Vitruvius: DE ARCHITECTVRA

[1] Dinocrates architectus cogitationibus et sollertia fretus, cum Alexander rerum potiretur, profectus est e Macedonia ad exercitum regiae cupidus commendationis. Is e patria a propinquis et amicis tulit ad primos ordines et purpuratos litteras, aditus haberet faciliores, ab eisque exceptus humane petit, uti quamprimum ad Alexandrum perduceretur. Cum polliciti essent, tardiores fuerunt idoneum tempus expectantes.

[1] Dinocrates the architect, relying on his cogitations and dexterity, when Alexander was in possession of affairs, set out from Macedonia to the army, eager for royal commendation. He, from his homeland, brought letters from relatives and friends to the foremost ranks and the purple-clad dignitaries, that he might have easier access; and, having been received courteously by them, he asked that he be conducted to Alexander as soon as possible. Although they had promised, they were slower, waiting for a suitable time.

Itaque Dinocrates ab his se existimans ludi ab se petit praesidium. Fuerat enim amplissima statura, facie grata, forma dignitateque summa. His igitur naturae muneribus confisus vestimenta posuit in hospitio et oleo corpus perunxit caputque coronavit populea fronde, laevum umerum pelle leonina texit, dextraque clavam tenens incessit contra tribunal regis ius dicentis.

Therefore Dinocrates, thinking that he was being made sport of by them, sought safeguard from himself. For he had been of very ample stature, with a pleasing face, and with form and dignity of the highest degree. Trusting, then, in these gifts of nature, he left his garments in his lodging and anointed his body with oil, and crowned his head with poplar foliage; he covered his left shoulder with a lion’s skin, and, holding a club in his right hand, he strode toward the tribunal of the king as he was pronouncing justice.

[2] Novitas populum cum avertisset, conspexit eum Alexander. Admirans ei iussit locum dari, ut accederet, interrogavitque, quis esset. At ille: "Dinocrates", inquit, "architectus Macedo qui ad te cogitationes et formas adfero dignas tuae claritati.

[2] When the novelty had turned the crowd, Alexander caught sight of him. Wondering, he ordered a place to be given to him, that he might approach, and asked who he was. But he: "Dinocrates," said he, "a Macedonian architect, who bring to you cogitations and forms worthy of your renown."

Namque Athon montem formavi in statuae virilis figuram, cuius manu laeva designavi civitatis amplissimae moenia, dextera pateram, quae exciperet omnium fluminum, quae sunt in eo monte, aquam, ut inde in mare profunderetur."

For I have formed Mount Athos into the figure of a virile statue, in whose left hand I have designed the walls of a most ample city, and in the right a patera, to receive the water of all the rivers that are on that mountain, so that from there it might be poured forth into the sea."

[3] Delectatus Alexander natione formae statim quaesiit, si essent agri circa, qui possint frumentaria ratione eam civitatem tueri. Cum invenisset non posse nisi transmarinis subvectionibus: "Dinocrates," inquit, "adtendo egregiam formae conpositionem et ea delector. Sed animadverto, si qui deduxerit eo loco coloniam, forte ut iudicium eius vituperetur.

[3] Delighted by the design, Alexander immediately asked whether there were fields around which could, by a grain-supply rationale, sustain that city. When he found that it could not, except by transmarine subvections: "Dinocrates," he said, "I attend to the excellent composition of the form and am delighted by these things. But I observe that, if anyone should lead a colony down in that place, perhaps his judgment would be vituperated.

Ut enim natus infans sine nutricis lacte non potest ali neque ad vitae crescentes gradus perduci, sic civitas sine agris et eorum fructibus in moenibus affluentibus non potest crescere nec sine abundantia cibi frequentiam habere populumque sine copia tueri. Itaque quemadmodum formationem puto probandam, sic iudicio locum inprobandum; teque volo esse mecum, quod tua opera sum usurus."

For just as a newborn infant, without a nurse’s milk, cannot be nourished nor led on to the growing steps of life, so a city, without fields and their fruits, even with walls abounding, cannot grow, nor, without an abundance of food, have a throng, and it cannot maintain the people without supply. Therefore, just as I think the formation is to be approved, so, in my judgment, the site is to be disapproved; and I want you to be with me, since I am going to make use of your services."

[4] Ex eo Dinocrates ab rege non discessit et in Aegyptum est eum persecutus. Ibi Alexander cum animadvertisset portum naturaliter tutum, emporium egregium, campos circa totam Aegyptum frumentarios, inmanis fluminis Nili magnas utilitates, iussit eum suo nomine civitatem Alexandriam constituere. lta Dinocrates a facie dignitateque corporis commendatus ad eam nobilitatem pervenit.

[4] From that point Dinocrates did not depart from the king and followed him into Egypt. There Alexander, when he had noticed a harbor naturally safe, an excellent emporium, grain-bearing fields around all Egypt, the great utilities of the immense river Nile, ordered him to establish in his own name the city Alexandria. lta Dinocrates, commended by his face and the dignity of his body, arrived at that nobility.

Mihi autem, imperator, staturam non tribuit natura, faciem deformavit aetas, valetudo detraxit vires. Itaque quoniam ab his praesidiis sum desertus, per uxilia scientiae scriptaque, ut spero, perveniam ad commendationem.

But as for me, emperor, nature did not grant stature, age has disfigured the face, health has taken away my strength. Therefore, since I am deserted by these defenses, through the aids of knowledge and of writings, as I hope, I shall arrive at commendation.

[5] Cum autem primo volumine de officio architecturae terminationibusque artis perscripsi, item de moenibus et intra moenia arearum divisionibus, insequatur ordo de aedibus sacris et publicis aedificiis itemque privatis, quibus proportionibus et symmetriis debeant esse, uti explicentur, non putavi ante ponendum, nisi prius de materiae copiis, e quibus conlatis aedificia structuris et materiae rationbus perficiuntur, quas habeant in usu virtutes, exposuissem, quibusque rerum naturae principiis essent temperata, dixissem. Sed antequam naturales res incipiam explicare, de aedificiorum rationibus, unde initia ceperint et uti creverint eorum inventiones, ante ponam, et insequar ingressus antiquitatis rerum naturae et eorum qui initia humanitatis et inventiones perquisitas scriptorum praeceptis dedicaverunt. Itaque quemadmodum ab his sum institutus, exponam.

[5] Now, since in the first volume I have written at length about the office of architecture and the terminations (definitions) of the art, likewise about the walls and, within the walls, the divisions of plots, let the order follow concerning sacred houses and public buildings and likewise private ones—by what proportions and symmetries they ought to be—so that they may be explained. I did not think this should be set forth first, unless I had previously expounded about the supplies of material, from the gathering of which buildings are completed by structures and by the rationes of material—what virtues they have in use—and had stated by what first principles of the nature of things they are tempered. But before I begin to explain natural matters, I will first set forth about the rationes of buildings: whence they took their beginnings and how their inventions grew; and I shall follow the approaches of antiquity to the nature of things and of those who have dedicated, by the precepts of their writings, the beginnings of humanity and the inventions thoroughly sought out. And so, just as I have been instructed by them, I shall set forth.

Caput Primum

Chapter One

[1] Homines vetere more ut ferae in silvis et speluncis et nemoribus nascebantur ciboque agresti vescendo vitam exigebant. Interea quondam in loco ab tempestatibus et ventis densae crebritatibus arbores agitatae et inter se terentes ramos ignem excitaverunt, et eius flamma vehementi perterriti, qui circa eum locum fuerunt, sunt fugati. Postea re quieta propius accedentes cum animadvertissent commoditatem esse magnam corporibus ad ignis teporem, ligna adicientes ed id conservantes alios adducebant et nutu monstrantes ostendebant, quas haberent ex eo utilitates.

[1] Human beings, in the old manner, like wild beasts, were born in woods and caves and groves, and by feeding on rustic food they passed their life. Meanwhile, once, in a place, trees, shaken by tempests and winds with dense frequency and rubbing their branches against one another, kindled fire; and, terrified by its vehement flame, those who were around that place were put to flight. Afterwards, the situation having grown quiet, drawing nearer, when they had noticed that there was great convenience for their bodies from the warmth of the fire, adding wood and conserving it, they led others to it and, indicating by a nod, showed what utilities they had from it.

In eo hominum congressu cum profundebantur aliter e spiritu voces, cotidiana consuetudine vocabula, ut optigerant, constituerunt, deinde significando res saepius in usu ex eventu fari fortuito coeperunt et ita sermones inter se procreaverunt.

In that congress of humans, when voices were being poured forth differently from the spirit, by daily custom they established vocables as they had chanced to occur; then, by signifying the things more frequently in use, from the event they began fortuitously to speak, and thus they generated forms of speech among themselves.

[2] Ergo cum propter ignis inventionem conventus initio apud homines et concilium et convictus esset natus, et in unum locum plures convenirent habentes ab natura praemium praeter reliqua animalia, ut non proni sed erecti ambularent mundique et astrorum magnificentiam aspicerent, item manibus et articulis quam vellent rem faciliter tractarent, coeperunt in eo coetu alii de fronde facere tecta, alii speluncas fodere sub montibus, nonnulli hirundinum nidos et aedificationes earum imitantes de luto et virgulis facere loca quae subirent. Tunc observantes aliena tecta et adicientes suis cogitationibus res novas, efficiebant in dies meliora genera casarum.

[2] Therefore, since because of the invention of fire a gathering at the beginning among humans, and a council and a co-living, had been born, and more were convening into one place, having from nature a prerogative beyond the remaining animals—that they walk not prone but erect and look upon the magnificence of the world and of the stars; likewise that with their hands and joints they might easily handle whatever thing they wished—they began in that concourse some to make roofs from fronds, others to dig caves under mountains; some, imitating the nests of swallows and their edifications, to make from mud and little twigs places to go under. Then, observing others’ roofs and adding new things by their own cogitations, they were producing better kinds of huts day by day.

[3] Cum essent autem homines imitabili docilique natura, cotidie inventionibus gloriantes alios alii ostendebant aedificiorum effectus, et ita exercentes ingenia certationibus in dies melioribus iudiciis efficiebantur. Primumque furcis erectis et virgulis interpositis luto parietes texerunt. Alii luteas glaebas arefacientes struebant parietes, materia eos iugmentantes, vitandoque imbres et aestus tegebant harundinibus et fronde.

