. In the
roof-opening let
an aperture be left with a breadth of not less
than one fourth nor more than one third the width of the atrium, and with a
length proportionate to that of the atrium.
7. Peristyles, lying athwart, should be one third longer than they are deep,
and their columns as high as the colonnades are wide.
Intercolumniations of peristyles should be not less than
three nor more than four times the thickness of the columns. If the columns of
the peristyle are to be made in the Doric style, take the modules which I have
given in the fourth book, on the Doric order, and arrange the columns with
reference to these modules and to the scheme of the triglyphs.
8. Dining rooms ought to be twice as long as they are wide. The height of all
oblong rooms should be calculated by adding together their measured length and
width, taking one half of this total, and using the result for the height. But
in the case of exedrae or square oeci, let the height be brought up to one and
one half times the width. Picture galleries, like exedrae, should be constructed
of generous dimensions. Corinthian and tetrastyle oeci, as well as those termed
Egyptian, should have the same symmetrical proportions in width and length as
the dining rooms described above, but, since they have columns in them, their
dimensions should be ampler.
9. The following will be the distinction between Corinthian and Egyptian
oeci: the Corinthian have single tiers of columns, set either on a podium or on
the ground, with architraves over them and coronae either of woodwork or of
stucco, and carved vaulted ceilings above the coronae. In the Egyptian there are
architraves over the columns, and joists laid thereon from the architraves to
the surrounding walls, with a floor in the upper
story to allow of walking round under
the open sky. Then, above the architrave and perpendicularly over the lower tier
of columns, columns one fourth smaller should be imposed. Above their
architraves and ornaments are decorated ceilings, and the upper columns have
windows set in between them. Thus the Egyptian are not like Corinthian dining
rooms, but obviously resemble basilicas.
10. There are also, though not customary in Italy, the oeci which the Greeks
call Cyzicene. These are built with a northern exposure and generally command a
view of gardens, and have folding doors in the middle. They are also so long and
so wide that two sets of dining couches, facing each other, with room to pass
round them, can be placed therein. On the right and left they have windows which
open like folding doors, so that views of the garden may be had from the dining
couches through the opened windows. The height of such rooms is one and one half
times their width.
11. All the above-mentioned symmetrical relations should be observed, in
these kinds of buildings, that can be observed without embarrassment caused by
the situation. The windows will be an easy matter to arrange if they are not
darkened by high walls; but in cases of confined space, or when there are other
unavoidable obstructions, it will be permissible to make diminutions or
additions in the symmetrical relations,—with ingenuity and acuteness, however,
so that the result may be not unlike the beauty which is due to true
symmetry.
Chapter Four
The Proper Exposures of the Different Rooms
1. We shall next explain how the special purposes of different rooms require
different exposures, suited to convenience and to the quarters of the sky.
Winter dining rooms and bathrooms should have a southwestern exposure, for the
reason that they
need the evening light, and also because the
setting sun, facing them in all its splendour but with abated heat, lends a
gentler warmth to that quarter in the evening. Bedrooms and libraries ought to
have an eastern exposure, because their purposes require the morning light, and
also because books in such libraries will not decay. In libraries with southern
exposures the books are ruined by worms and dampness, because damp winds come
up, which breed and nourish the worms, and destroy the books with mould, by
spreading their damp breath over them.
2. Dining rooms for Spring and Autumn to the east; for when the windows face
that quarter, the sun, as he goes on his career from over against them to the
west, leaves such rooms at the proper temperature at the time when it is
customary to use them. Summer dining rooms to the north, because that quarter is
not, like the others, burning with heat during the solstice, for the reason that
it is unexposed to the sun's course, and hence it always keeps cool, and makes
the use of the rooms both healthy and agreeable. Similarly with picture
galleries, embroiderers' work rooms, and painters' studios, in order that the
fixed light may permit the colours used in their work to last with qualities
unchanged.
