Vitruvius: DE ARCHITECTVRA

[1] Cum divina tua mens et numen, imperator Caesar, imperio potiretur orbis terrarum invictaque virtute cunctis hostibus stratis triumpho victoriaque tua cives gloriarentur et gentes omnes subactae tuum spectarent nutum populusque Romanus et senatus liberatus timore amplissimis tuis cogitationibus consiliisque gubernaretur, non audebam, tantis occupationibus, de architectura scripta et magnis cogitationibus explicata edere, metuens, ne non apto tempore interpellans subirem tui animi offensionem.

[1] When your divine mind and numen, Emperor Caesar, took possession of the empire of the circle of lands, and with unconquered virtue, all enemies having been laid low, the citizens gloried in your triumph and victory, and all nations subdued looked to your nod, and the Roman people and the Senate, freed from fear, were governed by your most ample thoughts and counsels, I did not dare, amid such great occupations, to publish writings on architecture, composed and explicated with weighty reflections, fearing lest, by interrupting at a not fitting time, I might incur an offense to your mind.

[2] Cum vero adtenderem te non solum de vita communi omnium curam publicaeque rei constitutionem habere sed etiam de opportunitate publicorum aedificiorum, ut civitas per te non solum provinciis esset aucta, verum etiam ut maiestas imperii publicorum aedificiorum egregias haberet auctoritates, non putavi praetermittendum, quin primo quoque tempore de his rebus ea tibi ederem, ideo quod primum parenti tuo de eo fueram notus et eius virtutis studiosus. Cum autem concilium caelestium in sedibus immortalitatis eum dedicavisset et imperium parentis in tuam potestatem transtulisset, idem studium meum in eius memoria permanens in te contulit favorem.

[2] When indeed I observed that you not only have concern for the common life of all and the constitution of the commonwealth, but also for the opportunity and fitness of public buildings—so that through you the state was not only increased with provinces, but also that the majesty of the empire might have distinguished authorities in public buildings—I did not think it should be passed over, but that at the earliest possible time I should publish to you on these matters, for this reason: that first I had been known to your parent concerning this and was a devotee of his virtue. And when the council of the celestials in the seats of immortality had dedicated him, and had transferred your father’s imperial command into your power, that same zeal of mine, abiding in his memory, bestowed its favor upon you.

Itaque cum M. Aurelio et P. Minidio et Cn. Cornelio ad apparationem balistarum et scorpionem reliquorumque tormentorum refectionem fui praesto et cum eis commoda accepi, quae cum primo mihi tribuisiti recognitionem, per sorosis commendationem servasti.

And so, together with Marcus Aurelius, Publius Minidius, and Gnaeus Cornelius, I was at hand for the preparation of ballistae and scorpions and for the refitting of the remaining engines, and with them I received benefits, which, after you first granted me recognition, you have preserved through your sister’s commendation.

[3] Cum ergo eo beneficio essem obligatus, ut ad exitum vitae non haberem inopiae timorem, haec tibi scribere coepi, quod animadverti multa te aedificavisse et nunc aedificare, reliquo quoque tempore et publicorum et privatorum aedificiorum, pro amplitudine rerum gestarum ut posteris memoriae traderentur curam habiturum. Conscripsi praescriptiones terminatas ut eas adtendens et ante facta et futura qualia sint opera, per te posses nota habere. Namque his voluminibus aperui omnes disciplinae rationes.

[3] Therefore, since by that benefaction I was obligated, so that to the end of life I should have no fear of want, I began to write these things to you, because I noticed that you have built many works and are now building, and that in the remaining time also you will have care, both of public and of private buildings, in proportion to the amplitude of your deeds, that they be handed down to posterity for remembrance. I have composed prescriptions set within bounds, so that, attending to them, you might be able, by your own agency, to have as known what sort of works both those done before and those to come are. For in these volumes I have laid open all the rationales of the discipline.

Caput Primum

Chapter One

[1] Architecti est scientia pluribus disciplinis et variis eruditionibus ornata, [cuius iudicio probantur omnia] quae ab ceteris artibus perficiuntur. Opera ea nascitur et fabrica et ratiocinatione. Fabrica est continuata ac trita usus meditatio, quae manibus perficitur e materia cuiuscumque generis opus est ad propositum deformationis.

[1] The science of the architect is adorned with many disciplines and diverse eruditions, [by whose judgment all things are approved] which are accomplished by the other arts. This arises both from practice and from ratiocination. Practice is a continuous and well-worn meditation of use, which is perfected by the hands from material of whatever kind the work requires for the proposed design.

Ratiocinatio autem est. quae res fabricatas sollertiae ac rationis proportione demonstrare atque explicare potest.

Ratiocination, however, is that which can demonstrate and explain fabricated things by the proportion of skill and reason.

[2] Itaque architecti, qui sine litteris contenderant, ut manibus essent exercitati, non potuerunt efficere, ut haberent pro laboribus auctoritatem; qui autem ratiocinationibus et litteris solis confisi fuerunt, umbram non rem persecuti videntur. At qui utrumque perdidicerunt, uti omnibus armis ornati citius cum auctoritate, quod fuit propositum, sunt adsecuti.

[2] Therefore the architects who, without letters, strove to be exercised by their hands could not bring it about that they obtained authority for their labors; but those who relied upon ratiocinations and letters alone seem to have pursued a shadow, not the reality. But they who have thoroughly learned both, being equipped as it were with all arms, have more swiftly, and with authority, attained what was proposed.

[3] Cum in omnibus enim rebus, tum maxime etiam in architectura haec duo insunt, quod significatur et quod significant. Significatur proposita res, de qua dicitur; hanc autem significat demonstratio rationibus doctrinarum explicata. Quare videtur utraque parte exercitatus esse debere, qui se architectum profiteatur.

[3] For as in all things, so most especially also in architecture there are these two: that which is signified and that which signifies. The proposed matter, about which it is spoken, is what is signified; but what signifies it is the demonstration, explained by the reasons of the doctrines. Wherefore he who professes himself an architect seems to have to be exercised in both parts.

Itaque eum etiam ingeniosum oportet esse et ad disciplinam docilem. Neque enim ingenium sine disciplina aut disciplina sine ingenio perfectum artificem potest efficere. Et ut litteratus sit, peritus graphidos, eruditus geometria, historias complures noverit, philosophos diligenter audierit, musicam scierit, medicinae non sit ignarus responsa iurisconsultorum noverit, astrologiam caelique rationes cognitas habeat.

Therefore, he ought also to be ingenious and teachable for discipline. For neither can native talent without discipline, nor discipline without native talent, make a perfect artificer. And that he be literate, skilled in the stylus/drawing, trained in geometry, know many histories, have listened diligently to the philosophers, know music, be not ignorant of medicine, know the responses of the jurisconsults, and have astrology and the ratios of the sky understood.

[4] Quae cur ita sint, haec sunt causae. Litteras architectum scire oportet, uti commentariis memoriam firmiorem efficere possit. Deinde graphidis scientiam habere, quo facilius exemplaribus pictis quam velit operis speciem deformare valeat.

[4] Why these things are so—these are the causes. An architect ought to know letters, so that by commentaries he may be able to make his memory more firm. Then he should have knowledge of the graphis (drawing), whereby, by painted exemplars, he may more easily be able to delineate the appearance of the work as he wishes.

Geometria autem plura praesidia praestat architecturae; et primum ex euthygrammis circini tradit usum, e quo maxime facilius aedificiorum in areis expediuntur descriptiones normarumque et librationum et linearum directiones. Item per opticen in aedificiis ab certis ragionibus caeli lumina recte ducuntur. Per arithmeticen vero sumptus aedificiorum consummantur, mensurarum rationes explicantur, difficilesque symmetriarum quaestiones geometricis rationibus et methodis inveniuntur.

Geometry, moreover, furnishes more assistances to architecture; and first, from straight-edges it hands down the use of the compass, from which especially the descriptions of buildings on their areas are more easily set out, and the directions of squares, levelings, and lines. Likewise, through optics, in buildings lights are rightly conducted from certain regions of the sky. Through arithmetic, in truth, the expenses of buildings are brought to completion, the reckonings of measures are explained, and difficult questions of symmetries are discovered by geometric reasons and methods.

[5] Historias autem plures novisse oportet, quod multa ornamenta saepe in operibus architecti designant, de quibus argumentis rationem, cur fecerint, quaerentibus reddere debent. Quemadmodum si quis statuas marmoreas muliebres stolatas, quae cariatides dicuntur, pro columnis in opere statuerit et insuper mutulos et coronas conlocaverit, percontantibus ita reddet rationem Caria, civitas Peloponnensis, cum Persis hostibus contra Graeciam consensit. Postea Graeci per victoriam gloriose bello liberati communi consilio Cariatibus bellum indixerunt.

[5] Moreover, one ought to know several histories, because architects often designate many ornaments in their works, about whose arguments they ought to render a rationale to those asking why they have done so. Just as, if someone has set up marble female statues, stola-clad, which are called Caryatids, in place of columns in a work, and has placed mutules and coronae above, he will thus render the rationale to questioners: Caria, a city of the Peloponnese, made common cause with the Persians, the enemies, against Greece. Afterwards the Greeks, gloriously freed from the war by victory, by common counsel declared war upon the Carians.

ltaque oppido capto, viris interfectis, civitate declarata matronas eorum in servitutem abduxerunt, nec sunt passi stolas neque ornatus matronales deponere, uti non una triumpho ducerentur, sed aeterno, servitutis exemplo gravi contumelia pressae poenas pendere viderentur pro civitate. Ideo qui tunc architecti fuerunt aedificiis publicis designaverunt earum imagines oneri ferundo conlocatas, ut etiam posteris nota poena peccati Cariatium memoriae traderetur.

And so, when the town had been taken, the men killed, and the state declared condemned, they led their matrons into servitude, nor did they allow them to put off their stolas or matronal ornaments, so that they might seem to be led not in a single triumph, but in an eternal one, pressed beneath the grievous contumely as an example of slavery, and appear to pay penalties on behalf of their state. Therefore the architects of that time designed for public buildings images of them set in place for bearing a burden, so that the well-known punishment of the sin of the Caryatids might be handed down to memory for posterity.

[6] Non minus Lacones, Pausania Agesilae filio duce, Plataeeo proelio pauca manu infinitum numerum exercitus Persarum cum superavissent, acto cum gloria triumpho spoliorum et praedae, porticum Persicam ex manubiis, laudis et virtutis civium indicem, victoriae posteris pro tropaeo constituerunt. Ibique captivorum simulacra barbarico vestis ornatu, superbia meritis contumeliis punita, sustinentia tectum conlocaverunt, uti et hostes horrescerent timore eorum fortitudinis effectus, et cives id exemplum virtutis aspicientes gloria erecti ad defendendam libertatem essent parati. Itaque ex eo multi statuas Persicas sustinentes epistylia et ornamenta eorum conlocaverunt, et ita ex eo argumento varietates egregias auxerunt operibus.