[3] Since, moreover, men were of an imitable and docile nature, daily, glorying in their inventions, they showed to one another the effects of their edifications, and thus, by exercising their ingenuity with competitions, they were being made more effective by judgments that grew better day by day. And first, with forked stakes erected and little twigs interposed, with mud they wove walls. Others, drying clayey clods, built up walls, conjoining them with timber, and, for the avoidance of rains and heats, covered them with reeds and foliage.

Posteaquam per hibernas tempestates tecta non potuerunt imbres sustinere, fastigia facientes, luto inducto proclinatis tectis, stillicidia deducebant.

Afterwards, when during hibernal tempests the roofs could not withstand the rains, by making gables, with mud applied and the roofs inclined, they channeled off the stillicide.

[4] Haec autem ex is, quae supra scripta sunt, originibus instituta esse possumus sic animadvertere, quod ad hunc diem nationibus exteris ex his rebus aedificia constituantur, uti Gallia, Hispania, Lusitania, Aquitania scandalis robusteis aut stramentis. Apud nationem Colchorum in Ponto propter silvarum abundantium arboribus perpetuis planis dextra ac sinistra in terra positis, spatio inter eas relicto quanto arborum longitudines patiuntur, conlocantur in extremis partibus earum supra alterae transversae, quae circumcludunt medium spatium habitationis. Tum insuper alternis trabibus ex quattuor partibus angulos iugumentantes et ita parietes arboribus statuentes ad perpendiculum imarum educunt ad altitudinem turres, intervallaque, quae relinquuntur propter crassitudinem materiae, schidiis et luto obstruunt.

[4] These things, moreover, from the origins which are written above, we can thus observe to have been instituted, because to this day among foreign nations edifices are constructed out of these materials, as in Gaul, Spain, Lusitania, Aquitania, with oaken shingles or with thatch. Among the nation of the Colchians in Pontus, on account of forests abounding, with long, planed tree-trunks placed on the ground to the right and left, a space being left between them as great as the lengths of the trees allow, at their ends others are set across above, which enclose the middle space of the habitation. Then on top, with alternating beams from the four sides yoking the angles, and thus setting up the walls with trees, they raise, perpendicular from the lowest, towers to a height; and the intervals which are left because of the thickness of the timber they stop up with laths and with mud.

Item tecta, recidentes ad extremos transtra, traiciunt gradatim contrahentes, et ita ex quattuor partibus ad altitudinem educunt medio metas, quas fronde et luto tegentes efficiunt barbarico more testudinata turrium tecta.

Likewise the roofs, cutting back to the outermost crossbeams, they carry across stepwise, drawing them together, and thus from the four sides they raise up to a height cones in the middle; covering them with foliage and mud, they make, in barbaric fashion, testudinate roofs of the towers.

[5] Phryges vero, qui campestribus locis sunt habitantes, propter inopiam silvarum egentes materiae eligunt tumulos naturales eosque medios fossura detinentes et itinera perfodientes dilatant spatia, quantum natura loci patitur. lnsuperautem stipitis inter se religantes metas efficiunt, quas harundinibus et sarmentis tegentes exaggerabant supra habitationis e terra maximos grumos. Ita hiemes calidissimas, aestatis frigidissimas efficiunt tectorum rationes.

[5] The Phrygians, who are dwelling in campestral places, because of a lack of forests and being in need of timber, choose natural mounds; and, hollowing them out in the middle by excavation and perforating passageways, they dilate the spaces as far as the nature of the place allows. Moreover, above, by binding posts to one another they fashion cones, which, covering with reeds and brushwood, they heap over the dwelling with very large clods of earth. Thus the arrangements of their roofs make winters very warm, summers very cool.

Nonnulli ex ulva palustri componunt tiguria tecta. Apud ceteras quoque gentes et nonnulla loca pari simulique ratione casarum perficiuntur constitutiones. Non minus etiam Massiliae animadvertere possumus sine tegulis subacta cum paleis terra tecta.

Some assemble covered huts from marsh-reed. Among other peoples as well, and in some places, the constructions of cottages are completed by an equal and similar method. No less, at Massilia, we can observe buildings roofed without tiles, with earth worked together with straw.

Athenis Areopagi antiquitatis exemplar ad hoc tempus luto tectim. Item in Capitolio commonefacere potest et significare mores vetustatis Romuli casa et in arce sacrorum stramentis tecta.

In Athens, the Areopagus, an exemplar of antiquity, is roofed with clay to this day. Likewise, on the Capitol the hut of Romulus, and on the Citadel the hut of the sacred rites, roofed with straw, can remind and signify the mores of antiquity.

[6] Ita his signis de antiquis inventionibus aedificiorum, sic ea fuisse ratiocinantes, possumus iudicare.

[6] Thus, from these signs about the ancient inventions of edifices, ratiocinating that they were thus, we can judge.

Cum autem cotidie faciendo tritiores manus ad aedificandum perfecissent et sollertia ingenia exercendo per consuetudinem ad artes pervenissent, tum etiam industria in animis eorum adiecta perfecit, ut, qui fuerunt in his studiosiores, fabros esse se profiterentur. Cum ergo haec ita fuerint primo constituta et natura non solum sensibus ornavisset gentes quemadmodum reliquia animalia, sed etiam cogitationibus et consiliis armavisset mentes et subiecisset cetera animalia sub potestate, tunc vero et fabricationibus aedificiorum gradatim progressi ad ceteras artes et disciplinas, e fera agrestique vita ad mansuetam perduxerunt humanitatem.

However, when by doing every day they had perfected their hands, made more tried, for building, and by exercising their ingenia through custom had come to the artes, then also, with industry added in their minds, it brought about that those who were more studious in these things professed themselves to be craftsmen. When therefore these things had thus at first been established, and nature had not only adorned the peoples with senses, as it did the rest of the animals, but also had armed their minds with thoughts and counsels and had subjected the other animals under their power, then indeed, progressing step by step from the fabrications of buildings to the other arts and disciplines, they led humanity from a wild and rustic life to a gentle civilization.

[7] Tum autem instruentes animo se eprospicientes maioribus cogitationibus ex varietate artium natis, non casas sed etiam domos fundatas et latericiis parietibus aut e lapide structas materiaque et tegula tecta perficere coeperunt, deinde observationibus studiorum e vagantibus iudiciis et incertiis ad certas symmetriarum perduxerunt rationes. Posteaquam animadverterunt profusos esse partus ab natura et materiam abundantem copiarum ad aedificationes ab ea comparatam, tractando nutrierunt et auctam per artes ornaverunt voluptatibus elegantiam vitae. Igitur de his rebus, quae sunt in aedificiis ad usum idoneae, quibusque sunt qualitatibus et quas habeant virtutes, ut potuero, dicam.

[7] Then, however, instructing themselves in mind and, looking ahead, with greater cogitations born from the variety of the arts, they began to complete not huts but even houses founded and built with brick walls or constructed from stone, and roofed with timber and tile; then, by observations of studies, they led the reasonings from wandering judgments and uncertainties to fixed principles of symmetries. Afterward, when they noticed that productions had been poured forth by Nature and abundant material of supplies had been prepared by her for buildings, by handling they nurtured it, and, increased through the arts, they adorned with pleasures the elegance of life. Therefore, concerning those things which in buildings are suitable for use, what qualities they have and what virtues they possess, as I shall be able, I will speak.

[8] Sed si qui de ordine huius libri disputare voluerit, quod putaverit eum primum institui oportuisse, ne putet me erravisse, si credam rationem. Cum corpus architecturae scriberem, primo volumine putavi, quibus eruditionibus et disciplinis esset ornata, exponere finireque terminationibus eius species et, e quibus rebus esset nata, dicere. Itaque quid oporteat esse in architecto, ibi pronuntiavi.

[8] But if anyone should wish to dispute about the order of this book, on the ground that he has thought it ought to have been instituted first, let him not think that I have erred, if I credit reason. When I was writing the corpus of architecture, in the first volume I thought to set forth with what eruditions and disciplines it was adorned, and to finish by terminations its species, and to say from what things it had been born. Therefore what ought to be in an architect, there I pronounced.

Ergo in primo de artis officio, in hoc de naturalibus materiae rebus, quem habeant usum, disputabo. Namque hic liber non profitetur, unde architectura nascatur, sed unde origines aedificiorum sunt institutae et quibus rationibus enutritae et progressae sint gradatim ad hanc finitionem.

Therefore, in the first (book) about the office of the art, in this one about the natural matters of material—what use they have—I will discourse. For this book does not profess whence architecture is born, but whence the origins of edifices were instituted and by what reasons they were nurtured and have progressed step by step to this completion.

[9] Ergo ita suo ordine et loco huius erit voluminis constitutio.

[9] Therefore thus, in its own order and place, will be the constitution of this volume.

Nunc revertar ad propositum et de copiis, quae aptae sunt aedificiorum perfectionibus, quemadmodum videantur esse ab natura rerum procreatae quibusque mixtionibus principiorum congressus temperentur, nec obscura sed perspicua legentibus sint, ratiocinabor. Namque nulla materiarum genera neque corpora neque res sine principiorum coetu nasci neque subici intellectui possunt, neque aliter natura rerum praeceptis physicorum veras patitur habere explicationes, nisi causae, quae insunt in his rebus quemadmodum et quid ita sint, subtilibus rationibus habeant demonstrationes.

Now I shall return to the proposal and will reason concerning the resources that are apt for the perfections of buildings—how they seem to have been procreated by the nature of things, and by what mixtures the congress of principles is tempered—so that they be not obscure but perspicuous to readers. For no kinds of materials, nor bodies, nor things can be born without the assemblage of principles nor be subjected to the intellect; nor otherwise does the nature of things, by the precepts of the physicists (natural philosophers), allow true explications to be had, unless the causes which are inherent in these matters—how and why they are so—have demonstrations by subtle reasonings.

Caput Secundum

Chapter Two

[1] Thales primum aquam putavit omnium rerum esse principium; Heraclitus Ephesius, qui propter obscuritatem scriptorum a Graecisscoteinos est appellatus, ignem; Democritus quique est eum secutus Epicurus atomos, quas nostri insecabilia corpora, nonnulli individua vocitaverunt; Pythagoreorum vero disciplinis adiecit ad aquam et ignem aera et terrenum. Ergo Democritus, etsi non proprie res nominavit sed tantum individua corpora proposuit, ideo ea ipsa dixisse videtur, quod ea, cum sint disiuncta, nec laeduntur nec interitionem recipiunt nec sectionibus dividuntur sed sempiterno aevo perpetuo infinitam retinent in se soliditatem.