Chapter Five
How the Rooms Should be Suited to the Station of the Owner
1. After settling the positions of the rooms with regard to the quarters of
the sky, we must next consider the principles on which should be constructed
those apartments in private houses which are meant for the householders
themselves, and those which are to be shared in common with outsiders. The
private rooms are those into which nobody has the right to enter without an
invitation, such as bedrooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, and all others used for
the like purposes. The common are those which any of the people have a perfect
right to enter, even without an invitation:
that is, entrance courts, cavaedia, peristyles,
and all intended for the like purpose. Hence, men of everyday fortune do not
need entrance courts, tablina, or atriums built in grand style, because such men
are more apt to discharge their social obligations by going round to others than
to have others come to them.
2. Those who do business in country produce must have stalls and shops in
their entrance courts, with crypts, granaries, store-rooms, and so forth in
their houses, constructed more for the purpose of keeping the produce in good
condition than for ornamental beauty.
For capitalists and farmers of the revenue, somewhat comfortable and showy
apartments must be constructed, secure against robbery; for advocates and public
speakers, handsomer and more roomy, to accommodate meetings; for men of rank
who, from holding offices and magistracies, have social obligations to their
fellow-citizens, lofty entrance courts in regal style, and most spacious atriums
and peristyles, with plantations and walks of some extent in them, appropriate
to their dignity. They need also libraries, picture galleries, and basilicas,
finished in a style similar to that of great public buildings, since public
councils as well as private law suits and hearings before arbitrators are very
often held in the houses of such men.
3. If, therefore, houses are planned on these principles to suit different
classes of persons, as prescribed in my first book, under the subject of
Propriety, there will be no room for criticism; for they will be arranged with
convenience and perfection to suit every purpose. The rules on these points will
hold not only for houses in town, but also for those in the country, except that
in town atriums are usually next to the front door, while in country seats
peristyles come first, and then atriums surrounded by paved colonnades opening
upon palaestrae and walks.
I have now set forth the rules for houses in town so far as I could describe
them in a summary way. Next I shall state how farmhouses may be arranged with a
view to convenience in use, and shall give the rules for their
construction.
Chapter Six
The Farmhouse
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From Mau
The Villa Rustica at Boscoreale near Pompeii
A. Court.
B. Kitchen.
C-F. Baths.
H. Stable.
J. Toolroom.
K, L, V, V. Bedrooms.
N. Dining Room.
M. Anteroom.
O. Bakery.
P. Room with two winepresses.
Q. Corridor.
B. Court for fermentation of wine.
S. Barn.
T. Threshing-floor.
Y. Room with oil press.
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1. In the first place, inspect the country from the point of view of health,
in accordance with what is written in my first book, on the building of cities,
and let your farmhouses be situated accordingly.
Their dimensions should depend upon the
size of the farm and the amount of produce. Their courtyards and the dimensions
thereof should be determined by the number of cattle and the number of yokes of
oxen that will need to be kept therein. Let the kitchen be placed on the warmest
side of the courtyard, with the stalls for the oxen adjoining, and their cribs
facing the kitchen fire and the eastern quarter of the sky, for the reason that
oxen facing the light and the fire do not get rough-coated. Even peasants wholly
without knowledge of the quarters of the sky believe that oxen ought to face
only in the direction of the sunrise.
2. Their stalls ought to be not less than ten nor more than fifteen feet
wide, and long enough to allow not less than seven feet for each yoke.
Bathrooms, also, should adjoin the kitchen; for in this situation it will not
take long to get ready a bath in the country.
Let the pressing room, also,
be next to the kitchen; for in this situation it
will be easy to deal with the fruit of the olive. Adjoining it should be the
wine room with its windows lighted from the north. In a room with windows on any
other quarter so that the sun can heat it, the heat will get into the wine and
make it weak.