[6] No less did the Laconians, with Pausanias, son of Agesilaus, as leader, when in the Plataean battle with a small band they had overcome the boundless number of the Persian army, after a triumph of spoils and booty had been conducted with glory, set up from the manubiae a Persian portico, an index of the praise and virtue of the citizens, as a trophy of victory for posterity. And there they placed simulacra of the captives, in the barbaric adornment of clothing, pride punished with deserved contumelies, supporting the roof, so that both the enemies would shudder, struck with fear at the effects of their fortitude, and the citizens, beholding that exemplar of virtue, uplifted by glory, might be prepared to defend liberty. And so from that many set Persian statues to support epistyles and their ornaments, and thus from that pattern they increased outstanding varieties in their works.

Item sunt aliae eiusdem generis historiae, quarum notitiam architectos tenere oporteat.

Likewise there are other histories of the same kind, the knowledge of which it is proper for architects to hold.

[7] Philosophia vero perficit architectum animo magno et uti non sit adrogans, sed potius facilis, aequus et fidelis, sine avaritia, quod est maximum; nullum enim opus vere sine fide et casitate fieri potest; ne sit cupidus neque in muneribus accipiendis habeat animum occupatum, sed cum gravitate suam tueatur dignitatem bonam famam habendo; et haec enim philosophia praescribit. Praeterea de rerum natura, quae graecephysiologia dicitur, philosophia explicat. Quam necesse est studiosius novisse, quod habet multas et varias naturales quaestiones.

[7] Philosophy, in truth, perfects the architect to be magnanimous in spirit and so that he be not arrogant, but rather easy, equitable, and faithful, without avarice—which is the greatest; for no work can truly be accomplished without fidelity and chastity; that he be not greedy nor have his mind preoccupied in the receiving of gifts, but with gravity he should defend his dignity by having a good reputation; for philosophy prescribes these things. Moreover, philosophy explicates about the nature of things, which in Greek is calledphysiologia . This it is necessary to know more studiously, because it has many and various natural questions.

Ut etiam in aquarum ductionibus. Insursibus enim et circuitionibus et librata planitie expressionibus spiritus naturales aliter atque aliter fiunt, quorum offensionibus mederi nemo poterit, nisi qui ex philosophia principia rerum naturae noverit. Item qui Ctesibii aut Archimedis et ceterorum, qui eiusdem generis praecepta conscripserunt, leget, sentire non poterit, nisi his rebus a philosophis erit institutus.

So also in the conducting of waters. For by upsurges and by circuitings and, on a leveled plane, by expulsions, the natural spirits come to be now in one way, now in another; and no one will be able to remedy their impediments unless he knows from philosophy the principles of the nature of things. Likewise, whoever reads Ctesibius or Archimedes and the others who have written precepts of the same kind will not be able to apprehend them, unless in these matters he has been instructed by philosophers.

[8] Musicen autem sciat oportet, uti canonicam rationem et mathematicam notam habeat, praeterea balistarum, catapultarum, scorpionum temperaturas possit recte facere. In capitulis enim dextra ac sinistra sunt foramina hemitoniorum, per quae tenduntur suculis et vectibus e nervo torti funes, qui non praecluduntur nec praeligantur, nisi sonitus ad artificis aures certos et aequales fecerunt. Bracchia enim, quae in eas tentiones includuntur, cum extenduntur, aequaliter et pariter utraque plagam mittere debent; quodsi non homotona fuerint, inpedient directem telorum missionem.

[8] However, he ought to know Music, so that he may have the canonical ratio and mathematical knowledge; moreover, he should be able to make correctly the temperings of ballistae, catapults, and scorpions. For in the end-caps there are on the right and left the holes of the hemitonia, through which cords twisted from sinew are stretched by screws and levers—cords which are not shut off nor bound fast until the sounds have made themselves to the craftsman’s ears certain and equal. For the arms that are enclosed in those tensions, when they are drawn out, must send the stroke equally and in tandem, both alike; but if they are not homotone, they will hinder the direct launching of the missiles.

[9] Item theatris vasa area, quae in cellis sub gradibus mathematica ratione conlocantur quae Graceiecheia appellant; sonitûm et discrimina ad symphonias musicas sive concentus componuntur divisa in circinatione diatesseron et diapente et disdiapason, uti vox scaenici sonitus conveniens in dispositionibus tactu cum offenderit, aucta cum incremento clarior et suavior ad spectatorum perveniat aures. Hydraulicas quoque machinas et cetera, quae sunt similia his organis, sine musicis rationibus efficere nemo poterit.

[9] Likewise, in theaters bronze vessels, which by mathematical method are placed in cells beneath the steps, which the Greeks callecheia; the sounds and their distinctions are composed to musical symphonies or concerted harmonies, divided according to the circuit of the diatesseron, the diapente, and the disdiapason, so that when the voice of the stage‑player, meeting by touch the fitting resonance in the dispositions, strikes upon it, it may, augmented with an increment, reach the spectators’ ears clearer and sweeter. Hydraulic machines too, and the rest which are similar to these organs, no one will be able to construct without musical principles.

[10] Disciplinam vero medicinae novisse oportet propter inclinationem caeli, quae Graeciclimata dicunt, et aeris et locorum, qui sunt salubres aut pestilentes, aquarumque usus; sine his enim rationibus nulla salubris habitatio fieri potest. Iura quoque nota habeat oportet, ea quae necessaria sunt aedificiis communibus parietum ad ambitum stillicidiorum et cloacarum, luminum. Item, aquarum ductiones et cetera quae eiusmod sunt, nota oportet sint architectis, uti ante caveant quam instituant aedificia, ne controversiae factis operibus patribus familiarum relinquantur, et ut legibus scribendis prudentia cavere possit et locatori et conductori; namque si lex perite fuerit scripta; erit ut sine captione uterque ab utroque liberetur.

[10] Truly, one must know the discipline of medicine on account of the inclination of the sky, which the Greeks callclimata, and of the air and of places, which are healthful or pestilent, and of the uses of waters; for without these reasons no healthful habitation can be made. One ought also to have the laws known, those which are necessary for buildings in common: of walls, of the clearance (ambitus) for eavesdrips and sewers, of lights. Likewise, conductions of waters and the other things which are of this kind ought to be known to architects, so that they may take precautions before they establish buildings, lest, once the works are made, controversies be left to the fathers of families, and so that in the writing of laws prudence may be able to provide safeguards both for the lessor and for the lessee; for if the law shall have been written expertly; it will be that without captiousness each is freed from the other.

Ex astrologia autem cognoscitur oriens, occidens, meridies, septentrio, etiam caeli ratio, aequinoctium, solstitium, astrorum cursus; quorum notitiam si quis non habuerit, horologiorum rationem omnino scire non poterit.

From astronomy, moreover, are known the east, the west, the south, the north; likewise the order of the sky, the equinox, the solstice, the courses of the stars; the knowledge of which, if anyone does not possess it, he will by no means be able to know the theory of horology.

[11] Cum ergo tanta haec disciplina sit, condecorata et abundans eruditionibus variis ac pluribus, non puto posse iuste repente profiteri architectos, nisi qui ab aetate puerili his gradibus disciplinarum scandendo scientia plerarumque litterarum et artium nutriti pervenerint ad summum templum architecturae.

[11] Therefore, since this discipline is so great, decorated and abundant with various and manifold eruditions, I do not think men can justly all at once profess themselves architects, unless they, from boyhood, by climbing these steps of the disciplines, nourished by knowledge of most letters and arts, have come to the highest temple of architecture.

[12] Ac fortasse mirum videbitur inperitis hominibus posse naturam tantum numerum doctrinarum perdiscere et memoria continere. Cum autem animadverterint omnes disciplinas inter se coniunctionem rerum et communicationem habere, fieri posse faciliter credent; encyclios enim disciplina uti corpus unum ex his membris est composita. Itaque qui a teneris aetatibus eruditionibus variis instruuntur, omnibus litteris agnoscunt easdem notas communicationemque omnium disciplinarum, et ea re facilius omnia cognoscunt.

[12] And perhaps it will seem marvelous to inexpert men that nature can thoroughly learn so great a number of doctrines and keep them in memory. But when they have observed that all disciplines have among themselves a conjunction of things and a communication, they will readily believe it can be done; for the encyclical discipline, as one body, is composed out of these members. And so those who from tender ages are equipped by various eruditions recognize in all letters the same notes and the communication of all disciplines, and for that reason they more easily come to know all things.

Ideoque de veteribus architectis Pythius, qui Prieni aedem Minervae nobiliter est architectatus, ait in suis commentariis architectum omnibus artibus et doctrinis plus oportere posse facere, quam qui singulas res suis industriis et exercitationibus ad summam claritatem perduxerunt.

Therefore, among the ancient architects, Pythius, who nobly architected the temple of Minerva at Priene, says in his commentaries that the architect ought to be able to do more in all arts and doctrines than those who, by their own industries and exercises, have brought individual matters to the highest clarity.

[13] Id autem re non expeditur. Non enim debet nec potest esse architectus grammaticus, uti fuerit Aristarchus, sed non agrammatus, nec musicus ut Aristoxenus, sed non amusos, nec pictor ut Apelles, sed graphidos non inperitus nec plastes quemadmodem Myron seu Polyclitus, sed rationis plasticae non ignarus, nec denuo medicus ut Hippocrates, sed non aniatrologicus, nec in ceteris doctrinis singulariter excellens, sed in is non inperitus. Non enim in tantis rerum varietatibus elegantias singularis quisquam consequi potest, quod earum ratiocinationes cognoscere et percipere vix cadit in potestatem.

[13] But this is not carried out in reality. For the architect ought not, nor can he, be a grammarian, as Aristarchus was, but he must not be ungrammatical; nor a musician like Aristoxenus, but not unmusical; nor a painter like Apelles, but not unskilled in the stylus and line-drawing; nor a plastes (modeler) like Myron or Polyclitus, but not ignorant of the rationale of the plastic art; nor again a physician like Hippocrates, but not unacquainted with iatrology (medicine); nor singularly excelling in the other doctrines, but not unskilled in them. For in such great varieties of things no one can attain the special elegances of individuals, because to know and to grasp their ratiocinations scarcely falls within one’s power.

[14] Nec tamen non tantum architecti non possunt in omnibus rebus habere summum effectum, sed etiam ipsi qui privatim proprietates tenent artium, non efficiunt, ut habeant omnes summum laudis principatum. Ergo si in singulis doctrinis singuli artifices neque omnes sed pauci aevo perpetuo nobilitatem vix sunt consecuti, quemadmodum potest architectus, qui pluribus artibus debet esse peritus, non id ipsum mirum et magnum facere, ne quid ex his indigeat, sed etiam ut omnes artifices superet qui singulis doctrinis adsiduitatem cum industria summa praestiterunt?