[1] Thales first thought water to be the principle of all things; Heraclitus the Ephesian, who on account of the obscurity of his writings was called by the Greeksscoteinos, fire; Democritus, and Epicurus who followed him, the atomos, which our people have called inseparable bodies, and some “individuals”; but the doctrines of the Pythagoreans added to water and fire air and earth. Therefore Democritus, although he did not name the things specifically but proposed only individual bodies, seems for that reason to have said those very things, because these, since they are disjoined, are neither harmed nor do they receive destruction nor are they divided by sections, but in everlasting age perpetually retain within themselves infinite solidity.

[2] Ex his ergo congruentibus cum res omnes coire nascique videantur et hae in infinitis generibus rerum natura essent disparatae, putavi oportere de varietatibus et discriminibus usus earum quasque haberent in aedificiis qualitates exponere, uti, cum fuerint notae, non habeant qui aedificare cogitant errorem, sed aptas ad usum copias aedificiis conparent.

[2] From these therefore, as they are congruent, since all things seem to converge and be born, and since, in the nature of things, these were disparate into infinite kinds, I thought it proper to expound the varieties and distinctions of their use, and to set forth what qualities they have in buildings, so that, when they have been known, those who are thinking to build may not fall into error, but may procure for buildings supplies apt for use.

Caput Tertium

Chapter 3

[1] Itaque primum de lateribus; qua de terra duci eos oporteat, dicam. Non enim de harenoso neque calculoso luto neque sabulonoso luto sunt ducendi, quod ex his generibus cum sint ducti, primum fiunt graves, deinde, cum ab imbribus in parietibus sparguntur, dilabuntur et dissolvuntur paleaque in his non cohaerescunt propter asperitatem. Faciendi autem sunt ex terra albida cretosa sive de rubrica aut etiam masculo sabulone; haec enim genera propter levitatem habent firmitatem et non sunt in opere ponderosa et faciliter aggerantur.

[1] Therefore, first about bricks; from what kind of earth they ought to be drawn, I will say. For they must not be drawn from sandy nor pebbly mud nor gravelly mud, because when they have been drawn from these kinds, first they become heavy; then, when they are spattered by rains on walls, they slip away and are dissolved, and the straw in them does not cohere on account of the roughness. They ought, however, to be made from a whitish chalky earth or from red ochre (rubrica), or even from a “masculine” gravel-sand; for these kinds, by reason of their lightness, have firmness and are not ponderous in the work, and are easily piled up.

[2] Ducendi autem sunt per vernum tempus et autumnale, ut uno tempore siccescant. Qui enim per solstitium parantur, ideo vitiosi fiunt, quod, summum corium sol acriter cum praecoquit, efficit ut videatur aridum, interior autem sit non siccus; et cum postea siccescendo se contrahit, perrumpit ea quae erant arida. Ita rimosi facti efficiuntur imbecilli.

[2] But they should be drawn during the vernal and the autumnal season, so that they may dry at one time. For those which are prepared at the solstice become faulty for this reason: because, when the sun sharply prebakes the top skin, it makes it seem arid, but the interior is not dry; and when afterward, by drying, it contracts, it bursts through those parts which were arid. Thus, made rimose, they are rendered feeble.

Maxime autem utiliores erunt, si ante biennium fuerint ducti, namque non ante possunt penitus siccescere. Itaque cum recentes et non aridi sunt structi, tectorio inducto rigidoque obsolidati permanent; ipsi sidentes non possunt eandem altitudinem qua est tectorium, tenere, contractioneque moti non haerent cum eo, sed ab coniunctione eius disparantur; igitur tectoria ab structura seiuncta propter tenuitatem per se stare non possunt, sed franguntur, ipsique parietes fortuito sidentes vitiantur. Ideo etiam Uticenses laterem, si sit aridus et ante quinquennium ductus, cum arbitrio magistratus fuerit ita probatus, tunc utuntur in parietum structuris.

But they will be most useful if they have been made two years earlier (a biennium), for they cannot be thoroughly dried before then. And so, when they are built in while fresh and not dry, though a stucco has been laid on and they have been made solid with it rigidly, they themselves, as they settle, cannot keep the same level as the stucco; and, set in motion by contraction, they do not adhere with it, but are parted from its junction. Therefore the stuccoes, separated from the structure, cannot stand by themselves because of their thinness, but are broken, and the walls themselves, settling fortuitously, are vitiated. For this reason even the Uticans, if a brick is dry and has been made five years before, when it has been so approved at the discretion of the magistrate, then use it in the structures of walls.

[3] Fiunt autem laterum genera tria: unum, quod graeceLydium appellatur, id est quo nostri utuntur, longum sesquipede, latum pede. Ceteris duobus Graecorum aedificia struuntur; ex his unum pentadoron, alterum tetradoron dicitur. Doron autem Graeci appellant palmum, quod munerum datio graece doron appellatur, id autem semper geritur per manus palmum.

[3] But there are made three kinds of bricks: one, which in Greek is calledLydium, that is, the one which our people use, 1½ feet long, 1 foot wide. The buildings of the Greeks are constructed with the other two; of these one is called pentadoron, the other tetradoron. The Greeks call doron a palm, because the giving of gifts is in Greek called doron, and that is always conveyed by the hand, the palm.

Ita quod est quoquoversus quinque palmorum, pentadoron, quod quattuor, tetradoron dicitur, et quae sunt publica opera, pentadoros, quae privata tetradoros struuntur.

Thus, what is five palms in each direction is called pentadoron, what is four, tetradoron; and public works are built pentadoros, private ones tetradoros.

[4] Fiunt autem cum his lateribus semilateria. Quae cum struuntur, una parte lateribus ordines, altera semilateres ponuntur. Ergo ex utraque parte ad lineam cum struuntur, alternis coriis parietes alligantur et medii lateres supra coagmenta conlocati et firmitatem et speciem faciunt utraque parte non invenustam.

[4] And with these bricks half-bricks are also made. When these are built, on one side courses with bricks are set, on the other half-bricks are placed. Therefore, when they are built to the line on both sides, the walls are tied with alternating bond-courses, and the middle bricks, placed over the joints, produce both firmness and an appearance on either side not uncomely.

Est autem in Hispania ulteriore civitas Maxilua et Callet et in Asia Pitane, ubi lateres cum sunt ducti et arefacti, proiecti natant in aqua. Natare autem eos posse ideo videtur, quod terra est, de qua ducuntur, pumicosa. Ita cum est levis, aere solidata non recepit in se nec combibit liquorem.

Moreover, in Further Spain there are the cities Maxilua and Callet, and in Asia, Pitane, where bricks, when they have been drawn and dried, float in water when thrown in. They seem able to float because the earth from which they are drawn is pumiceous. Thus, since it is light, having been solidified in the air, it has neither taken into itself nor imbibed the liquid.

Igitur levi raraque cum sit proprietate, nec patiantur penetrare in corpus umidam potestatem, quocumque pondere fuerit, cogitur ab rerum natura, quemadmodum pumex, uti ab aqua sustineatur, sic autem magnas habent utilitates, quod neque in aedificationibus sunt onerosi et cum ducuntur a tempestatibus non dissolvuntur.

Therefore, since it is of a light and rarefied property, and does not allow the power of moisture to penetrate into the body, of whatever weight it may be, it is compelled by the nature of things, just like pumice, to be sustained by water; thus moreover they have great advantages, because they are not onerous in edifications, and when they are subjected to tempests they are not dissolved.

Caput Quatrum

Chapter Four

[1] In caementiciis autem structuris primum est de harena quaerendum, ut ea sit idonea ad materiem miscendam neque habeat terram commixtam. Genera autem harenae fossiciae sunt haec: nigra, cana, rubra, carbunculum. Ex his, quae in manu confricata , vel icta fecerit stridorem, erit optima; quae autem terrosa fuerit, non habebit asperitatem.

[1] But in cementitious structures, first it must be inquired about the sand, that it be suitable for mixing the mortar and not have earth commingled. The kinds of pit-sand are these: black, ash-gray, red, carbuncular. Of these, that which, when rubbed in the hand, or struck, makes a screech will be best; but that which is earthy will not have asperity.

Item si in vestimentum candidum ea contecta fuerit, postea excussa aut icta id non inquinarit neque ibi terra subsiderit, erit idonea.

Likewise, if it has been wrapped in a white garment, and afterwards, when shaken out or struck, it does not stain it, nor does soil settle there, it will be suitable.

[2] Sin autem non erunt harenaria, unde fodiatur, tum de fluminibus aut e glarea erit excernenda, non minus etiam de litore marino. Sed ea in structuris haec habebat vitia: difficulter siccescit, neque onerari se continenter recipit; paries patitur, nisi intermissionibus requiescat, neque concamerationes recipit. Marina autem hoc amplius, quod etiam parietes, cum in is tectoria facta fuerint, remittentes salsuginem eorum dissolvuntur.

[2] But if there are no sand‑pits from which it may be dug, then it must be sifted out from rivers or from gravel, no less also from the seashore. But this had these defects in structures: it dries with difficulty, nor does it continuously admit being loaded; the wall suffers unless it rests with intermissions, nor does it admit vaultings. The sea‑shore kind, moreover, has this further: that even the plasters on walls, when they have been made upon them, as the walls send back brine (saltiness), are dissolved.

[3] Fossiciae vero celeriter in structuris siccescunt, et tectoria permanent, et concamerationes patiuntur, sed hae, quae sunt de harenariis recentes. Si enim exemptae diutius iacent, ab sole et luna et pruina concoctae resolvuntur et fiunt terrosae. Ita cum in structuram coiciuntur, non possunt continere caementa, sed ea ruunt et labuntur oneraque paritetes non possunt sustinere.

[3] But the pit-sands quickly dry in structures, and the plasterworks remain, and they endure concamerations—but those which are fresh from the sandpits. For if, once extracted, they lie longer, concocted by the sun and the moon and by hoarfrost, they are loosened and become earthy. Thus, when they are thrown into the structure, they cannot contain the caementa, but these collapse and slip, and the walls cannot sustain the loads.