3. The oil room must be situated so as to get its light from the south and
from warm quarters; for oil ought not to be chilled, but should be kept thin by
gentle heat. In dimensions, oil rooms should be built to accommodate the crop
and the proper number of jars, each of which, holding about one hundred and
twenty gallons, must take up a space four feet in diameter. The pressing room
itself, if the pressure is exerted by means of levers and a beam, and not worked
by turning screws, should be not less than forty feet long, which will give the
lever man a convenient amount of space. It should be not less than sixteen feet
wide, which will give the men who are at work plenty of free space to do the
turning conveniently. If two presses are required in the place, allow
twenty-four feet for the width.
4. Folds for sheep and goats must be made large enough to allow each animal a
space of not less than four and a half, nor more than six feet. Rooms for grain
should be set in an elevated position and with a northern or north-eastern
exposure. Thus the grain will not be able to heat quickly, but, being cooled by
the wind, keeps a long time. Other exposures produce the corn weevil and the
other little creatures that are wont to spoil the grain. To the stable should be
assigned the very warmest place in the farmhouse, provided that it is not
exposed to the kitchen fire; for when draught animals are stabled very near a
fire, their coats get rough.
5. Furthermore, there are advantages in building cribs apart from the kitchen
and in the open, facing the east; for when the oxen are taken over to them on
early winter mornings in clear weather, their coats get sleeker as they take
their fodder in the sunlight. Barns for grain, hay, and spelt, as well as
bakeries, should be built apart from the farmhouse, so that farmhouses
may be better
protected against danger from fire. If something more refined is required in
farmhouses, they may be constructed on the principles of symmetry which have
been given above in the case of town houses, provided that there is nothing in
such buildings to interfere with their usefulness on a farm.
6. We must take care that all buildings are well lighted, but this is
obviously an easier matter with those which are on country estates, because
there can be no neighbour's wall to interfere, whereas in town high party walls
or limited space obstruct the light and make them dark. Hence we must apply the
following test in this matter. On the side from which the light should be
obtained let a line be stretched from the top of the wall that seems to obstruct
the light to the point at which it ought to be introduced, and if a considerable
space of open sky can be seen when one looks up above that line, there will be
no obstruction to the light in that situation.
7. But if there are timbers in the way, or lintels, or upper stories, then,
make the opening higher up and introduce the light in this way. And as a general
rule, we must arrange so as to leave places for windows on all sides on which a
clear view of the sky can be had, for this will make our buildings light. Not
only in dining rooms and other rooms for general use are windows very necessary,
but also in passages, level or inclined, and on stairs; for people carrying
burdens too often meet and run against each other in such places.
I have now set forth the plans used for buildings in our native country so
that they may be clear to builders. Next, I shall describe summarily how houses
are planned in the Greek fashion, so that these also may be understood.
Chapter Seven
The Greek House
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Plan of Vitruvius' Greek
house according to Becker.
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1. The Greeks, having no use for atriums, do not build them, but make
passage-ways for people entering from the front door,
not very wide, with stables on one
side and doorkeepers' rooms on the other, and shut off by doors at the inner
end.
This place between the two doors is
termed in Greek θυρωρειον. From it one enters the peristyle. This peristyle has
colonnades on three sides, and on the side facing the south it has two antae, a
considerable distance apart, carrying an architrave, with a recess for a
distance one third less than the space between the antae. This space is called
by some writers "prostas," by others "pastas."
2. Hereabouts, towards the inner side, are the large rooms in which
mistresses of houses sit with their wool-spinners. To the right and left of the
prostas there are chambers, one of which is called the "thalamos," the other the
"amphithalamos." All round the colonnades are dining rooms for everyday use,
chambers, and rooms for the slaves. This part of the house is termed
"gynaeconitis."
3. In connexion with these there are ampler sets of apartments with more
sumptuous peristyles, surrounded by four colonnades of equal height, or else the
one which faces the south has higher columns than the others. A peristyle that
has one such higher colonnade is called a Rhodian peristyle. Such apartments
have fine entrance courts with imposing front doors of their own; the colonnades
of the peristyles are decorated with polished stucco in relief and plain, and
with coffered ceilings of woodwork; off the colonnades that face the north they
have Cyzicene dining rooms and picture galleries; to the east, libraries;
exedrae to the
west; and to the south, large square rooms of such generous dimensions that four
sets of dining couches can easily be arranged in them, with plenty of room for
serving and for the amusements.