[14] And yet not only can architects not have the highest accomplishment in all matters, but even those who individually hold the specialties of the arts do not bring it about that they all have the supreme primacy of praise. Therefore, if in individual doctrines the individual artificers—not all, but a few—have scarcely attained renown enduring through an age, how can the architect, who ought to be skilled in more arts, not accomplish this very thing wondrous and great, namely that he lack nothing of these, but even surpass all the craftsmen who in single doctrines have exhibited assiduity with the highest industry?

[15] Igitur in hac re Pythius errasse videtur, quod non animadvertit ex duabus rebus singulas artes esse compositas, ex opere et eius ratiocinatione, ex his autem unum proprium esse eorum qui singulis rebus sunt exercitati, id est operis effectus, alterum commune cum omnibus doctis, id est rationem, uti medicis et musicis et de venarum rythmo ad pedem motus, ut si vulnus mederi aut aegrum eripere de periculo oportuerit non accedet musicus, sed id opus proprium erit medici; item in organo non medicus sed musicus modulabitur, ut aures suae cantionibus recipiant iucunditatem.

[15] Therefore in this matter Pythius seems to have erred, because he did not observe that individual arts are composed of two things, of the work and its ratiocination; and of these, one is proper to those who are exercised in particular matters, that is, the effect of the work; the other is common with all the learned, that is, reason—just as with physicians and musicians, and concerning the movement of the pulse to a metrical foot of rhythm—so that, if it should be necessary to treat a wound or to snatch a sick person from danger, the musician will not approach, but that work will be proper to the physician; likewise, on the organ it will not be the physician but the musician who will modulate, so that the ears may receive delight from his songs.

[16] Similiter cum astrologis et musicis est disputatio communis de sympathia stellarum et symphoniarum in quadratis et trigonis diatessaron et diapente, a geometris de visu qui graecelogos opticos appellatur; ceterisque omnibus doctrinis multae res vel omnes communes sunt dumtaxat ad disputandum. Operum vero ingressus qui manu aut tractationibus ad elegantiam perducuntur, ipsorum sunt, qui proprie una arte ad faciendum sunt instituti. Ergo satis abunde videtur fecisse, qui ex singulis doctrinis partes et rationes earum mediocriter habet notas, eas quae necessariae sunt ad architecturam, uti, si quid de his rebus et artibus iudicare et probare opus fuerit, ne deficiatur.

[16] Similarly with astrologers and musicians there is a common disputation about the sympathy of the stars and of symphonies in squares and trines, the diatessaron and the diapente; from geometers about vision, which in Greek is calledlogos opticos; and in all the other doctrines many things, or even all, are common, at least for disputation. But the entries into works, which are brought to elegance by hand or by handlings, belong to those who are properly instructed to make in a single art. Therefore he seems to have done sufficiently and abundantly, who has moderately known from each single doctrine the parts and the rationales of them, those which are necessary for architecture, so that, if it should be needful to judge and approve anything concerning these matters and arts, he may not fail.

[17] Quibus vero natura tantum tribuit sollertiae, acuminis, memoriae, ut possint geometriam, astrologiam, musicen ceterasque disciplinas penitus habere notas, praetereunt offica architectorum et efficiuntur mathematici. Itaque faciliter contra eas disciplinas disputare possunt, quod pluribus telis disciplinarum sunt armati. Hi autem inveniuntur raro, ut aliquando fuerunt Aristarchus Samius, Philolaus et Archytas Tarentini, Apollonius Pergaeus, Eratosthenes Cyrenaeus, Archimedes et Scopinas ab Syracusis, qui multas res organicas, gnomonicas numero naturalibusque rationibus inventas atque explicitas posteris reliquerunt.

[17] But those whom nature has endowed with so much skill, acumen, and memory that they can have geometry, astrology, music, and the other disciplines thoroughly known, pass beyond the duties of architects and become mathematicians. And so they can easily dispute against those disciplines, because they are armed with more missiles of the disciplines. These, however, are found rarely, as once were Aristarchus the Samian, Philolaus and Archytas the Tarentines, Apollonius of Perga, Eratosthenes the Cyrenian, Archimedes and Scopinas from Syracuse, who left to posterity many matters of organics and gnomonics, discovered and explained by number and by natural reasons.

[18] Cum ergo talia ingenia ab naturali sollertia non passim cunctis gentibus sed paucis viris habere concedatur, officium vero architecti omnibus eruditionibus debeat esse exercitatum, et ratio propter amplitudinem rei permittat non iuxta necessitatem summas sed etiam mediocris scientias habere disciplinarum, peto, Caesar, et a te et ab is, qui ea volumina sunt lecturi, ut, si quid parum ad regulam artis grammaticae fuerit explicatum, ignoscatur. Namque non uti summus philisophus nec rhetor disertus nec grammaticus summis rationibus artis exercitatus, sed ut architectus his litteris inbutus haec nisus sum scribere. De artis vero potestate quaeque insunt in ea ratiocinationes polliceor uti spero, his voluminibus non modo aedificantibus sed etiam omnibus sapientibus cum maxima auctoritate me sine dubio praestaturum.

[18] Since therefore such talents, by natural skill, are granted to be possessed not everywhere among all peoples but by few men, and since the office of the architect ought to be exercised in all eruditions, and reason, on account of the amplitude of the matter, allows one to have of the disciplines not, as necessity would demand, consummate but even moderate knowledges, I ask, Caesar, both from you and from those who are going to read these volumes, that, if anything has been set forth somewhat less than according to the rule of the art of grammar, it be pardoned. For I, not as a highest philosopher, nor an eloquent rhetor, nor a grammarian exercised in the highest precepts of the art, but as an architect imbued with these letters, have striven to write these things. Concerning the power of the art, moreover, and the ratiocinations which are contained in it, I promise, as I hope, that in these volumes I will, without doubt, show myself with the greatest authority not only to those building but also to all wise men.

Caput Secundum

Chapter Two

[1] Architectura autem constat ex ordinatione, qua graecetaxis dicitur, et ex dispositione, hanc autem Graeci diathesin vocitant, et eurythmia et symmetria et decore et distributione quae graece oeconomia dicitur.

[1] Architecture, moreover, consists of ordination, which in Greek is calledtaxis, and of disposition, which the Greeks term diathesin, and of eurythmy and symmetry and decor and distribution, which in Greek is called oeconomia.

[2] Ordinatio est modica membrorum operis commoditas separatim universeque proportionis ad symmetriam comparatio. Haec componitur ex quantitate quae graeceposotes dicitur. Quantitas autem est modulorum ex ipsius operis sumptio e singulisque membrorum partibus universi operis conveniens effectus.

[2] Ordination is the measured convenience of the members of a work, separately and universally, a comparison of proportion toward symmetry. This is composed from quantity, which in Greek is calledposotes. But quantity is the taking of modules from the work itself, and, from the individual parts of the members, the appropriate effect of the entire work.

Dispositio autem est rerum apta conlocatio elegansque compositionibus effectus operis cum qualitate. Species dispositionis, quae graece dicuntur ideae, sunt hae: ichnographia, orthographia, scaenographia. Ichnographia est circini regulaeque modice continens usus, e qua capiuntur formarum in solis arearum descriptiones.

Disposition, moreover, is the apt collocation of things and the elegant effect in compositions of the work together with its quality. The species of disposition, which in Greek are called ideae, are these: ichnography, orthography, scenography. Ichnography is the measured containing of the uses of the compass and rule, from which are taken the descriptions of forms on the surfaces of plots alone.

Orthographia autem est erecta frontis imago modiceque picta rationibus operis futuri figura. Item scaenographia est frontis et laterum abscedentium adumbratio ad circinique centrum omnium linearum responsus. Hae nascuntur ex cogitatione et inventione.

But orthography is the upright image of the front and, painted in due measure, a figure of the future work by its methods. Likewise, scenography is an adumbration of the front and of the receding sides, and the correspondence of all the lines to the compass’s center. These arise from cogitation and invention.

Cogitatio est cura studii plena et industriae vigilantiaeque effectus propositi cum voluptate. Inventio autem est quaestionum obscurarum explicatio ratioque novae rei vigore mobili reperta. Hae sunt terminationes dispositionum.

Cogitation is a care full of study and the effecting of purpose by industry and vigilance, with pleasure. Invention, moreover, is the explication of obscure questions and the rationale of a new thing, discovered by a mobile vigor. These are the definitions of the dispositions.

[3] Eurythmia est venusta species commodusque in conpositionibus membrorum aspectus. Haec efficitur, cum membra operis convenientia sunt altitudinis ad latitudinem, latitudinis ad longitudinem, et ad summam omnia respondent suae symmetriae.

[3] Eurythmy is a charming appearance and a convenient aspect in the compositions of the members. This is effected when the members of the work are in agreement of height to width, of width to length, and, in sum, all correspond to their own symmetry.

[4] Item symmetria est ex ipsius operis membris conveniens, consensus ex partibusque separatis ad universae figurae speciem ratae partis responsus. Uti in homonis corpore e cubito, pede, palmo, digito ceterisque particulis symmetros est eurythmiae qualitas, sic est in operum perfectionibus. Et primum in aedibus sacris aut e columnarum crassitudinibus aut triglypho aut etiam embatere, ballista e foramine, quod Graeciperitreton vocitant, navibus interscalmio, quae dipechyaia dicitur, item ceterorum operum e membris invenitur symmetriarum ratiocinatio.

[4] Likewise, symmetry is a fitting agreement arising from the members of the work itself, and a consensus from parts considered separately, a proportioned response of part to the appearance of the whole figure. As in the body of a man, from the cubit, foot, palm, finger, and the other small parts, the quality of eurythmy is symmetrical, so it is in the perfections of works. And first, in sacred buildings, either from the thicknesses of the columns, or the triglyph, or even the embatere; in the ballista, from the aperture, which the Greeks callperitreton; in ships, from the interscalmium, which is called dipechyaia; likewise, the ratiocination of symmetries is found from the members of other works.

[5] Decor autem est emendatus operis aspectus probatis rebus compositi cum auctoritate. Is perficitur statione, quod graecethematismo dicitur, seu consuetudine aut natura. Statione, cum Iovi Fulguri et Caelo et Soli et Lunae aedificia sub divo hypaethraque constituentur; horum enim deorum et species et effectus in aperto mundo atque lucenti praesentes vidimus.

[5] But decor is the perfected aspect of a work, composed from approved things, with authority. It is brought to completion by station (which in Greek is calledthematismos), or by custom or by nature. By station, when buildings for Jove the Lightning-bearer, and for Heaven, and for the Sun and the Moon are established under the open sky and are hypaethral; for of these gods both the appearances and the effects we have seen present in the open and shining world.

Minervae et Marti et Herculi aedes doricae fient; his enim diis propter virtutem sine deliciis aedificia constitui decet. Veneri, Florae, Proserpinae, Fonti Lumphis corinthio genere constitutae aptas videbuntur habere proprietates, quod his diis propter teneritatem graciliora et florida foliisque et volutis ornata opera facta augere videbuntur iustum decorem. Iunoni, Dianae Libero Patri ceterisque diis qui eadem sunt similtudine, si aedes ionicae construentur, habita erit ratio mediocritatis, quod et ab severo more doricorum et ab teneritate corinthiorum temperabitur eorum institutio proprietatis.