Recentes autem fossiciae cum in structuris tantas habeant virtutes, eae in tectoriis ideo non sunt utiles, quod pinguitudini eius calx palea commixta, propter vehementiam non potest sine rimis inarescere. Fluviatica vero propter macritatem uti signinum liaculorum subactionibus in tectorio recipit soliditatem.

However, although fresh pit-sands have such virtues in structures, they are for that reason not useful in plasters, because, owing to their fattiness, the lime mixed with chaff, on account of its vehemence, cannot dry without cracks. River-sand, on the other hand, by reason of its leanness, just as signine work, by the tampings of the rammers, takes on solidity in plaster.

Caput Quintum

Chapter Five

[1] De harenae copiis cum habeatur explicatum, tum etiam de calce diligentia est adhibenda, uti de albo saxo aut silice coquatur; et quae erit ex spisso et duriore, erit utilis in structura, quae autem ex fistuloso, in tectoriis. Cum ea erit extincta, tunc materia ita misceatur, ut, si erit fossicia, tres harenae et una calcis infundatur; si autem fluviatica aut marina, duo harenae una calcis coiciatur. Ita enim erit iusta ratio mixtionis temperaturae.

[1] Since the supplies of sand have been explicated, diligence must also be applied concerning lime, that it be calcined from white stone or from flint; and that which will be from a dense and harder kind will be useful in structure (masonry), but that which is from a porous kind, in plasterings. When it has been slaked, then the material should be mixed thus, that, if it is pit-sand, three parts of sand and one of lime be poured in; but if riverine or marine, two parts of sand, one of lime, be cast in. For thus there will be a just ratio of the mixture’s tempering.

Etiam in fluviatica aut marina si qui testam tunsam et succretam ex tertia parte adiecerit, efficiet materiae temperaturam ad usum meliorem.

Even with river or sea sand, if anyone adds crushed and sifted potsherd to the extent of a third part, he will effect a better tempering of the material for use.

[2] Quare autem cum recipit aquam et harenam calx, tunc confirmat structuram, haec esse causa videtur, quod e principiis uti cetera corpora, ita et saxa sunt temperata. Et quae plus habent aeris, sunt tenera; quae aquae, lenta sunt ab umore; quae terrae, dura; quae ignis, fragiliora. Itaque ex his saxa si, antequam coquantur, contusa minute mixta harenae in instructuram coinciatur, non solidescunt nec eam poterunt continere.

[2] Why, moreover, when lime receives water and sand, it then confirms/strengthens the structure, this seems to be the cause: that from the principles, as other bodies, so also stones are tempered. And those which have more of air are tender; those which have more of water are viscous/pliant from the moisture; those of earth are hard; those of fire are more fragile. And so, from these, if stones, before they are cooked, having been crushed finely and mixed with sand, are cast together into the construction, they do not solidify nor will they be able to contain/hold it.

Cum vero coniecta in fornacem ignis vehementi fervore correpta amiserint pristinae soliditatis virtutem, tunc exustis atque exhaustis eorum viribus relinquuntur patientibus foraminibus et inanibus.

But when, having been cast into the furnace and seized by the vehement fervor of the fire, they have lost the virtue of their pristine solidity, then, their forces burned out and exhausted, they are left with yielding pores and with emptiness.

[3] Ergo liquor, qui est in eius lapidis corpore, et aer cum exustus et ereptus fuerit, habueritque in se residuum valorem latentem, intinctus in aqua, prius quam ex igni vim recepit umore penetrante in foraminum raritates, confervescit et ita refrigeratus reicit ex calcis corpore fervorem. (Ideo autem, quo pondere saxa coiciuntur in fornacem, cum eximuntur, non possunt ad id respondere, sed cum expenduntur, permanente ea magnitudine excocto liquore circiter tertia parte ponderis inminuta esse inveniuntur.) Igitur cum patent foramina eorum et raritates harenae mixtionem in se corripiunt et ita cohaerescunt siccescendoque cum caementis coeunt et efficiunt structurarum soliditatem.

[3] Therefore the liquid which is in the body of that stone, and the air, when it has been burned out and snatched away, and has kept within itself a residual latent valour, when dipped in water, sooner than it had received force from the fire, with the moisture penetrating into the rarities of the pores, it seethes together, and thus, cooled, it casts off the heat from the body of the lime. (And for this reason, in whatever weight the stones are thrown into the furnace, when they are taken out, they cannot correspond to that, but when they are weighed, with the magnitude remaining, the liquid having been cooked out, they are found to have been diminished by about a third part of the weight.) Therefore, since their pores and rarefactions are open, they seize into themselves the mixture of sand and thus cohere, and by drying they unite with the rubble and effect the solidity of structures.

Caput Sextum

Chapter Six

[1] Est etiam genus pulveris, quod efficit naturaliter res admirandas. Nascitur in regionibus Baianis in agris municipiorum, quae sunt circa Vesuvium montem. Quod conmixtum cum calce et caemento non modo ceteris aedificiis praestat firmitates, sed etiam moles cum struuntur in mari, sub aqua solidescunt.

[1] There is also a kind of powder, which naturally effects admirable things. It is produced in the Baian regions, in the fields of the municipalities that are around Mount Vesuvius. When it is commixed with lime and rubble, it not only affords strength to other buildings, but even when masses are constructed in the sea, they solidify under water.

Hoc autem fieri hac ratione videtur, quod sub his montibus et terrae ferventes sunt et fontes crebri, qui non essent si non in imo haberent aut e sulpure aut alumine aut bitumine ardentes maximos ignes. Igitur penitus ignis et flammae vapor per intervenia permanans et ardens efficit levem eam terram, et ibi quod nascitur tofus exsurgens, est sine liquore. Ergo cum tres res consimili ratione ignis vehementia farmatae in unam pervenerint mixtionem, repente recepto liquore una cohaerescunt et celeriter umore duratae solidantur, neque eas fluctus neque vis aquae potest dissolvere.

But this seems to happen for this reason: under these mountains both the soils are fervent and the springs frequent, which they would not be if deep down they did not have the greatest fires burning either from sulfur or alum or bitumen. Therefore the vapor of fire and flame, penetrating and burning through the intervening interstices, makes that earth light; and the tufa that arises there is without moisture. Thus, when three substances, formed by the vehemence of fire in a similar manner, have come into one mixture, suddenly, upon receiving moisture, they cohere into one and, quickly hardened by the damp, are solidified; and neither waves nor the force of water can dissolve them.

[2] Ardores autem esse in his locis etiam haec res potest indicare, quod in montibus Cumanorum Baianis sunt loca sudationibus excavata, in quibus vapor fervidus ab imo nascens ignis vehementia perforat eam terram per eamque manando in his locis oritur et ita sudationum egregias efficit utilitates. Non minus etiam memorentur antiquitus crevisse ardores et abundavisse sub Vesuvio monte et inde envomuisse circa agros flammam. Ideoque tunc quae spongia sive pumex Pompeianus vocatur excocto ex alio genere lapidis in hanc redacta esse videtur generis qualitatem.

[2] Moreover that there are ardors in these places this fact too can indicate, that in the Baian mountains of the Cumaeans there are places excavated for sudations, in which a fervid vapor, arising from below, by the vehemence of fire perforates that earth, and by percolating through it emerges in these places and thus brings about the excellent utilities of sweat-baths. No less it is also remembered that in antiquity the ardors grew and abounded under Mount Vesuvius and from there vomited forth flame around the fields. And therefore then that which is called sponge or Pompeian pumice, having been baked out from another kind of stone, seems to have been reduced into this quality of kind.

[3] Id autem genus spongiae, quod inde eximitur, non in omnibus locis nascitur nisi circum Aetnam et collibus Mysiae, quae a GraecisCatacecaumene nominatur, et si quae eiusdem modi sunt locorum proprietates. Si ergo in his locis aquarum ferventes inveniuntur fontes et omnibus excavatis calidi vapores ipsaque loca ab antiquis memorantur pervagantes in agris habuisse ardores, videtur esse certum ab ignis vehementia ex tofo terraque, quemadmodum in fornacibus et a calce, ita ex his ereptum esse liquorem.

[3] That kind of sponge which is taken out from there does not arise in all places, but only around Etna and on the hills of Mysia, which is named by the GreeksCatacecaumene, and wherever the properties of places are of the same sort. If therefore in these places there are found boiling springs of waters and, in all excavations, hot vapors, and the very places are recorded by the ancients to have had ardors ranging through the fields, it seems certain that by the vehemence of fire, from tufa and earth—just as in furnaces and from lime—so from these a liquid has been snatched out.

[4] Igitur dissimilibus et disparibus rebus correptis et in unam potestatem conlatis, calida umoris ieiunitas aqua repente satiata communibus corporibus latenti calore confervescit et vehementer efficit ea coire celeriterque unam soliditatis percepire virtutem.

[4] Therefore, when dissimilar and disparate things are seized and brought together into one power, the hot jejunity of the humor, suddenly satiated by water, boils together in the common bodies with latent heat and forcefully brings it about that they cohere and swiftly acquire a single virtue of solidity.

Relinquetur desideratio, quoniam ita sunt in Etruria ex aqua calida crebri fontes, quid ita non etiam ibi nascitur pulvis, e quo eadem ratione sub aqua structura solidescat. Itaque visum est, antequam desideraretur, de his rebus, quemadmodum esse videantur, exponere.

A question will remain, since in Etruria there are numerous springs of hot water, why then is powder not produced there also, from which, by the same reasoning, a structure might solidify under water. Therefore it has seemed best, before it should be asked, to set forth about these matters how they appear to be.

[5] Omnibus locis et regionibus non eadem genera terrae nec lapides nascuntur, sed nonnulla sunt terrena, alia sabulosa itemque glareosa, aliis locis harenosa, non minus materia, et omnino dissimili disparique genera in regionum varietatibus qualitates insunt in terra. Maxime autem id sic licet considerare, quod, qua mons Appeninus regionis Italiae Etruriaeque circa cingit, prope in omnibus locis non desunt fossicia harenaria, trans Appenninum vero, quae pars est ad Adriaticum mare, nulla inveniuntur, item Achaia, Asia, omnino trans mare, nec nominatur quidem. Igitur non in omnibus locis, quibus effervent aquae calidae crebri fontes, eaedem opportunitates possunt similiter concurrere, sed omnia, uti natura rerum constituit, non ad volutatem hominum, sed ut fortuito disparata procreantur.