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From Bull. de. Corr. Hell.
1895 Greek house at Delos
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4. Men's dinner parties are held in these large rooms; for it was not the
practice, according to Greek custom, for the mistress of the house to be
present. On the contrary, such peristyles are called the men's apartments, since
in them the men can stay without interruption from the women. Furthermore, small
sets of apartments are built to the right and left, with front doors of their
own and suitable dining rooms and chambers, so that guests from abroad need not
be shown into the peristyles, but rather into such guests' apartments.
For when the
Greeks became more luxurious, and their circumstances more opulent, they began
to provide dining rooms, chambers, and store-rooms of provisions for their
guests from abroad, and on the first day they would invite them to dinner,
sending them on the next chickens, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and other country
produce. This is why artists called pictures representing the things which were
sent to guests "xenia." Thus, too, the heads of families, while being
entertained abroad, had the feeling that they were not away from home, since
they enjoyed privacy and freedom in such guests' apartments.
5. Between the two peristyles and the guests' apartments are the passage-ways
called "mesauloe," because they are situated midway between two courts; but our
people called them "andrones."
This, however, is a very strange fact, for the term does not fit either the
Greek or the Latin use of it. The Greeks call the large
rooms in which men's dinner parties
are usually held ἁνδρωνεϛ, because women do not go there. There are other
similar instances as in the case of "xystus," "prothyrum," "telamones," and some
others of the sort. As a Greek term, ξνστὁς means a colonnade of large
dimensions in which athletes exercise in the winter time. But our people apply
the term "xysta" to uncovered walks, which the Greeks call παραδρομἱδες. Again,
πρὁθυρα means in Greek the entrance courts before the front doors; we, however,
use the term "prothyra" in the sense of the Greek διἁθυρα.
6. Again, figures in the form of men supporting mutules or coronae, we term
"telamones"—the reasons why or wherefore they are so called are not found in any
story—but the Greeks name them ἁτλανες. For Atlas is described in story as
holding up the firmament because, through his vigorous intelligence and
ingenuity, he was the first to cause men to be taught about the courses of the
sun and moon, and the laws governing the revolutions of all the constellations.
Consequently, in recognition of
this benefaction, painters and sculptors
represent him as holding up the firmament, and the Atlantides, his daughters,
whom we call "Vergiliae" and the Greeks Πλειἁδες, are consecrated in the
firmament among the constellations.
7. All this, however, I have not set forth for the purpose of changing the
usual terminology or language, but I have thought that it should be explained so
that it may be known to scholars.
I have now explained the usual ways of planning houses both in the Italian
fashion and according to the practices of the Greeks, and have described, with
regard to their symmetry, the proportions of the different classes. Having,
therefore, already written of their beauty and propriety, I shall next explain,
with reference to durability, how they may be built to last to a great age
without defects.
Chapter Eight
On Foundations and Substructures
1. Houses which are set level with the ground will no doubt last to a great
age, if their foundations are laid in the manner which we have explained in the
earlier books, with regard to city walls and theatres. But if underground rooms
and vaults are intended, their foundations ought to be thicker than the walls
which are to be constructed in the upper part of the house, and the walls,
piers, and columns of the latter should be set perpendicularly over the middle
of the foundation walls below, so that they may have solid bearing; for if the
load of the walls or columns rests on the middle of spans, they can have no
permanent durability.
2. It will also do no harm to insert posts between lintels and sills where
there are piers or antae; for where the lintels and beams have received the load
of the walls, they may sag in the middle, and gradually undermine and destroy
the walls. But
when there are posts set up underneath and wedged in there, they prevent the
beams from settling and injuring such walls.