Temples of the Doric order will be made for Minerva and Mars and Hercules; for to these gods, on account of their virtus, it is fitting that buildings be established without delights. For Venus, Flora, Proserpina, Fons and the Lymphae, structures constituted in the Corinthian kind will seem to have apt properties, because for these gods, on account of their tenderness, works more gracile and flowery, adorned with leaves and volutes, will seem to augment a just decorum. For Juno, Diana, Liber Pater, and the other gods who are of the same likeness, if Ionic temples are constructed, a regard for mediocritas will be held, because their institution of propriety will be tempered both away from the severe manner of the Doric and from the tenderness of the Corinthian.

[6] Ad consuetudinem autem decor sic exprimitur, cum aedificiis interioribus magnificis item vestibula convenientia et elegantia erunt facta. Si enim interiora prospectus habuerint elegantes, aditus autem humiles et inhonestos, non erunt cum decore. Item si doricis epistlyiis in coronis denticuli sculpentur aut in pulvinatis columnis et ionicis epistyliis [capitulis] exprimentur triglyphi, translatis ex alia ratione proprietatibus in aliud genus operis offendetur aspectus aliis ante ordinis consuetudinibus institutis.

[6] But according to custom, decor is thus expressed: when, for buildings whose interiors are magnificent, the vestibules likewise will be made suitable and elegant. For if the interiors have elegant prospect, but the approaches are low and unbecoming, they will not be with decor. Likewise, if dentils are carved in the cornices with Doric epistyles, or if triglyphs are expressed on pulvinated columns and on Ionic epistyles [capitals], with the properties transferred from another rationale into another genus of work, the aspect will be offended, the prior customs of the order having been established.

[7] Naturalis autem decor sic erit, si primum omnibus templis saluberrimae regiones aquarumque fontes in his locis idonei eligentur, in quibus fana constituantur, deinde maxime Aesculapio, Saluti et eorum deorum quorum plurimi medicinis aegri curari videntur. Cum enim ex pestilenti in salubrem locum corpora aegra translata fuerint et e fontibus salubribus aquarum usus subministrabuntur, celerius convalescent. Ita efficietur, uti ex natura loci maiores auctasque cum dignitate divinitas excipiat opiniones.

[7] Natural decor, however, will be thus, if first for all temples the most salubrious regions and, in these places, suitable fountains of waters are chosen, in which shrines are constituted—most of all for Aesculapius, for Salus, and for those gods by whose medicines very many sick people are seen to be cured. For when sick bodies have been transferred from a pestilential to a healthful place, and the use of waters from salubrious springs is supplied, they will recover more swiftly. Thus it will be brought about that, from the nature of the site, the divinity will receive greater and augmented opinions, with dignity.

Item naturae decor erit, si cubiculis et bybliothecis ab oriente lumina capiuntur, balneis et hibernaculis ab occidente hiberno pinacothecis et quibus certis luminibus opus est partibus, a septentrione, quod ea caeli regio neque exclaratur neque obscuratur solis cursu sed est certa inmutabilis die perpetuo.

Likewise, natural decor will be, if the bedrooms and libraries take their light from the east, the baths and winter apartments from the winter west, and the pinacothecae and those parts which have need of fixed lights from the north, because that region of the sky is neither brightened nor darkened by the sun’s course but is constant, immutable, with perpetual day.

[8] Distributio autem est copiarum locique commoda dispensatio parcaque in operibus sumptus ratione temperatio. Haec ita observabitur, si primum architectus ea non quaeret, quae non potuerunt inveniri aut parari nisi magno. Namque non omnibus locis harenae fossiciae nec caementorum nec abietis nec sappinorum nec marmoris copia est, sed aliud alio loco nascitur, quorum conportationes difficiles sunt et sumptuosae.

[8] Distribution, moreover, is the suitable dispensation of resources and site, and a frugal tempering of expense in the works by rational calculation. This will be observed thus, if first the architect does not seek those things which could not be found or procured except at great cost. For not in all places is there abundance of dug sands, nor of rubble-stone, nor of fir, nor of pine, nor of marble; but one thing is produced in one place, another in another, the transportations of which are difficult and costly.

Utendum autem est, ubi non est harena fossicia, fluviatica aut marina lota; inopiae quoque abietis aut sappinorum vitabuntur utendo cupresso, populo, ulmo, pinu; reliquaque his similiter erunt explicanda.

But one must use, where there is no pit-sand, washed river- or sea-sand; and shortages of fir or spruce will also be avoided by using cypress, poplar, elm, pine; and the remaining things must be explained in like manner with reference to these.

[9] Alter gradus erit distributionis, cum ad usum patrum familiarum et ad pecuniae copiam aut ad eloquentiae dignitatem aedificia alte disponentur. Namque aliter urbanas domos oportere constitui videtur, aliter quibus ex possessionibus rusticis influunt frustus; non idem feneratoribus, aliter beatis et delicatis; potentibus vero, quorum cogitationibus respublica gubernatur, ad usum conlocabuntur; et omnino faciendae sunt aptae omnibus personis aedificiorum distributiones.

[9] The second grade of distribution will be, when buildings are disposed on a lofty plan with regard to the use of the heads of households and to the abundance of money or the dignity of eloquence. For it seems that urban houses ought to be constituted in one way, in another way for those to whom revenues flow from rustic possessions; not the same for moneylenders, otherwise for the wealthy and fastidious; but for the powerful, by whose counsels the commonwealth is governed, they will be arranged for use; and, in general, the distributions of buildings must be made apt for all persons.

Caput Tertium

Chapter Three

[1] Partes ipsius architecturae sunt tres: aedificatio gnomonice, machinatio. Aedificatio autem divisa est bipertito, e quibus una est moenium et communium operum in publicis locis conlocatio, altera est privatorum aedificiorum explicatio. Publicorum autem distributiones sunt tres, e quibus est una defensionis, altera religionis, tertia opportunitatis.

[1] The parts of architecture itself are three: building, gnomonics, machinery. Building, however, is divided in two parts, of which one is the placing of fortifications and common works in public places, the other is the explication of private buildings. Of public works, moreover, the distributions are three, of which one is of defense, another of religion, the third of convenience.

Defensionis est murorum turrimque et portarum ratio ad hostium impetus perpetuo repellendos excogitata, religionis deorum immortalium fanorum aediumque sacrarum conlocatio, opportunitatis communium locorum ad usum publicum dispositio, uti portus, fora, porticus, balinea, theatra, inambulationes ceteraque, quae isdem rationibus in publicis locis designantur.

Of defense is the rationale of walls, towers, and gates, devised to repel perpetually the assaults of enemies; of religion, the collocation of the fanes of the immortal gods and of sacred buildings; of convenience, the disposition of common places for public use, such as harbors, fora, porticoes, baths, theaters, ambulations, and the rest, which are designated in public places by the same rationales.

[2] Haec autem ita fieri debent, ut habeatur ratio firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis. Firmitatis erit habita ratio, cum fuerit fundamentorum ad solidum depressio, quaque e materia, copiarum sine avaritia diligens electio; utilitatis autem, [cum fuerit] emendata et sine inpeditione usus locorum dispositio et ad regiones sui cuiusque generis apta et conmoda distrtbutio venustatis vero, cum fuerit operis species grata et elegans membrorumque commensus iustas habeat symmetriarum ratiocinationes.

[2] These things, moreover, ought to be done in such a way that account is taken of firmness, utility, and beauty. Account of firmness will have been taken when there has been a sinking of the foundations down to the solid, and a careful selection of supplies from whatever material, without avarice; but of utility, [when there has been] a well-ordered and unimpeded arrangement of the uses of the spaces, and a distribution suited and convenient to the regions for each kind; but of beauty, when the aspect of the work is pleasing and elegant, and the commensuration of the members holds just ratiocinations of symmetries.

Caput Quatrum

Chapter Four

[1] In ipsis vero moenibus ea erunt principia. Primum electio loci saluberrimi. Is autem erit excelsus et non nebulosus, non pruinosus regionesque caeli spectans necque aestuosas neque frigidas sed temperatas, deinde sic vitabitur palustris vicinitas.

[1] Within the walls themselves, indeed, these will be the principles. First, the selection of a most salubrious site. This will be elevated and not nebulous, not pruinose, and facing regions of the sky neither torrid nor cold, but temperate; then in this way the palustrine vicinity will be avoided.

Cum enim aurae matutinae cum sole oriente ad oppidum pervenient et his ortae nebulae adiungentur spiritusque bestiarum palustrium venenatos cum nebula mixtos in habitatorum corpora flatu spargent, efficient locum pestilentem. Item si secundum mare erunt moenia spectabuntque ad meridiem aut occidentem, non erunt salubria, quod per aestatem caelum meridianum sole exoriente caelescit meridie ardet; item quod spectat ad occidentem, sole exorto tepescit, meridie calet, vespere fervet.

For when the matutinal auras, with the sun rising, reach the town, and mists that arise are joined to these, and the exhalations of marsh-dwelling beasts, poisonous and mixed with the mist, by their blowing will scatter into the bodies of the inhabitants, they will make the place pestilent. Likewise, if the walls are along the sea and look toward the south or the west, they will not be salubrious, because in summer the meridian sky, with the sun rising, sky-brightens, at midday it burns; likewise that which looks toward the west, when the sun has risen it grows tepid, at midday it is hot, in the evening it is fervent.

[2] Igitur mutationibus caloris et refrigerationis corpora, quae in his locis sunt, vitiantur. Hoc autem licet animadvertere etiam ex is, quae non sunt animalia. In cellis enim vinariis tectis lumina nemo capit a meridie nec ab occidente, sed a septentrione, quod ea regio nullo tempore mutationes recipit sed est firma perpetuo et inmutabilis.

[2] Therefore, by mutations of heat and refrigeration, the bodies which are in these places are vitiated. This, moreover, one may observe even from things which are not animals. For in roofed wine-cellars no one takes light-openings from the south nor from the west, but from the north, because that region at no time receives mutations, but is firm perpetually and immutable.

Ideo etiam et granaria quae ad solis cursum spectant, bonitatem cito mutant, obsoniaque et poma, quae non in ea parte caeli ponuntur, quae est adversa a solis cursu, non diu servantur.

Therefore also granaries which look toward the course of the sun quickly alter their quality, and provisions and fruits which are not placed in that part of the sky which is opposite to the course of the sun are not kept for long.

[3] Nam semper calor cum excoquit aeribus firmitatem et vaporibus fervidis eripit exsugendo naturales virtutes, dissolvit eas et fervore mollescentes efficit inbecillas. Ut etiam in ferro animadvertimus, quod, quamvis natura sit durum, in fornacibus ab ignis vapore percalefactum ita mollescit, uti in omne genus formae faciliter fabricetur; et idem, cum molle et candens refrigeretur tinctum frigida, redurescat et restituatur in antiquam proprietatem.