[5] In all places and regions the same kinds of earth and stones are not produced; rather, some are terrestrial, others sabulous, likewise glareous (gravelly), in other places arenaceous; no less is it so with timber; and, in general, amid the varieties of regions there inhere in the earth qualities of kinds that are dissimilar and unequal. Most especially one may consider this thus: where the Apennine Mountain girds around the region of Italy and Etruria, there is in almost all places no lack of quarried sandpits; but across the Apennine, the part that is toward the Adriatic Sea, none are found—likewise in Achaia, in Asia, generally across the sea, it is not even so much as named. Therefore, not in all places where hot waters boil up in frequent springs can the same opportunities similarly concur; but all things, as the nature of things has constituted, are generated not to the pleasure of men, but, as by chance, disparate.

[6] Ergo quibus locis non sunt terrosi montes sed genere materiae, ignis vis per eius venas egrediens adurit eam. Quod est molle et tenerum, exurit, quod autem asperum, relinquit. Itaque uti Campania exusta terra cinis, sic in Etruria excocta materia efficitur carbunculus.

[6] Therefore, in places where the mountains are not earthy but of a timbered kind, the force of fire, going out through its veins, scorches it. What is soft and tender it burns up; but what is rough it leaves. And so, as in Campania the earth, burned, becomes ash, so in Etruria the timber, when baked, is made into charcoal.

Utraque autem sunt egregia in structuris, sed alia in terrenis aedificiis, alia etiam in maritimis molibus habent virtutem. Est autem materiae potestas mollior quam tofus, solidior quam terra, quo penitus ab uno vehementia vaporis adusto, nonnullis locis procreatur id genus harenae quod dicitur carbunculus.

Both, moreover, are outstanding in structures, but the one has its virtue in terrene buildings, the other even in maritime moles. Moreover, the power of the material is softer than tuff, more solid than earth; whereby, deep within, with the vehemence of vapor scorching in one spot, in some places there is produced that kind of sand which is called carbunculus.

Caput Septimum

Chapter Seven

[1] De calce et harena, quibus varietatibus sint et quas habeant virtutes, dixi. Sequitur ordo de lapidicinis explicare, de quibus et quadrata saxa et caementorum ad aedificia eximuntur copiae et conparantur. Haec autem inveniuntur esse disparibus et dissimilibus virtutibus.

[1] Concerning lime and sand, of what varieties they are and what properties they have, I have spoken. Next in order comes to set forth about stone-quarries, from which both squared stones and supplies of rubble are extracted for buildings and procured. These, moreover, are found to have unequal and dissimilar properties.

Sunt enim aliae molles, uti sunt circa urbem Rubrae, Pallenses, Fidenates, Albanae; aliae temperatae, uti Tiburtinae, Amiterninae, Soractinae et quae sunt his generibus; nonnullae durae, uti siliceae. Sunt etiam alia genera plura, uti in Campania rubrum et nigrum tofum, in Umbria et Piceno et in Venetia albus, quod etiam serra dentata uti lignum secatur.

For there are some soft, as are around the city, the Rubra, the Pallensian, the Fidenatian, the Alban; others well-tempered, such as the Tiburtine, Amiternine, Soractine, and those of these kinds; some hard, such as the siliceous (flint). There are also several other genera, as in Campania the red and the black tufa, in Umbria and Picenum and in Venetia a white, which even is cut with a toothed saw like wood.

[2] Sed haec omnia quae mollia sunt, hanc habent utilitatem, quod ex his saxa cum sunt exempta, in opere faciliter tractantur. Et si sunt in locis tectis, sustineant laborem, si autem in apertis et patentibus, gelicidiis et pruina congesta friantur et dissolvuntur. Item secundum oram maritimam ab salsugine exesa diffluunt neque perferunt aestus.

[2] But all these which are soft have this utility, that from them, when the stones have been taken out, they are handled easily in the work. And if they are in covered places, they sustain the labor; but if in open and exposed places, they are shattered by icy freezing and hoarfrost piled up and are dissolved. Likewise, along the maritime shore, eaten away by salinity, they dissolve and do not endure the heat.

Tiburtina vero et quae eodem genere sunt omnia, sufferunt et ab oneribus et a tempestatibus iniurias, sed ab igni non possunt esse tuta, simulque sunt ab eo tacta, dissiliunt et dissipantur, ideo quod temperatura naturali parvo sunt umore itemque non multum habent terreni, sed aeris plurimum et ignis. Igitur cum et umore et terrenum in his minus inest, tum etiam ignis, tactu et vi vaporis ex his aere fugato, penitus insequens interveniorum vacuitates occupans fervescit et efficit a suis ardentia corporibus similia.

The Tiburtine, indeed, and all that are of the same kind, endure injuries both from burdens and from tempests, but from fire they cannot be safe; as soon as they are touched by it, they split apart and are scattered, because by natural temperament they have little moisture and likewise do not have much of the earthy, but very much of air and of fire. Therefore, since both moisture and the earthy are less present in them, then also when fire, by its touch and by the force of its vapor, with the air driven out from them, penetrating deeply and occupying the voids of the interstices, grows hot and makes them similar to its own burning bodies.

[3] Sunt vero item lapidicinae conplures in finibus Tarquiniensium, quae dicuntur Anicianae, colore quemadmodum Albanae, quorum officinae maxime sunt circa lacum Vulsiniensem, item praefectura Statonensi. Haec autem habent infinitas virtutes; neque enim his gelicidiorum tempestas neque ignis tactus potest nocere, sed est firma et ad vetustatem ideo permanens, quod parum habet e naturae mixtione aeris et ignis, umoris autem temperate plurimumque terreni. Ita spissis conparationibus solidata neque ab tempestitatibus neque ab ignis vehementia nocetur.

[3] There are likewise numerous quarries in the borders of the Tarquinians, which are called the Anician, in color just like the Alban; their workshops are chiefly around Lake Vulsinian, likewise in the prefecture of Statonia. But these have infinite virtues; for neither can the season of icy-falls nor the touch of fire harm them, but it is firm and therefore enduring to old age, because it has little, from the mixture of nature, of air and fire, but of moisture a temperate amount and of earth very much. Thus, solidified by dense compactions, it is harmed neither by weathers nor by the vehemence of fire.

[4] Id autem maxime iudicare licet e monumentis, quae sunt circa municipium Ferenti ex his facta lapidicinis. Namque habent et statuas amplas factas egregie et minora sigilla floresque et acanthos eleganter scalptos; quae, cum sint vetusta, sic apparent recentia, uti si sint modo facta. Non minus etiam fabri aerarii de his lapidicinis in aeris flatura formas conparatas habent; ex his ad aes fundendum maximas utilitates.

[4] This, moreover, one may most especially judge from the monuments which around the municipality of Ferentum have been made from these quarries. For they have both large statues made excellently, and smaller statuettes, flowers, and acanthuses elegantly sculpted; which, although they are old, appear so recent as if they had just been made. No less also do bronze-smiths have, from these quarries, forms prepared for bronze-casting; from these they derive very great advantages for pouring bronze.

Quae si propre urbem essent, dignum esset ut ex his officinis omnia opera perficerentur.

If these were near the city, it would be worthy that all works be completed from these workshops.

[5] Cum ergo propter propinquitatem necessitas cogat ex Rubris lapidicinis et Pallensibus et quae sunt urbi proximae copiis uti, si qui voluerit sine vitiis peficere, ita erit praeparandum. Cum aedificandum fuerit, ante biennium ea saxa non hieme sed aestate eximantur et iacentia permaneant in locis patentibus. Quae autem eo biennio a tempestatibus tacta laesa fuerint, ea in fundamenta coiciantur; cetera, quae non erunt vitiata, ab natura rerum probata durare poterunt supra terram aedificata.

[5] Since therefore necessity, on account of proximity, compels the use of the resources from the Rubrian quarries and the Pallensian and those which are nearest to the city, if anyone should wish to complete without faults, it must be prepared thus. When there is to be building, let those stones be taken out two years beforehand, not in winter but in summer, and, lying, let them remain in open places. But those which in that two-year period, having been touched by the storms, have been damaged, let them be thrown into the foundations; the rest, which will not be vitiated, approved by the nature of things, will be able to endure when built above ground.

Nec solum ea in quadratis lapidibus sunt observanda, sed etiam in caementiciis structuris.

Not only must these things be observed in squared stones, but also in caementitious structures.

Caput Octavum

Chapter Eight

[1] Structurarum genera sunt haec: reticulatum quo nunc omnes utuntur, et antiquum quod incertum dicitur. Ex his venustius est reticulatum, sed ad rimas faciendas ideo paratum, quod in omnes partes dissoluta habet cubilia et coagmenta. Incerta vero caementa alia super alia sedentia inter seque inbricata non speciosam sed firmiorem quam reticulata praestant structuram.

[1] The genera of structures are these: the reticulate, which now all use, and the ancient kind which is called “uncertain.” Of these the reticulate is more charming, but is therefore prepared for making cracks, because it has its beds and joints dissolved in all directions. But the “uncertain” rubble-stones, sitting one upon another and interlaced among themselves, furnish a structure not showy but firmer than the reticulate.

[2] Utraque autem ex minutissimis sunt instruenda, uti materia ex calce et harena crebriter parietes satiati diutius contineantur. Molli enim et rara potestate cum sint, exsiccant sugendo e materia sucum; cum autem superarit et abundarit copia calcis et harenae, paries plus habens umoris non cito fient evanidus, sed ab his continetur. Simul autem umida potestas e materia per caementorum raritatem fuerit exsucta calxque ab harena discedat et dissolvatur, item caementa non possunt cum his cohaerere, sed in vetustatem parietes efficiunt ruinosos.

[2] Both, however, ought to be constructed out of very minute pieces, so that the material from lime and sand, the walls being frequently saturated, may be held together for a longer time. For since they are of a soft and rare (porous) capacity, they dry out by sucking the juice from the mortar; but when a surplus and abundance of lime and sand remains, the wall, having more moisture, will not quickly become evanescent, but is held together by these. But as soon as the moist power has been sucked out of the mortar through the rarity of the rubble, and the lime departs from the sand and is dissolved, likewise the rubble cannot cohere with them, but with age they make the walls ruinous.