3. We must also manage to discharge the load of the walls by means of
archings composed of voussoirs with joints radiating to the centre. For when
arches with voussoirs are sprung from the ends of beams, or from the bearings of
lintels, in the first place they will discharge the load and the wood will not
sag; secondly, if in course of time the wood becomes at all defective, it can
easily be replaced without the construction of shoring.
4. Likewise in houses where piers are used in the construction, when there
are arches composed of voussoirs with joints radiating to the centre, the
outermost piers at these points must be made broader than the others, so that
they may have the strength to resist when the wedges, under the pressure of the
load of the walls, begin to press along their joints towards the centre, and
thus to thrust out the abutments. Hence, if the piers at the ends are of large
dimensions, they will hold the voussoirs together, and make such works
durable.
5. Having taken heed in these matters to see that proper attention is paid to
them, we must also be equally careful that all walls are perfectly vertical, and
that they do not lean forward anywhere. Particular pains, too, must be taken
with substructures, for here an endless amount of harm is usually done by the
earth used as filling. This cannot always remain of the same weight that it
usually has in summer, but in winter time it increases in weight and bulk by
taking up a great deal of rain water, and then it bursts its enclosing walls and
thrusts them out.
6. The following means must be taken to provide against such a defect. First,
let the walls be given a thickness proportionate to the amount of filling;
secondly, build counterforts or buttresses at the same time as the wall, on the
outer side, at distances from each other equivalent to what is to be the height
of the substructure and with the thickness of the substructure. At the bottom
let them run out to a distance corresponding to the thickness that has been
determined for the substructure, and then gradually
diminish in extent so that at the
surface their projection is equal to the thickness of the wall of the
building.
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Retaining walls (From the edition of Vitruvius by Fra
Giocondo, Venice 1511)
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7. Furthermore, inside, to meet the mass of earth, there should be saw-shaped
constructions attached to the wall, the single teeth extending from the wall for
a distance equivalent to what is to be the height of the substructure, and the
teeth being constructed with the same thickness as the wall. Then at the
outermost angles take a distance inwards, from the inside of the angle, equal to
the height of the substructure, and mark it off on each side; from these marks
build up a diagonal structure and from the middle of it a second, joined on to
the angle of the wall. With this arrangement, the teeth and diagonal structures
will not allow the filling to thrust with all its force against the wall, but
will check and distribute the pressure.
8. I have now shown how buildings can be constructed without defects, and the
way to take precautions against the occurrence
of them. As for replacing tiles, roof timbers,
and rafters, we need not be so particular about them as about the parts just
mentioned, because they can easily be replaced, however defective they may
become. Hence, I have shown by what methods the parts which are not considered
solid can be rendered durable, and how they are constructed.
9. As for the kind of material to be used, this does not depend upon the
architect, for the reason that all kinds of materials are not found in all
places alike, as has been shown in the first book. Besides, it depends on the
owner whether he desires to build in brick, or rubble work, or dimension stone.
Consequently the question of approving any work may be considered under three
heads: that is, delicacy of workmanship, sumptuousness, and design. When it
appears that a work has been carried out sumptuously, the owner will be the
person to be praised for the great outlay which he has authorized; when
delicately, the master workman will be approved for his execution; but when
proportions and symmetry lend it an imposing effect, then the glory of it will
belong to the architect.
10. Such results, however, may very well be brought about when he allows
himself to take the advice both of workmen and of laymen. In fact, all kinds of
men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work, but between
laymen and the latter there is this difference, that the layman cannot tell what
it is to be like without seeing it finished, whereas the architect, as soon as
he has formed the conception, and before he begins the work, has a definite idea
of the beauty, the convenience, and the propriety that will distinguish it.
I have now described as clearly as I could what I thought necessary for
private houses, and how to build them. In the following book I shall treat of
the kinds of polished finish employed to make them elegant, and durable without
defects to a great age.
Here ends Book VI of Vitruvius; he continues
the discussion in Book VII.
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