[3] For always heat, when by parching it cooks out the firmness from the airs and by fervid vapors, by sucking out the natural virtues, dissolves them and, as they soften under the fervor, makes them weak. As we observe also in iron, which, although by nature it is hard, in furnaces, heated through by the vapor of the fire, so softens that into every kind of form it is easily fabricated; and the same, when soft and glowing, being refrigerated, dipped in cold, rehardens and is restored to its ancient property.

[4] Licet etiam considerare haec ita esse ex eo quod aestate non solum in pestilentibus locis sed etiam in salubribus omnia corpora calore fiant inbecilla, et per hiemem etiam quae pestilentissimae sint regiones efficiantur salubres, ideo quod a refrigerationibus solidantur. Non minus etiam quae ab frigidis regionibus, corpora traducuntur in calidas, non possunt durare sed dissolvuntur; quae autem ex calidis locis sub septentrionum regiones frigidas, non modo non laborant inmutatione loci valitudinibus sed etiam confirmantur.

[4] One may also consider that these things are so from the fact that in summer, not only in pestilential places but even in salubrious ones, all bodies become feeble through heat; and in winter even regions that are most pestilential are rendered healthful, for the reason that by coolings they are solidified. No less also, bodies which are transferred from cold regions into warm cannot endure but are dissolved; whereas those from hot places into the cold regions under the North not only do not suffer illnesses from the change of place, but are even strengthened.

[5] Quare cavendum esse videtur in moenibus conlocandis ab his regionibus quae caloribus flatus ad corpora hominum possunt spargere. Namque e principiis quae Graecistoicheia appellant, ut omnia corpora sunt conposita, id est e calore et umore, terreno et aere, et ita mixtionibus naturali temperatura figurantur omnium animalium in mundo generatim qualitates.

[5] Therefore it seems that one must beware, in situating the walls, of those regions which can scatter breaths of heat upon the bodies of men. For from the principles which the Greeks callstoicheia, of which all bodies are composed—that is, of heat and moisture, earth and air—and thus by mixtures, through a natural temperament, the qualities of all animals in the world are shaped according to their kinds.

[6] Ergo in quibus corporibus cum exsuperat e principiis calor, tunc interficit dissolvitque cetera fervore. Haec autem vitia efficit fervidum ab certis partibus caelum, cum insidit in apertas venas plus quam patitur e mixtionibus naturali temperatura corpus. Item si umor occupavit corporum venas inparesque eas fecit, cetera principia ut a liquido corrupta diluuntur, et dissolvuntur conpositionibus virtutes.

[6] Therefore, in those bodies in which heat, from the principles, exceeds, then it kills and dissolves the rest by fervor. Moreover, a fervid sky from certain quarters produces these faults, when it settles into the open veins more than the body, from its mixtures and natural temperament, allows. Likewise, if moisture has occupied the veins of bodies and has made them unequal, the other principles, as corrupted by the liquid, are diluted, and the virtues in the compositions are dissolved.

Item haec e refrigerationibus umoris ventorum et aurarum infunduntur vitia corporibus. Non minus aeris etiamque terreni in corpore naturalis compositio augendo aut minuendo infirmat cetera principia terrena cibi plenitate, aer gravitate caeli.

Likewise, these vitiations are infused into bodies from the refrigerations of the moisture of winds and breezes. No less does the natural composition in the body of the air and also of the earthy [principle], by augmenting or by diminishing, enfeeble the other principles—the earthy by the fullness of food, the air by the gravity of the sky.

[7] Sed si qui voluerit diligentius haec sensu percipere, animadvertat attendatque naturas avium et piscium et terrestrium animalium, et ita considerabit discrimina temperaturae. Aliam enim mixtionem habet genus avium, aliam piscium, longe aliter terrestrium natura. Volucres minus habent terreni, minus umoris, caloris temperate, aeris multum: igitur levioribus principiis conpositate facilius in aeris impetum nituntur.

[7] But if anyone should wish to perceive these things more carefully by sense, let him notice and attend to the natures of birds and fishes and terrestrial animals, and thus he will consider the discriminations of temperament. For the race of birds has one mixture, that of fishes another, and the nature of land animals is far otherwise. Birds have less of the earthy, less of moisture, a tempered measure of heat, much of air: therefore, composed of lighter principles, they more easily strive into the air’s impetus.

Aquatiles autem piscium naturae quod temperatae sunt a calido plurimumque et aeris et terreni sunt conpositae, sed umoris habent oppido quam paulum, quo minus habent e principiis umoris in corpore, facilius in umore perdurant; itaque cum ad terram perducuntur, animam cum aqua relinquunt. Item terrestria, quod e principiis ab aere caloreque sunt temperata minusque habent terreni plurimumque umoris, quod abundant umidae partes, non diu possunt in aqua vitam tueri.

But the aquatic natures of fishes, because they are tempered by heat and are composed very much of both air and earthy [elements], yet have exceedingly little of moisture; and the less they have from the principles of moisture in the body, the more easily they perdure in moisture; and so, when they are brought to land, they leave their life with the water. Likewise terrestrial creatures, because from their principles they are tempered by air and heat, and have less of the earthy and very much of moisture—since the moist parts abound—are not able to keep life long in water.

[8] Ergo si haec ita videntur, quemadmodum proposuimus, et e principiis animalium corpora composita sensu percipimus et exsuperationibus aut defectionibus ea laborare dissolvique iudicamus, non dubitamus, quin diligentius quaeri oporteat, uti temperatissimas caeli regiones eligamus, cum quaerenda fuerit in moenium conlocationibus salubritas.

[8] Therefore, if these things seem thus, as we have proposed, and we perceive by sense that the bodies of animals are composed from principles, and judge that they suffer and are dissolved by excesses or deficiencies, we do not doubt that it ought to be inquired more diligently, so that we may choose the most temperate regions of the climate, when salubrity is to be sought in the placements of city-walls.

[9] Itaque etiam atque etiam veterem revocandam censeo rationem. Maiores enim pecoribus immolatis, quae pascebantur in is locis, quibus aut oppida aut castra stativa constituebantur, inspiciebant iocinera, et si erant livida et vitiosa primo alia immolabant dubitantes utrum morbo an pabuli vitio laesa essent. Cum pluribus experti erant et probaverant integram et solidam naturam iocinerum ex aqua et pabulo; ibi constituebant munitiones; si autem vitiosa inveniebant, iudicio transferebant idem in humanis corporibus pestilentem futuram nascentem in his locis aquae cibique copiam, et ita transmigrabant et mutabant regiones quaerentes omnibus rebus salubritatem.

[9] Therefore, again and again I deem the ancient method to be recalled. For the ancestors, after immolating cattle which were pasturing in those places where either towns or stationary camps were being established, would inspect the livers; and if they were livid and faulty, at first they immolated others, doubting whether they had been damaged by disease or by a defect of the fodder. When by several victims they had made trial and had approved the intact and solid nature of the livers from the water and fodder, there they established the fortifications; but if they found them faulty, by judgment they transferred the same inference to human bodies—that the supply of water and food arising in those places would be pestilent—and thus they migrated and changed regions, seeking salubrity in all respects.

[10] Hoc autem fieri, uti pabulo ciboque salubres proprietates terrae videantur, licet animadvertere et cognoscere agris Cretensium, qui sunt circa Pothereum flumen, quod est Cretae inter duas civitates Gnoson et Gortynam. Dextra enim et sinistra eius fluminis pascuntur pecora; sed ex his quae pascuntur proxime Gnoson, si quae autem ex altera parte proxime Gortynam non, habent apparentem splenem. Unde etiam medici quaerentes de ea re invenerunt in his locis herbam, quam pecora rudendo inminuerunt lienes.

[10] Moreover, that this happens—that by fodder and food the healthful properties of the soil may be seen—one may notice and come to know in the fields of the Cretans around the river Pothereus, which is in Crete between the two cities Knossos and Gortyn. On the right and left of that river herds are pastured; but of these, those which graze nearest to Knossos have a manifest spleen, whereas those on the other side nearest to Gortyn do not. Whence even physicians, inquiring into this matter, found in these places an herb by the gnawing of which the cattle diminish their spleens.

Ita eam herbam colligendo curant lienosos hoc medicamento, quod etiam Cretenses asplenon vocitant. Ex eo licet scire cibo atque aqua proprietates locorum naturaliter pestilentes aut salubres esse.

Thus, by collecting that herb, they treat spleen-sufferers with this medicament, which the Cretans also call asplenon. From this one may know that, through food and water, the properties of places are naturally pestilential or healthful.

[11] Item si in paludibus moenia constituta erunt, quae paludes secundum mare fuerint, spectabuntque ad septentrionem aut inter septentrionem et orientem, eaque paludes excelsiores fuerint quam litus marinum ratione videbuntur esse constituta. Fossis enim ductis aquae exitus ad litus, et mare tempestatibus aucto in paludis redundantia motionibus concitata marisque mixtionibus non patitur bestiarum palustrium genera ibi nasci, quaeque de suberioribus locis natando proxime litus perveniunt, inconsueta salsitudine necantur. Exemplar autem huius rei Gallicae paludes possunt esse, quae circum Altinum, Ravennam, Aquileiam, aliaque quae in eiusmodi locis municipia sunt proxima paludibus, quod his rationibus habent incredibilem salubritatem.

[11] Likewise, if walls are set in marshes, which marshes are along the sea, and they look toward the north or between north and east, and those marshes are higher than the sea-shore, they will appear to be established with reason. For, with ditches led for the outflow of the waters to the shore, and when the sea is increased by storms, the overflow of the marsh, stirred by motions and by mixings with the sea, does not allow kinds of marsh-beasts to be born there; and those which from higher places, by swimming, come nearest to the shore are killed by the unaccustomed saltness. A paradigm of this matter can be the Gallic marshes, which are around Altinum, Ravenna, Aquileia, and other municipalities which in such places are nearest to marshes, because by these rationales they have incredible salubrity.

[12] Quibus autem insidentes sunt paludes et non habent exitus profluentes neque flumina neque per fossas, uti Pomptinae, stando putescant et umores graves et pestilentes in is locis emittunt.

[12] But marshes on which settlements sit, and which have no outflowing exits—neither rivers nor by ditches, as the Pontine marshes—by standing putrefy and emit in those places heavy and pestilent humors.

Item in Apulia oppidum Salpia vetus, quod Diomedes ab Troia rediens constituit sive, quemadmodum nonnulli scripserunt, Elpias Rhodius, in eiusmodi locis fuerat conlocatum, ex quo incolae quotannis aegrotando laborantes aliquando pervenerunt ad M. Hostilium ab eoque publice petentes impetraverunt, ut his idoneum locum ad moenia transferenda conquireret elegeretque. Tunc is moratus non est, sed statim rationibus doctissime quaesitis secundum mare mercatus est possessionem loco salubri ab senatuque populoque R. petit, ut liceret transferre oppidum, constituitque moenia et areas divisit nummoque sestertio singulis municipibus mancipio dedit. His confectis lacum aperuit in mare et portum e lacu municipio perfecit.