[3] Id autem licet animadvertere etiam de nonnullis monumentis, quae circa urbem facta sunt e marmore seu lapidibus quadratis intrisecusque medio calcata: structuris vetustate evanida facta materia caementorumque exstructa raritate, proruunt et coagamentorum ab ruina dissolutis iuncturis dissipantur.

[3] But this may be observed also from certain monuments, which around the city have been made of marble or of squared stones and, on the inside, rammed in the middle: as the structures, with age, the material having become evanescent and the rubble-work erected in sparsity, they topple down, and
with the joints of the coagmentations dissolved by the ruin, they are scattered.

[4] Quodsi qui noluerit in id vitium incidere, medio cavo servato secundum orthostatas intrinsecus ex rubro saxo quadrato aut ex testa aut ex silicibus ordinariis struat bipedales parietes, et cum his ansis ferreis et plumbo frontes vinctae sint. Ita enim non acervatim, sed ordine structum opus poterit esse sine vitio sempiternum, quod cubilia et coagmenta eorum inter se sedentia et iuncturis alligata non protrudent opus neque orthostatas inter se religatos labi patiuntur.

[4] But if anyone should be unwilling to fall into that fault, with the middle cavity preserved, let him build on the inside along the orthostates two‑foot walls of red squared stone or of tile or of ordinary flints, and let the faces be bound with iron cramps and lead. For thus the work, not in heaps but in order, will be able to be everlasting without defect, because their beddings and coagmenta, sitting upon one another and tied with joints, will not thrust the work outward nor allow the orthostates, bound together among themselves, to slip.

[5] Itaque non est contemnenda Graecorum structura; utuntur e molli caemento polita, sed cum discesserunt a quadrato, ponunt de silice seu lapide duro ordinaria, et ita uti latericia struentes alligant eorum alternis coriis coagmenta, et sic maxime ad aeternitatem firmas perficiunt virtutes. Haec autem duobus generibus struuntur; ex his unum isodomum, alterum pseudisodomum appellatur.

[5] And so the structure of the Greeks is not to be contemned; they employ work polished with soft cement, but when they have departed from squared ashlar, they set ordinary courses of flint or hard stone, and, just as those building in brickwork do, they bind their coagmentations with alternate chain-courses, and thus they most especially bring to completion strengths firm for eternity. These, moreover, are built in two kinds; of these one is called isodomum, the other pseudisodomum.

[6] Isodomum dicitur, cum omnia coria aequa crassitudine fuerint structa; pseudisodomum cum inpares et inaequales ordines coriorum diriguntur. Ea utraque sunt ideo firma, primum quod ipsa caementa sunt spissa et solida proprietate neque de materia, possunt exsugere liquorem, sed conservant ea in suo umore ad summam vetustatem; ipsaque eorum cubilia primum plana et librata posita non patiuntur ruere materiam, sed perpetua parietum crassitudine religata continent ad summam vetustatem.

[6] Isodomum is said, when all the courses have been built of equal thickness; pseudisodomum, when unequal and uneven rows of courses are directed. Both of these are therefore firm, first because the cement-blocks are dense and solid in property and, not able to suck out the liquor from the material, they preserve it in its own humor to extreme age; and their very beds, having been laid first flat and leveled, do not allow the material to collapse, but, bound by the perpetual thickness of the walls, they hold together to extreme age.

[7] Altera est quamenplecton appellant, qua etiam nostri rustici utuntur. Quorum frontes poliuntur, reliqua ita, uti sunt nata, cum materia conlocata alternis alligant coagmentis. Sed nostri celeritati studentes, erecta conlocantes frontibus serviunt et in medio faciunt fractis separatim cum materia caementis.

[7] Another kind is what they call theenplecton, which even our peasants use. Its fronts are polished; the rest, just as they come from the quarry, being set with mortar, they bind together with alternating bonds. But our people, striving for speed, setting the blocks up upright, attend to the facings, and in the middle they make, with broken rubble-stones separately with mortar, the core.

Ita tres suscitantur in ea structura crustae, duae frontium et una media farturae. Graeci vero non ita, sed plana conlocantes et longitudines eorum alternis in crassitudinem instruentes, non media farciunt, sed e suis frontatis perpetuam et unam crassitudinem parietum consolidant. Praecaetera interponunt singulos crassitudine perpetua utraque parte frontatos, quos diatonous appellant, qui maxime religando confirmant parietum soliditatem.

Thus three crusts are set up in that structure, two of the fronts and one middle of stuffing. The Greeks, however, not thus, but placing them flat and arranging their lengths alternately into the thickness, do not fill the middle, but with their own fronted stones they consolidate a continuous and single thickness of the walls. Moreover, they insert at intervals single stones, fronted on both sides through the whole thickness, which they call diatonous, and these, by binding, most of all confirm the solidity of the walls.

[8] Itaque si qui voluerit ex his commentariis animadvertere et elegere genus structurae, perpetuitatis poterit rationem habere. Non enim quae sunt e molli caemento subtili facie venustatis, non eae possunt esse in venustate non ruinosae. Itaque cum arbitrio communium parietum sumuntur, non aestimat eos quanti facti fuerint, sed cum ex tabulis inveniunt eorum locationes, pretia praeteritorum annorum singulorum deducunt octogesimas et ita -- ex reliqua summa parte reddi pro his parietibus -- sententiam pronuntiant eos non posse plus quam annos LXXX durare.

[8] And so, if anyone should wish from these commentaries to observe and choose a kind of structure, he will be able to have a reckoning of perpetuity. For those which are of soft cement, with a fine face of comeliness, cannot be in a beauty that is not ruinous. Therefore, when arbitration of common walls is undertaken, he does not appraise them by how much they were made; but when from the records they find their leases, they deduct eightieths from the prices for each of the past years, and thus -- from the remaining sum a part to be returned for these walls -- they pronounce the judgment that they cannot last more than 80 years.

[9] De lactericiis vero, dummodo ad perpendiculum sint stantes, nihil deducitur, sed quanti fuerint olim facti, tanti esse semper aestimantur. Itaque nonnullis civitatibus et publica opera et privatas domos etiam regias a latere structas licet videre: et primum Athenis murum, qui spectat ad Hymettum montem et Pentelensem; item Patris in aede Iovis et Herculis latericias cellas, cum circa lapideae in aede epistylia sint et columnae; in Italia Arretio vetustum egregie factum murum. Trallibus domus regibus Attalicis facta, quae ad habitandum semper datur ei, qui civitatis gerit sacerdotium.

[9] As for brick-works, indeed, provided they are standing plumb, nothing is deducted; but they are always assessed to be worth as much as they were once made for. Thus in several cities it is possible to see both public works and private houses, even royal ones, constructed of brick: and first at Athens the wall which looks toward Mount Hymettus and the Pentelic; likewise at Patrae, in the temple of Jupiter and Hercules, brick cellae, while around in the temple the epistyles and columns are of stone; in Italy at Arretium an ancient wall excellently made. At Tralles a house built for the Attalid kings, which is always given for habitation to him who bears the priesthood of the city.

Item Lacedaemone e quibusdam parietibus etiam picturae excisae intersectis lateribus inclusae sunt in ligneis formis et in comitium ad ornatum aedilitatis Varronis et Murenae fuerunt adlatae.

Likewise at Lacedaemon, from certain walls even paintings, cut out, with the bricks cut asunder, were enclosed in wooden frames and were brought into the Comitium for the ornament of the aedileship of Varro and Murena.

[10] Croesi domus, quam Sardiani civibus ad requiescendum aetatis otio seniorum collegio gerusiam dedicaverunt; item Halicarnasso potentissimi regis Mausoli domus, cum Proconnensio marmore omnia haberet ornata, parietes habet latere structos, qui ad hoc tempus egregiam praestant firmitatem ita tectoriis operibus expoliti, uti vitri perluciditatem videantur habere. Neque is rex ab inopia id fecit; in inftnitis enim vectigalibus erat fartus, quod imperabat Cariae toti.

[10] the house of Croesus, which the Sardians dedicated to the citizens for repose, to the leisure of age, to the college of elders, the Gerusia; likewise at Halicarnassus the house of the most powerful king Mausolus, although it had everything adorned with Proconnesian marble, has walls built of brick, which up to this time exhibit outstanding firmness, so polished by plastering works that they seem to have the translucency of glass. Nor did that king do this out of poverty; for he was replete with infinite revenues, because he commanded all Caria.

[11] Acumen autem eius et sollertiam ad aedificia paranda sic licet considerare. Cum esset enim natus Mylasis et animadvertisset Halicarnasso locum naturaliter esse munitum, emporiumque idoneum portum utile, ibi sibi domum constituit. Is autem locus est theatri curvaturae similis.

[11] And his acumen and ingenuity for preparing buildings may thus be considered. For since he was born at Mylasa and had observed that at Halicarnassus the place was naturally fortified, and that it was an emporium suitable, a useful harbor, he established a house for himself there. Moreover, that place is similar to the curvature of a theater.

Itaque in imo secundum portum forum est constitutum; per mediam autem altitudinis curvaturam praecinctionemque platea ampla latitudine facta, in qua media Mausoleum ita egregiis operibus est factum, ut in septem spectaculis nominetur. In summa arce media Martis fanum habens statuam colossicam acrolithon nobili manu Leocharis factam. Hanc autem statuam alii Leocharis, alii Timothei putant esse.

Accordingly, at the lowest part, next to the harbor, the forum has been established; and along the middle curvature of the height and its encircling band, a broad street was made, in the midst of which the Mausoleum was fashioned with such outstanding works that it is named among the seven spectacles. On the topmost citadel, in the center, there is a shrine of Mars, possessing a colossal acrolithon statue made by the noble hand of Leochares. But some think this statue is by Leochares, others by Timotheus.

In cornu autem summo dextro Veneris et Mercuri fanum ad ipsum Salmacidis fontem.

But at the top right horn, a fane of Venus and Mercury, at the very fountain of Salmacis.

[12] Is autem falsa opinione putatur venerio morbo inplicare eos, qui ex eo biberint. Sed haec opinio quare per orbem terrae falso rumore sit pervagata, non pigebit exponere. Non enim quod dicitur molles et inpudicos ex ea aqua fieri, id potest esse, sed est eius fontis potestas perlucida saporque egregius.

[12] This, however, is thought by a false opinion to implicate with venereal disease those who drink from it. But why this opinion has spread through the world by false rumor, I shall not be loath to set forth. For indeed what is said—that from that water people become soft and shameless—cannot be the case, but the power of that spring is pellucid and its savor excellent.

Cum autem Melas et Areuanias ab Argis et Troezene coloniam communem eo loci deduxerunt, barbaros Caras et Lelegas eiecerunt. Hi autem ad montes fugati inter se congregantes discurrebant et ibi latrocinia facientes crudeliter eos vastabant. Postea de colonis unus ad eum fontem propter bonitatem aquae quaestus causa tabernam omnibus copiis instruxit eamque exercendo eos barbaros allectabat.

But when Melas and Areuanias, from Argos and Troezen, led down a common colony to that place, they drove out the barbarian Carians and Leleges. These, however, routed to the mountains, gathering themselves together, ranged about and there, committing brigandage, cruelly ravaged them. Afterwards one of the colonists, at that spring, on account of the goodness of the water, for the sake of profit set up a tavern furnished with every supply, and by operating it lured those barbarians.

Ita singillatim decurrentes et ad coetus convenientes e duro ferroque more commutati in Graecorum consuetudinem et suavitatim sua voluntate reducebantur. Ergo ea aqua non inpudico morbi vitio, sed humanitatis dulcedine mollitis animis barbarorum eam famam est adepta.

Thus, running down one by one and assembling into gatherings, changed from a hard and iron manner into the custom of the Greeks, they were gently, of their own will, brought back. Therefore that water has obtained that fame not by the fault of an impudent disease, but by the sweetness of humanity, the minds of the barbarians having been softened.

[13] Relinquitur nunc, quoniam ad explicationem moenium eorum sum invectus, totam uti sunt definiam. Quemadmodum enim in dextra parte fanum est Veneris et fons supra scriptus, ita in sinistro cornu regia domus, quam rex Mausolus ad suam rationem conlocavit. Conspicitur enim ex ea ad dextram partem forum et portus moeniumque tota finitio, sub sinistram secretus sub montibus latens portus, ita ut nemo posset, quid in eo geratur, aspicere nec scire, ut rex ipse de sua domo remigibus et militibus sine ullo sciente quae opus essent, spectaret.

[13] It remains now, since I have entered upon the explication of their walls, to delineate the whole as they are. For just as on the right side there is a shrine of Venus and the aforewritten spring, so on the left corner the royal house, which King Mausolus situated according to his own plan. For from it on the right side the forum and the port and the entire delimitation of the walls are in view, while beneath the left a secluded port lies hidden under the mountains, such that no one could look upon or know what is transacted in it, so that the king himself from his own house might observe the oarsmen and the soldiers, with no one being aware, what things were requisite.

[14] Itaque post mortem Mausoli Artemisiam uxorem eius regnantem Rhodii indignantes mulierem imperare civitatibus Cariae totius, armata classe profecti sunt, uti id regnum occuparent. Tum Artemisiae cum esset id renuntiatum, in eo portu abstrusam classem celatis remigibus et epibatis conparatis, reliquos autem cives in muro esse iussit. Cum autem Rhodii ornata classe in portum maiorem exposuissent, plausum iussit ab muro his darent pollicerique se oppidum tradituros.

[14] And so, after the death of Mausolus, the Rhodians, indignant that a woman—Artemisia his wife—was reigning and commanding the cities of all Caria, set out with an armed fleet, in order that they might seize that kingdom. Then, when this had been reported to Artemisia, with her fleet concealed in that harbor, the oarsmen and marines hidden and made ready, she ordered the remaining citizens to be on the wall. But when the Rhodians had brought their arrayed fleet into the greater harbor, she ordered that from the wall they should give applause to them and promise that they would hand over the town.

Qui cum penetravissent intra murum relictis navibus inanibus, Artemisia repente fossa facta in pelagum eduxit classem ex portu minore et ita invecta est in maiorem. Expositis autem militibus classem Rhodiorum inanem abduxit in altum. Ita Rhodii non habentes, quo se reciperent, in medio conclusi in ipso foro sunt trucidati.

When they had penetrated within the wall, the ships having been left empty, Artemisia suddenly, a trench cut into the open sea, led the fleet out from the smaller port and thus sailed into the larger. And with the soldiers put ashore, she led the empty fleet of the Rhodians off into the deep. Thus the Rhodians, having no place to which they might retire, shut in the midst, in the very forum, were slaughtered.

[15] Ita Artemisia in navibus Rhodiorum suis militibus et remigibus inpositis Rhodum est profecta. Rhodii autem, cum prospexissent suas naves laureatas venire, opinantes cives victores reverti hostes receperunt. Tum Artemisia Rhodo capta principibus occisis tropaeum in urbem Rhodo suae victoriae constituit aeneasque duas statuas fecit, unam Rhodiorum civitatis, alteram suae imaginis, et ita figuravit Rhodiorum civitati stigmata inponentem.

[15] Thus Artemisia, with her own soldiers and rowers put aboard the ships of the Rhodians, set out for Rhodes. But the Rhodians, when they caught sight of their laureled ships coming, supposing their fellow citizens, as victors, to be returning, admitted the enemies. Then, Rhodes having been taken and the chiefs slain, Artemisia set up in the city of Rhodes a trophy of her victory, and she made two bronze statues, one of the commonwealth of the Rhodians, the other of her own image, and thus she fashioned it—as imposing stigmata upon the city of the Rhodians.

Id autem postea Rhodii religione inpediti, quod nefas est tropaea dedicata removeri, circa eum locum aedificium struxerunt et id erecta Graia statione texerunt, ne qui possit aspicere, et id abaton vocitari iusserunt.

Afterwards, however, the Rhodians, hindered by religion—since it is unlawful that dedicated trophies be removed—constructed a building around that place and covered it with an erected Greek portico, so that no one might be able to look upon it, and they ordered it to be called the abaton.

[16] Cum ergo tam magna potentia reges non contempserint latericiorum parietum structuras, quibus et vectigalibus et praeda saepius licitum fuerat non modo caementicio aut quadrato saxo sed etiam marmoreo habere, non puto oportere inprobare quae sunt e latericia structura facta aedificia, dummodo recte sint tecta. Sed id genus quid ita populo Romano in urbe fieri non oporteat, exponam, quaeque sunt eius rei causae et rationes, non praetermittam.

[16] Since therefore kings of such great power did not contemn the structures of brick walls, for whom by revenues and by booty it had very often been permitted to have not only caementitious or squared stone but even marble, I do not think one ought to disapprove buildings that are made of brickwork, provided they are rightly roofed. But why that kind ought not to be made in the city for the Roman people, I will expound, and I will not omit the causes and the reasons of that matter.

[17] Leges publicae non patiuntur maiores crassitudines quam sesquipedales constitui loco communi; ceteri autem parietes, ne spatia angustiora fierent, aedem crassitudine conlocantur. Latericii vero, nisi diplinthii aut triplinthii fuerint, sesquipedali crassitudine non possunt plus unam sustinere contignationem. In ea autem maiestate urbis et civium infinita frequentia innumerabiles habitationes opus est explicare.

[17] Public laws do not allow thicknesses greater than sesquipedal to be established in a common place; but the other walls, lest the spaces become narrower, are set with the same thickness. Brick-built walls, however, unless they are diplinthic or triplinthic, at a sesquipedal thickness cannot support more than one story. But in such majesty of the city and the infinite multitude of citizens, it is necessary to unfold innumerable habitations.

Ergo cum recipere non possit area planata tantam multitudinem ad habitandum in urbe, ad auxilium altitudinis aedificiorum res ipsa coegit devenire. Itaque pilis lapideis structuris testaceis, parietibus caementiciis altitudines extructae contignationibus crebris coaxatae cenaculorum ad summas utilitates perficiunt despectationes. Ergo moenibus e contignationibus variis alto spatio multiplicatis populus Romanus egregias habet sine inpeditione habitationes.

Therefore, since a leveled area cannot receive so great a multitude for dwelling in the city, the matter itself compelled a resort to the aid of the altitude of buildings. And so, with stone piles (piers), with testaceous structures, with caementitious walls, altitudes have been erected, braced with frequent contignations of upper rooms, and they bring to completion outlooks to the highest advantages. Therefore, with the walls, from various contignations, multiplied in lofty space, the Roman people have excellent habitations without impediment.

[18] Quoniam ergo explicata ratio est, quid ita in urbe propter necessitatem angustiarum non patiuntur esse latericios parietes, cum extra urbem opus erit his uti, sine vitiis ad vetustatem, sic erit faciendum. Summis parietibus structura testacea sub tegula subiciatur altitudine circiter sesquipedali habeatque proiecturas coronarum. Ita vitari poterunt quae solent in his fieri vitia; cum enim in tecto tegulae fuerint fractae aut a ventis deiectae, qua possint ex imbribus aqua perpluere, non patietur lorica testacea laedi laterem, sed proiectura coronarum reiciet extra perpendiculum stillas et ea ratione servaverit integras parietum latericiorum structuras.

[18] Since therefore the rationale has been unfolded, why in the city, on account of the necessity of narrowness, they do not allow brick walls to exist, whereas outside the city, if there will be need to use these, in order to be without faults into long age, thus it will have to be done. On the tops of the walls let a testaceous structure be placed beneath the roof-tile, about a foot-and-a-half in height, and let it have projections of the cornices. Thus the defects which are wont to happen in these can be avoided; for when on the roof the tiles have been broken or cast down by winds, whereby water from rains can drip through, the testaceous lorica will not allow the brick to be damaged, but the projection of the cornices will cast the droplets beyond the perpendicular, and in this way will have preserved intact the structures of the brick walls.

[19] De ipsa autem testa, si sit optima seu vitiosa ad structuram, statim nemo potest iudicare, quod in tempestatibus et aestate in tecto cum est conlocata, tunc, si est firma, probatur; namque quae non fuerit ex creta bona aut parum erit cocta, ibi se ostendit esse vitiosam gelicidiis et pruina tacta. Ergo quae non in tectis poterit pati laborem, ea non potest in structura oneri ferendo esse firma. Quare maxime ex veteribus tegulis tecta structa; parietes firmitatem poterunt habere.

[19] About the tile itself, moreover, whether it be optimal or defective for structure, no one can judge immediately, because when it has been placed on the roof in storms and in the heat of summer, then, if it is firm, it is approved; for that which is not from good clay or has been too little baked there shows itself to be defective when touched by freezes and hoarfrost. Therefore, what cannot endure the labor on roofs cannot be firm in the structure for bearing a burden. Wherefore, with roofs constructed chiefly from old tiles, the walls will be able to have firmness.