Likewise in Apulia the old town Salpia, which Diomedes, returning from Troy, established—or, as some have written, Elpias the Rhodian—had been settled in places of such a kind; from which the inhabitants, laboring with sickness year by year, at length came to Marcus Hostilius, and by publicly petitioning obtained from him that he would seek out and choose a suitable place for transferring the walls. Then he did not delay, but immediately, plans most learnedly examined, he purchased a possession along the sea in a healthful place, and asked from the Senate and People of Rome that it be permitted to transfer the town; and he set the walls and divided the plots, and for the price of a single sesterce coin he conveyed title by mancipation to each municipal citizen. With these things completed, he opened the lake into the sea and completed a harbor for the municipality out of the lake.

Itaque nunc Salpini quattuor milia passus progressi ab oppido veteri habitant in salubri loco.

Therefore now the Salpini, having advanced 4 miles from the old town, inhabit a salubrious place.

Caput Quintum

Chapter Five

[1] Cum ergo his rationibus erit salubritatis moenium conlocandorum explicatio regionesque electae fuerint fructibus ad alendam civitatem copiosae, et viarum munitiones aut opportunitates fluminum seu per portus marinae subvectionis habuerint ad moenia conportationes expeditas, tunc turrium murorumque fundamenta sic sunt facienda, uti fodiantur, si queant inveniri, ad solidum et in solido, quantum ex amplitudine operis pro ratione videantur, crassitudine ampliore quam parietum qui supra terram sunt futuri, et ea impleantur quam solidissima structura.

[1] Therefore, when by these reasonings there shall be an explication of the salubrity of placing the city-walls, and the regions shall have been chosen, abundant in fruits for nourishing the city, and the constructions of roads or the opportunities of rivers, or by harbors the marine subvection, shall have afforded expeditious conveyances to the walls, then the foundations of the towers and walls are to be made thus: that they be dug, if they can be found, to the solid and in the solid, as far as, from the amplitude of the work, they seem reasonable, of a thickness greater than the walls which are going to be above the ground, and let them be filled with the most solid structure.

[2] Item turres sunt proiciendae in exteriorem partem, uti, cum ad murum hostis impetu velit adpropinquare, a turribus dextra ac sinistra lateribus apertis telis vulnerentur. Curandumque maxime videtur, ut non facilis aditus sit ad oppugnandum murum, sed ita circundandum ad loca praecipitia et excogitandum, uti portarum itinera non sint directa sed scaeva. Namque cum ita factum fuerit, tum dextrum latus accedentibus, quo scuto non erit tectum proximum erit muro.

[2] Likewise, towers should be projected on the exterior side, so that, when the enemy wishes with an impetus to approach the wall, they may be wounded with missiles from the towers, their flanks laid open on the right and left. And it seems most to be cared for that there be no easy access for assaulting the wall, but that the circuit be laid out toward precipitous places and contrived so that the routes to the gates are not straight but leftward (askew). For when it has been done thus, then the right side of those approaching, which will not be covered by the shield, will be nearest to the wall.

Conlocanda autem oppida sunt non quadrata nec procurrentibus angulis sed circuitionibus, uti hostis ex pluribus locis conspiciatur. In quibus enim anguli procurrunt, difficiliter defenditur quod angulus magis hostem tuetur quam civem.

Moreover, towns are to be sited not square nor with projecting angles but with circuits, so that the enemy may be seen from more places. For in those in which the angles project, it is defended with difficulty, because the angle protects the enemy more than the citizen.

[3] Crassitudinem autem muri ita faciendam censeo, uti armati homines supra obviam venientes alius alium sine inpeditione praeterire possint, dum in crassitudine perpetuae tabulae oleagineae ustilatae quam creberrime instruantur, uti utraeque muri frontes inter se, quemadmodum fibulis his teleis conligatae aeternam habeant firmitatem; namque ei materiae nec caries nec tempestates nec vetustas potest nocere, sed ea et in terra obruta et in aqua conlocata permanent sine vitiis utilis sempiterno. Itaque non solum in muro sed etiam in substructionibus quique parietes murali crassitudine erunt faciundi, hac ratione religati non cito vitiabuntur.

[3] I judge that the thickness of the wall should be made such that armed men above, meeting one another, can pass each other without impediment, provided that within the thickness continuous charred olive-wood planks are set in as frequently as possible, so that both faces of the wall, fastened together between themselves, as if with clasps by these tie-beams, may have everlasting firmness; for to that material neither decay nor storms nor age can do harm, but it, whether buried in earth or placed in water, remains without defects, useful forever. Therefore not only in the wall but also in the substructures, and whatever walls are to be made with mural thickness, being bound together by this method will not quickly be vitiated.

[4] Itervalla autem turrium ita sunt facienda, ut ne longius sit alia ab alia sagittae missionis, uti, si qua oppugnetur, tum a turribus, quae erunt dextra sinistra, scorpionibus reliquisque telorum missionibus hostes reiciantur. Etiamque contra inferiores turrium dividendus est murus intervallis tam magnis, quam erunt turres, ut itinera sint interioribus partibus turrium contignata, neque ea ferro fixa. Hostis enim si quam partem muri occupaverit, qui repugnabunt rescindent et, si celeriter administraverint, non patientur reliquas partes turrium murique hostem penetrare, nisi se voluerit praecipitare.

[4] The intervals of the towers must be made in such a way that one is not farther from another than an arrow’s discharge, so that, if any is being assaulted, then from the towers which will be on the right and left, with scorpions and the other discharges of missiles, the enemies may be driven back. And likewise opposite the lower parts of the towers the wall is to be divided by intervals as great as the towers are, so that the passages may be timbered in the interior parts of the towers, and not fastened with iron. For if the enemy has seized any part of the wall, those who resist will cut these away, and, if they administer it quickly, they will not allow the enemy to penetrate the remaining parts of the towers and the wall, unless he should wish to cast himself headlong.

[5] Turres itaque rutundae aut polygoneae sunt faciendae; quadratas enim machinae celerius dissipant, quod angulos arietes tundendo frangunt, in rotundationibus autem, uti cuneus, ad centrum adigendo laedere non possunt. Item munitiones muri turriumque aggeribus coniunctae maxime sunt tutiores, quod neque arietes neque suffossiones neque machinae ceterae eis valent nocere.

[5] Therefore towers ought to be made round or polygonal; for machines more quickly shatter square ones, because battering rams, by pounding the angles, break them, whereas on roundings they cannot, like a wedge, by driving toward the center, inflict harm. Likewise, the fortifications of the wall and of the towers, joined with aggers (embankments), are safest, because neither battering rams nor undermining nor the other machines are able to injure them.

[6] Sed non in omnibus locis est aggeris ratio facienda, nisi quibus extra murum ex alto loco planu pede accessus fuerit ad moenia oppugnanda. Itaque in eiusmodi locis primum fossae sunt faciendae latitudinibus et altitudinibus quam amplissimis, deinde fundamentum muri deprimendum est intra alveum fossae et id extruendum est ea crassitudine, ut opus terrenum facile sustineatur.

[6] But the plan of an agger is not to be adopted in all places, except in those where outside the wall, from a high position, there is access on level footing to assail the walls. Therefore, in places of this kind, first fosses (ditches) are to be made with the greatest possible widths and depths; then the foundation of the wall must be sunk within the bed of the fosse, and it must be built up with such thickness that the earthwork may be easily supported.

[7] Item interiore parte substructionis fundamentum distans ab exteriore introrsus amplo spatio, ita uti cohortes possint quemadmodum in acie instructae ad defendendum supra latitudinem aggeris consistere. Cum autem fundamenta ita distantia inter se fuerint constituta, tunc inter ea alia transversa, coniuncta exteriori et interiori fundamento, pectinatim disposita quemadmodum serrae dentes solent esse conlocentur; cum enim sic erit factum, tunc ita oneris terreni magnitudo distributa in parvas partes; neque universa pondere premens poterit ulla ratione extrudere muri substructiones.

[7] Likewise, on the inner side, let the foundation of the substruction be set at a distance from the outer, inwards by a wide space, so that cohorts, as drawn up in battle array, may be able to stand for defense upon the breadth of the agger. And when the foundations have thus been placed apart from one another, then between them let others be set crosswise, joined to the outer and inner foundation, disposed in a comb-like pattern, as the teeth of a saw are wont to be arranged; for when it has been made thus, then the magnitude of the earthen load will be distributed into small parts, and, not pressing with its weight as a whole, it will by no means be able to thrust out the substructures of the wall.

[8] De ipso autem muro, e qua materia struatur aut perficiatur, ideo non est praefiniendum, quod in omnibus locis, quas optamus copias, eas non possumus habere. Sed ubi sunt saxa quadrata sive silex seu caementum aut coctus later sive crudus, his erit utendum. Non enim, uti Babylone abundantes liquido bitumine pro calce et harena ex cocto latere factum habent murum, sic item possunt omnes regiones seu locorum proprietates habere tantas eiusdem generis utilitatis, uti ex his comparationibus ad aeternitatem perfectus habeatur sine vitio murus.

[8] But concerning the wall itself, from what material it should be constructed or perfected, for this reason no predefinition is to be made: because in all places we cannot have the supplies that we desire. But wherever there are squared stones or flint or rubble-stone, or fired brick or raw, these must be used. For not, as at Babylon—abounding in liquid bitumen, in place of lime and sand they have a wall made of baked brick—so likewise can all regions, or the properties of places, have such great utility of the same kind, that from these compositions a wall may be held perfect for eternity without defect.

Caput Sextum

Chapter Six

[1] Moenibus circumdatis secuntur intra murum arearum divisiones platearumque et angiportuum ad caeli regionem directiones. Dirigentur haec autem recte, si exclusi erunt ex angiportis venti prudenter. Qui si frigidi sunt, laedunt; si calidi, vitiant; si umidi, nocent.

[1] With the walls having been set around, there follow within the wall the divisions of the areas and of the streets and alleyways, and the orientations to the region of the sky. These, moreover, will be directed rightly, if the winds will have been prudently excluded from the alleyways. Which, if they are cold, they injure; if hot, they vitiate; if humid, they harm.

Quare vitandum videtur hoc vitium et avertendum, ne fiat quod in multis civitatibus usu solet venire. Quemadmodum in insula Lesbo oppidum Mytilenae magnificenter est aedificatum et eleganter, sed positum non prudenter. In qua civitate auster cum flat, homines aegrotant; cum corus, tussiunt; cum septentrio, restituuntur in salubritatem, sed in angiportis et plateis non possunt consistere propter vehementiam frigoris.

Therefore this fault seems to be to-be-avoided and to-be-turned-away, lest there happen what is wont to come about in many cities. Just as on the island of Lesbos the town of Mytilene is magnificently built and elegantly, but not prudently placed. In that city, when the Auster blows, people fall ill; when the Corus, they cough; when the Septentrio, they are restored to salubrity—but in the alleyways and streets they cannot stand still on account of the vehemence of the cold.

[2] Ventus autem est aeris fluens unda cum incerta motus redundantia. Nascitur cum fervor offendit umorem et impetus factionis exprimit vim spiritus flatus. Id autem verum esse ex aeolis aereis licet aspicere et de latentibus caeli rationibus artificiosis rerum inventionibus divinitatis exprimere veritatem.

[2] Moreover, wind is a flowing wave of air, with an uncertain redundancy of motion. It is born when fervor strikes moisture, and the impetus of the formation expresses the force of the spirit’s blowing. That this is true one may observe from Aeolian bronzes, and from the hidden rationales of the sky, by the artful inventions of things, express the truth of divinity.

Fiunt enim aeoli pilae aereae caveae, -- habent punctum angustissimum -- quae aqua infunduntur conlocanturque ad ignem; et antequam calescant, non habent ullum spiritum, simul autem et fervere coeperint, efficiunt ad ignem vehementem flatum. Ita scire et iudicare licet e parvo brevissimoque spectaculo de magnis et inmanibus caeli ventorumque naturae rationibus.

For Aeolian balls, bronze hollow spheres, -- they have a very narrow aperture -- are made, which are filled with water and set at the fire; and before they grow warm, they have no breath at all, but as soon as they begin to boil, they produce at the fire a vehement blast. Thus it is permitted to know and to judge from a small and very brief spectacle about the great and immense rational principles of the heaven and of the nature of winds.

[3] Exclusi fuerint; non solum efficient corporibus valentibus locum salubrem, sed etiam si qui morbi ex aliis vitiis forte nascentur, qui in ceteris salubribus locis habent curationes medicinae contrariae, in his propter exclusiones ventorum temperatura expeditius curabuntur. Vitia autem sunt, quae difficulter curantur in regionibus, quae sunt supra scriptae, haec: gravitudo arteriace, tussis, pleuritis, pthisis, sanguinis eiectio et cetera, quae non detractionibus sed adiectionibus curantur. Haec ideo difficulter medicantur, primum quod ex frigoribus concipiuntur, deinde quod defatigatis morbo viribus eorum aer agitatus est, ventorum agitationibus extenuatur, unaque a vitiosis corporibus detrahit sucum et efficit ea exiliora.

[3] If they shall have been shut out; they will not only make a healthful place for robust bodies, but even if any diseases should by chance arise from other vices, which in other salubrious places have cures of contrarian medicine, in these, on account of the exclusions of the winds, by the tempering of the air they will be more readily cured. But the vices which are with difficulty cured in the regions which are written above are these: arteriac heaviness, cough, pleuritis, phthisis, ejection of blood, and the rest, which are cured not by subtractions but by additions. These therefore are with difficulty medicated, first because they are conceived from colds, then because, when their forces are wearied by the disease, the air is in agitation, is attenuated by the agitations of the winds, and at the same time it draws off the juice from the vitiated bodies and makes them more meager.

Contra vero lenis et crassus aer qui perflatus non habet neque crebras redundantias, propter inmotam stabilitatem adiciendo ad membra eorum alit eos et reficit, qui in his sunt inpliciti morbis.

On the contrary, a gentle and thick air, which has neither drafts nor frequent redundancies, owing to its motionless stability, by adding to their limbs nourishes and restores those who are entangled in these diseases.

[4] Nonnullis placuit esse ventos quattuor: ab oriente aequinoctiali solanum, a meridie austrum, ab occidente aequinoctiali favonium, ab septentrionali septentrionem. Sed qui diligentius perquisierunt, tradiderunt eos esse octo, maxime quidem Andronicus Cyrrestes, qui etiam exemplum conlocavit Athenis turrem marmoream octagonon et in singulis lateribus octagoni singulorum ventorum imagines excalptas contra suos cuiusque flatus designavit, supraque eam turrim metam marmoream perfecit et insuper Tritonem aereum conlocavit dextra manu virgam porrigentem, et ita est machinatus, uti vento circumageretur et semper contra flatum consisteret supraque imaginem flantis venti in dicem virgam teneret.

[4] Some have thought that there are four winds: from the equinoctial east the Solanus, from the south the Auster, from the equinoctial west the Favonius, from the north the Septentrio. But those who investigated more diligently have handed down that they are eight—above all Andronicus Cyrrestes, who also set up at Athens, as an exemplar, a marble tower, octagonal; and on each side of the octagon he marked out images of the several winds, carved, set opposite to the blasts of each. And above that tower he completed a marble cone, and on top he placed a bronze Triton extending a rod with his right hand, and he contrived it so that it would be turned by the wind and would always stand facing the blast, and that above the image of the blowing wind it would hold the rod as an index.

[5] Itaque sunt conlocati inter solanum et austrum ab oriente hiberno eurus, inter austrum et favonium ab occidente hiberno africus, inter favonium et septentrionem caurus, quem plures vocant corum, inter septentrionem et solanum aquilo. Hoc modo videtur esse expressum, uti capiat numerus et nomina et partes, unde flatus certi ventorum spirent. Quod cum ita exploratum habeatur, ut inveniantur regiones et ortus eorum, sic erit ratiocinandum.

[5] Accordingly, there are set between Solanum and Auster, at the winter east, Eurus; between Auster and Favonius, at the winter west, Africus; between Favonius and Septentrio, Caurus, which the majority call Corus; between Septentrio and Solanum, Aquilo. In this way it seems to be expressed, so that the number, the names, and the parts are taken in, whence the definite breaths of the winds blow. And since this is thus ascertained, so that their regions and risings are found, thus must one ratiocinate.

[6] Conlocetur ad libellam mormoreum amusium mediis moenibus, aut locus ita expoliatur ad regulam et libellam, ut amusium non desideretur, supraque eius loci centrum medium conlocetur aeneus gnomon, indagator umbrae qui graecesciotheres dicitur. Huius antemeridiana hora circiter hora quinta sumenda est extrema gnomonis umbra et puncto signanda, deinde circino diducto ad punctum, quod est gnomonis umbrae longitudinis signum, ex eoque a centro circumagenda linea rotundationis. Itemque observanda postmeridiana istius gnomonis crescens umbra, et cum tetigerit circinationis lineam et fecerit parem antemeridiane umbrae postmeridianam, signanda puncto.

[6] Let a marble amussium be set to the level in the midst of the walls, or let a place be polished to the rule and the level so that an amussium is not required; and above the middle center of that place let a bronze gnomon be set, an investigator of shadow which in Greek is calledsciotheres. At the antemeridian hour, about the fifth hour, the extreme shadow of the gnomon is to be taken and marked with a point; then, the compass having been opened to the point which is the sign of the length of the gnomon’s shadow, from it, from the center, the line of circination is to be carried around. Likewise the postmeridian growing shadow of that gnomon is to be observed; and when it has touched the line of circination and has made the postmeridian shadow equal to the antemeridian, it is to be marked with a point.

[7] Ex his duobus signis circino decusatim describendum, et per decusationem et medium centrum linea perducenda ad extremum, ut habeatur meridiana et septentrionalis regio. Tum postea sumenda est sexta decima pars circinationis lineae totius rotundationis, centrumque conlocandum in meridiana linea, qua tangit carcinationem, et signandum dextra ac sinistra in circinatione et meridiana et septentrionali parte. Tunc ex signis his quattuor per centrum medium decusatim lineae ab extremis ad extremas circinationes perducendae.

[7] From these two marks, with the compass it must be drawn decussately, and through the decussation and the middle center a line must be led to the extremity, so that the meridional and septentrional region may be obtained. Then afterward the sixteenth part of the circination line of the whole rotundation is to be taken, and the center must be placed on the meridian line where it touches the carcination, and marks must be made to the right and to the left on the circination, on the meridional and on the northern side. Then from these four marks, through the middle center, lines are to be led decussately from extremities to opposite extremities of the circinations.

Ita austri et septentrionis habebitur octavae partis designatio. Reliquae partes dextra ac sinistra tres, aequales et tres his distribuendae sunt in tota rotundatione, ut aequales divisiones octo ventorum designatate sint in descriptione. Tum per angulos inter duas ventorum regiones et platearum et angiportorum videntur deberi dirigi descriptiones.

Thus for the south and for the north the designation of the eighth part will be had. The remaining parts—three on the right and three on the left, equal to these—are to be distributed in the whole round, so that equal divisions of the eight winds may be designated in the description. Then, along the angles between the two wind-regions, the layouts of streets and of alleyways seem to have to be directed.

[8] His enim rationibus et ea divisione exclusa erit ex habitationibus et vicis ventorum vis molesta. Cum enim plateae contra derectos ventos erunt conformatae, ex aperto caeli spatio impetus ac flatus frequens conclusus in faucibus angiportorum vehementioribus viribus pervagabitur. Quas ob res convertendae sunt ab regionibus ventorum derectiones vicorum, uti advenientes ad angulos insularum frangantur repulsique dissipentur.

[8] By these reasonings and by that division the troublesome force of the winds will be excluded from the dwellings and the quarters. For when the broad streets are conformed opposite to straight-directed winds, from the open expanse of the sky the onrush and frequent blowing, confined in the throats of the alleyways, will range through with more vehement strength. For which reasons the orientations of the quarters must be turned away from the regions of the winds, so that, as they come upon the corners of the blocks, they may be broken and, driven back, be dissipated.

[9] Fortasse mirabuntur i qui multa ventorum nomina noverunt, quod a nobis expositi sunt tantum octo esse ventis. Si autem animadverterint orbis terrae circuitionem per solis cursum et umbras gnomonis aequinoctialis ex inclinatione caeli ab Eratosthene Cyrenaeo rationibus mathematicis et geometricis methodis esse inventam ducentorum quinquaginta duum milium stadium, quae fiunt passus trecenties et decies quinquiescentena milia, huius autem octava pars quam ventus tenere videtur, est triciens nongenta triginta septem milia et passus quingenti, non debebunt mirari, si in tam magno spatio unus ventus vagando inclinationibus et recessionibus varietates mutatione flatus faciat.

[9] Perhaps those who know many names of the winds will wonder that by us only eight winds have been set forth as existing. But if they consider the circuit of the orb of the earth, through the course of the sun and the shadows of the equinoctial gnomon from the inclination of the sky, to have been discovered by Eratosthenes the Cyrenian by mathematical reasoning and geometrical methods, as 252,000 stadia, which come to 31,500,000 paces, and that the eighth part of this, which a wind seems to occupy, is 3,937,500 paces, they ought not to wonder if, in so great a space, one wind, by wandering with inclinations and recessions, produces varieties by a change of blast.

[10] Itaque dextra et sinistra austrum leuconotus et altanus flare solet, africum libonotus et subvesperus, circa favonium argestes et certis temporibus etesiae, ad latera cauri circias et corus, circa septentrionem thracias et gallicus, dextra ac sinistra aquilonem supernas et caecias, circa solanum carbas et certo tempore ornithiae, euri vero medias partes tenentis in extremis euricircias et volturnus. Sunt autem et alia plura nomina flatusque ventorum e locis aut fluminibus aut montium procellis tracta.

[10] And so, to the right and left of the south wind (auster), leuconotus and altanus are wont to blow; around the africus, libonotus and subvesperus; around favonius, argestes and, at fixed times, the etesiae; at the flanks of caurus, circias and corus; around the septentrio, thracias and the gallicus; to the right and left of aquilo, supernas and caecias; around solanus, carbas and at a fixed time the ornithiae; but of eurus, which holds the middle parts, at the extremities, the euricircias and the volturnus. Moreover, there are many other names and blasts of winds drawn from places or rivers or from the storms of mountains.

[11] Praeterea aurae matutinae, qua sol, cum emergit de subterranea parte, versando pulsat aeris umorem et impetu scandendo prudens exprimit aurarum antelucano spiritu flatus. Qui cum exorto sole permanserunt, euri venti tenent partes, et ea re, quod ex auris procreatur, ab Graeciseuros videtur esse appellatus, crastinusque dies propter auras matutinas aurion fertur esse vocitatus. Sunt autem nonnulli qui negant Eratosthenem potuisse veram mensuram orbis terrae colligere.

[11] Moreover, the morning breezes, whereby the sun, when it emerges from the subterranean part, by its revolving beats the moisture of the air and, by mounting with impetus, cleverly expresses breaths of breezes with an ante-lucan spirit. Those which, when the sun has arisen, have persisted, the Eurus-winds occupy the parts; and for that reason, because it is procreated from the breezes, it seems to have been called by the Greekseuros, and the morrow is said to have been nicknamed aurion on account of the morning breezes. There are, moreover, some who deny that Eratosthenes was able to collect the true measure of the circuit of the earth.

Quae sive est certa sive non vera, non potest nostra scriptura non veras habere terminationes regionum, unde spiritus ventorum oriuntur.

Whether this is certain or not true, our writing cannot have untrue terminations of the regions, whence the breaths of the winds arise.

[12] Ergo si ita est, tantum erit, uti non certam mensurae rationem sed aut maiores impetus aut minores habeant singuli venti.

[12] Therefore, if it is so, it will amount only to this: that the individual winds have not a fixed ratio of measurement, but that each has either greater or lesser impetuses.

Quoniam haec a nobis sunt breviter exposita, ut facilius intellegatur, visum est mihi in extremo volumine formas sive uti Graeci schemata dicunt, duo explicare, unum ita deformatum, ut appareat, unde certi ventorum spiritus oriantur, alterum, quemadmodum ab impetu eorum aversis derectionibus vicorum et platearum evitentur nocentes flatus. Erit autem in exaequata planitie centrum, ubi est littera A, gnomonis autem antemeridiana umbra, ubi est B, et a centro, ubi est A, diducto circino ad id signum umbrae, ubi est B, circumagatur linea rotundationis. Reposito autem gnomone ubi antea fuerat, expectanda est dum decrescat faciatque iterum crescendo parem antemeridianae umbrae postmeridianam tangatque lineam rotundationis, ubi erit littera C. Tunc a signo, ubi est B, et a signo, ubi est C circino decusatim describatur, ubi erit D; deinde per decusationem et centrum, ubi est D, perducatur linea ad extrernum, in qua linea erit littera E et F. Haec linea erit index meridianae et septentrionalis regionis.

Since these things have been briefly set forth by us, in order that it may be understood more easily, it has seemed to me at the end of the volume to explain two forms, or, as the Greeks say, schemata: one drawn in such a way that it may appear whence the definite breaths of the winds arise; the other, how, by directions of lanes and broad-streets turned away from their impulse, harmful blasts may be avoided. Now on a leveled plain there will be a center, where the letter A is; the forenoon shadow of the gnomon, where B is; and from the center, where A is, with the compass drawn out to that mark of the shadow where B is, let a line of rotundation be circled (i.e., a circumference). The gnomon having been put back where it had been before, one must wait until the shadow decreases and then again by increasing makes the postmeridian equal to the antemeridian shadow and touches the line of rotundation, where the letter C will be. Then from the mark where B is and from the mark where C is, let it be described with the compass in a crosswise (decussate) way, where D will be; then through the decussation and the center, where D is, let a line be drawn through to the outside, on which line there will be the letters E and F. This line will be the index of the meridian and septentrional region.

[13] Tunc circino totius rotundationis sumenda est pars XVI, circinque centrum ponendum est in meridiana linea, qua tangit rotundationem, ubi est littera E, et signandum dextra sinistra, ubi erunt litterae G H. Item in septentrionali parte centrum circini ponendum in rotundationis et septentrionali linea, ubi est littera F, et signandum dextra ac sinistra, ubi sunt litterae I et K, et ab G ad K et ab H ad I per centrum lineae perducendae. Ita quod erit spatium ab G ad H, erit spatium venti austri et partis meridianae: item quod erit spatium ab I ad K, erit septentrionis. Reliquae partes dextra tres ac sinistra tres dividendae sunt aequaliter, quae sunt ad orientem, in quibus litterae L M, et ab occidente, in quibus sunt litterae N et O. Ab M ad O et ab L ad N perducendae sunt lineae decusatim.

[13] Then the 16th part of the whole circumrotation is to be taken with the compass, and the center of the compass is to be placed on the meridian line where it touches the circumference, where the letter E is, and marks are to be made on the right and on the left, where the letters G and H will be. Likewise, on the septentrional side the center of the compass is to be placed on the circumference and on the northern line, where the letter F is, and marks are to be made on the right and on the left, where the letters I and K are; and lines are to be drawn through the center from G to K and from H to I. Thus the space from G to H will be the space of the south wind (Auster) and of the meridian part; likewise the space from I to K will be of the North (Septentrio). The remaining parts—three on the right and three on the left—which are toward the east, are to be divided equally, in which are the letters L and M, and those toward the west, in which are the letters N and O. From M to O and from L to N lines are to be drawn decussately.

Et ita erunt aequaliter ventorum octo spatia in circumitionem. Quae cum ita descripta erunt, in singulis angulis octagoni, cum a meridie incipiemus, inter eurum et austrum in angulo erit littera G, inter austrum et africum H, inter africum et favonium N, inter favonium et caurum O, inter caurum et septentrionem K, inter septentrionem et aquilonem I, inter aquilonem et solanum L, inter solanum et eurum M. Ita his confectis inter angulos octagoni gnomon ponatur, et ita dirigantur angiportorum divisiones.

And thus there will be, equally, eight spaces of the winds around the circuit. When these have been thus described, at each angle of the octagon, when we begin from the south, between eurus and auster, in the angle there will be the letter G; between auster and africus, H; between africus and favonius, N; between favonius and caurus, O; between caurus and septentrio, K; between septentrio and aquilo, I; between aquilo and solanus, L; between solanus and eurus, M. Thus, these things completed, let a gnomon be placed among the angles of the octagon, and so let the divisions of the alleyways be directed.

Caput Septimum

Chapter Seven

[1] Divisis angiportis et plateis constitutis arearum electio ad opportunitatem et usum communem civitatis est explicanda aedibus sacris, foro reliquisque locis communibus. Et si erunt moenia secundum mare, area ubi forum constituatur, eligenda proxime portum, sin autem mediterraneo, in oppido medio. Aedibus vero sacris, quorum deorum maxime in tutela civitas videtur esse, et Iovi et Iunoni et Minervae, in excelsissimo loco unde moenium maxima pars conspiciatur, areae distribuantur.

[1] With the alleys divided and the streets established, the choice of areas for the convenience and common use of the city is to be set out for sacred buildings, the forum, and the remaining communal places. And if there are walls along the sea, the area where the forum is to be constituted should be chosen nearest the port; but if inland, in the middle of the town. For the sacred buildings of those gods under whose tutelage the city most seems to be—both to Jupiter and to Juno and to Minerva—let sites be allotted on the highest place whence the greatest part of the walls may be viewed.

Mercurio autem in foro, aut etiam ut Isidi et Serapi in emporio; Apollini Patrique Libero secundum theatrum; Herculi, in quibus civitatibus non sunt gymnasia neque amphitheatra, ad circum: Marti extra urbem sed ad campum; itemque Veneri ad portum.

but for Mercury in the forum, or also, as for Isis and Serapis, in the emporium; for Apollo and Father Liber next to the theater; for Hercules, in those cities which do not have gymnasia nor amphitheaters, by the circus: for Mars outside the city but by the field; likewise for Venus by the port.

Id autem etiam Etruscis haruspicibus disciplinarum scripturis ita est dedicatum, extra murum Veneris, Volcani, Martis fana ideo conlocari, uti non insuescat in urbe adulescentibus, seu matribus familiarum veneria libido, Volcanique vi e moenibus religionibus et sacrificiis evocata ab timore incendiorum aedificia videantur liberari. Martis vero divinitas cum sit extra moenia dedicata, non erit inter cives armigera dissensio, sed ab hostibus ea defensa a belli periculo conservabit.

Moreover, this too has thus been set forth in the writings of the disciplines by the Etruscan haruspices, that the shrines of Venus, Vulcan, and Mars be placed outside the wall for this reason: so that venereal libido may not become habituated in the city among adolescents or the matrons of families; and that by the force of Vulcan, called out from the walls by religious rites and sacrifices, the buildings may seem to be freed from fear of fires. But since the divinity of Mars is dedicated outside the walls, there will not be an armed dissension among the citizens; rather, defended by it against enemies, they will be preserved from the peril of war.

[2] Item Cereri extra urbem loco, quo nomine semper homines, nisi per sacrificium, necesse habeant adire; cum religione, caste sanctisque moribus is locus debet tueri. Ceterisque diis ad sacrificiorum rationes aptae templis areae sunt distribuendae.

[2] Likewise, for Ceres a place outside the city, under which title it is necessary that men always approach only by sacrifice; with religion, chastely and with holy morals that place ought to be guarded. And for the other gods, areas apt to the procedures of sacrifices are to be distributed to the temples.

De ipsis autem aedibus sacris faciundis et de arearum symmetriis in tertio et quarto volumine reddam rationes, quia in secundo visum est mihi primum de materiae copiis quae in aedificiis sunt parandae, quibus sint virtutibus et quem habeant usum, exponere, commensus aedificiorum et ordines et genera singula symmetriarum peragere et in singulis voluminibus explicare.

Moreover, on the sacred buildings themselves to be made and on the symmetries of the areas I shall render the rationales in the third and fourth volumes, because in the second it seemed to me first to set forth about the supplies of material which are to be prepared for buildings, what virtues they have and what use they possess, to carry through the commensurations of buildings and the orders and the several genera of symmetries, and to explicate them in the individual volumes.