[20] Craticii vero velim quidem ne inventi essent; quantum enim celeritate et loci laxamento prosunt, tanto maiori et communi sunt calamitati, quod ad incendia uti faces sunt parati. Itaque satius esse videtur inpensa testaceorum in sumptu, quam compendio craticiorum esse in periculo. Etiamque in tectoriis operibus rimas in his faciunt arrectariorum et transversariorum dispositione, Cum enim linuntur, recipientes umorem turgescunt, deinde siccescendo contrahuntur et ita extenuati disrumpunt tectoriorum soliditatem.

[20] As for the craticii, indeed I would wish they had not been invented; for as much as they help by speed and by the roominess of space, by so much are they for a greater and common calamity, because for conflagrations they stand ready like torches. And so it seems better to bear the expense of testaceous (brick/tile) works in the outlay than, by the saving of craticii, to be in danger. Also, in plastering works they make cracks in these by the disposition of the uprights and the crosspieces, For when they are smeared, taking in moisture they swell, then by drying they contract, and thus, attenuated, they burst the solidity of the plasterings.

Sed quoniam nonnullos celeritas aut inopia aut in pendenti loco dissaeptio cogit, sic erit faciundum. Solum substruatur, ut sit intactum ab rudere et pavimento; obruta enim in his cum sunt, vetustate marcida fiunt; deinde subsidentia proclinantur et disrumpunt speciem tectoriorum.

But since celerity or want, or a partition in a pendent place, compels some, thus it will have to be done. Let the floor be under-built, so that it be untouched by the rubble-layer (rudus) and the pavement; for when things are covered over in these, they become decayed with age; then, as they subside, they incline and disrupt the appearance of the plaster-works.

De parietibus et apparitione generatim materiae eorum, quibus sint virtutibus et vitiis, quemadmodum potui, exposui; de contignationibus autem et copiis earum, quibus conparentur, et ad vetustatem non sint infirmae, uti natura rerum monstrat, explicabo.

Concerning walls and, in general, the finishing of their material—what virtues and vices they have—I have set forth as I could; but regarding the floor-framings and their supplies, by which they are procured, and so that they be not weak for old age, as the nature of things shows, I will explain.

Caput Nonum

Chapter Nine

[1] Materies caedenda est a primo autumno ad id tempus, quod erit antequam flare incipiat favonius. Vere enim omnes arbores fiunt praegnates et omnes suae proprietatis virtutem efferunt in frondem anniversariosque fructus. Cum ergo inanes et umidae temporum necessitate eorum fuerint, vanae fiunt et raritatibus inbecillae; uti etiam corpora muliebria, cum conceperint, ad foetus a partu non iudicantur integra, neque in venalibus ea, cum sunt praegnantia, praestantur sana, ideo quod in corpore praeseminatio crescens ex omnibus cibi potestatibus detrahit alimentum in se, et quo firmior efficitur ad maturitatem partus, eo minus patitur esse solidum id ex quo ipsum procreatur.

[1] Timber ought to be cut from the first autumn up to that time which will be before the Favonius begins to blow. For in spring all trees become pregnant and put forth the virtue of their own property into foliage and their anniversary fruits. When therefore, by the necessity of the seasons, they have been empty and moist, they become vain and weak through porosities; just as also women’s bodies, when they have conceived, are not judged entire for offspring from parturition, nor in things for sale, when they are pregnant, are they warranted as sound, for the growing pre-semination in the body draws aliment to itself from all the powers of food, and the more it is made firmer toward the maturity of delivery, the less it suffers that to be solid from which it itself is generated.

Itaque edito foetu, quod prius in aliud genus incrementi detrahebatur, cum a disparatione procreationis est liberatum, inanibus et patentibus venis in se recipient. Lambendo sucum etiam solidescit et redit in pristinam naturae firmitatem.

Therefore, with the offspring brought forth, that which previously was being drawn off into another kind of increment, when it has been freed from the disparity of procreation, they take back into themselves through empty and open vessels. By licking up the juice it also solidifies and returns to the pristine firmness of nature.

[2] Eadem ratione autumnali tempore maturitate fructuum flaccescente fronde, et terra recipientes radices arborum in se sucum reciperantur et restituuntur in antiquam soliditatem. At vero aeris hiberni vis conprimit et consolidat eas per id, ut supra scriptum est, tempus. Ergo si ea ratione et eo tempore, quod est supra scriptum, caeditur materies, erit tempestiva.

[2] By the same rationale, in the autumnal season, as the foliage grows flaccid with the maturity of the fruits, and as the earth, receiving into itself the roots of the trees, takes back the sap into them, they are restored to their ancient solidity. But indeed the force of the winter air compresses and consolidates them through that time, as written above. Therefore, if the timber is felled in that manner and at that time which is written above, it will be seasonable.

[3] Caedi autem ita oportet, uti incidatur arboris crassitudo ad mediam medullam, et relinquatur, uti per eam exsiccescat stillando sucus. Ita qui inest in his inutilis liquor effluens per torulum non patietur emori in eo saniem nec corrumpi materiae aequalitatem. Tum autem, cum sicca et sine stillis erit arbor, deiciatur et ita erit optima in usu.

[3] But it ought to be cut thus: let the thickness of the tree be incised down to the middle medulla, and let it be left, so that the sap may exsiccate by dripping through it. Thus the useless liquor that is in these, flowing out through the tap-hole, will not allow sanies to remain within it, nor the uniformity of the timber to be corrupted. Then, when the tree is dry and without drips, let it be felled, and thus it will be best in use.

[4] Hoc autem ita esse licet animum advertere etiam de arbustis. Ea enim cum suo quoque tempore ad imum perforata castrantur, profundunt e medullis quae habent in se superantem et vitiosum, per foramina liquorem, et ita siccescendo recipiunt in se diuturnitatem. Quae autem non habent ex arboribus exitus umoris, intra concrescentes putrescunt, et efficiunt inanes eas vitiosas.

[4] This, moreover, one may notice even from tree-plantations. For when these too, in their own season, are castrated—that is, pruned—having been bored through at the base, they pour out from their marrows, through the holes, the liquid which they have in themselves that is superabundant and vicious; and thus, by drying, they take into themselves durability. But those which do not have outlets for the moisture from the trees, condensing within, rot, and render them hollow and vitiated.

Ergo si stantes et vivae siccescendo non senescunt, sine dubio cum eae ad materiam deiciuntur, cum ea ratione curatae fuerint, habere poterunt magnas in aedificiis ad vetustatem utilitates.

Therefore, if, while standing and alive, they do not grow old by drying, without doubt, when they are brought down for timber, provided they have been cared for by that method, they will be able to have great advantages in edifices for longevity.

[5] Hae autem inter se discrepantes et dissimiles habent virtutes, uti robur, ulmus, populus, cupressus, abies ceteraque, quae maxime in aedificiis sunt idonea. Namque non potest id robur quod abies, nec cupressus quod ulmus, nec cetera easdem habent inter se natura rerum similitates, sed singula genera principiorum proprietatibus conparata alios alii generis praestant in operibus effectus.

[5] These, however, differing and dissimilar among themselves, have their virtues: oak, elm, poplar, cypress, fir, and the rest, which are most suitable in buildings. For oak cannot do what fir can, nor cypress what elm can, nor do the others have among themselves the same similitudes in the nature of things; but individual genera, compared according to the properties of their principles, afford in works effects different in kind, one surpassing another.

[6] Et primum abies aeris habens plurimum et ignis minimumque umoris et terreni, levioribus rerum naturae potestatibus conparata non est ponderata. Itaque rigore naturali contenta non cito flectitur ab onere, sed directa permanet in contignatione. Sed ea, quod habet in se plus caloris, procreat et alit cariem ab eaque vitiatur, etiamque ideo celeriter accenditur, quod quae inest in eo corpore aeris raritas et est patens, accipit ignem et ita vehementem ex se mittit flammam.

[6] And first, fir, having very much of air and of fire and the least of humor (moisture) and of the terrene, being compared with the lighter powers of the nature of things, is not weighted. Therefore, content with natural rigor, it is not quickly bent by a load, but remains straight in the contignation (beamwork). But it, because it has in itself more heat, begets and nourishes caries (rot) and is vitiated by it; and for that reason also it is quickly kindled, because the rarity of air which is in that body is open, it receives fire and thus sends forth from itself a vehement flame.

[7] Ex ea autem, antequam est excisa, quae pars est proxima terrae, per radices recipiens ex proximitate umorem enodis et liquida efficitur; quae vero est superior, vehementia caloris eductis in aera per nodos ramis, praecisa alte circiter pedes XX et perdolata propter nodationis duritiem dicitur esse fusterna. Ima autem, cum excisa quadrifluviis disparatur, eiecto torulo ex eadem arbore ad intestina opera conparatur et ab infima fusterna sappinea vocatur.

[7] From it, however, before it is cut down, the part which is nearest to the earth, receiving by the roots from the proximity moisture, becomes without knots and liquid; but the part which is higher, by the vehemence of heat, the branches having been led out into the air through the nodes, when cut off high about feet 20 and thoroughly smoothed on account of the hardness of the nodation, is said to be fusterna. The lowest part, however, when, after being cut, it is divided into quarters, with the little swelling cast out, from that same tree is prepared for internal works, and from the lowest fusterna is called sappy.

[8] Contra vero quercus terrenis principiorum satietatibus abundans parumque habens umoris et aeris et ignis, cum in terrenis operibus obruitur, infinitam habet aeternitatem. Ex eo cum tangitur umore, non habens foraminum raritates propter spissitatem non potest in corpus recipere liquorem, sed fugiens ab umore resistit et torquetur et efficit, in quibus est operibus, ea rimosa.

[8] On the contrary, the oak, abounding in the satieties of the terrestrial principles and having little of moisture and of air and of fire, when it is buried in terrene works, has an infinite eternity. Accordingly, when it is touched by moisture, not having the rarities of pores because of its density, it cannot receive the liquid into its body; but, fleeing from moisture, it resists and is torqued, and it makes the works in which it is present cracked.

[9] Aesculus vero, quod est omnibus principiis temperata, habet in aedificiis magnas utilitates; sed ea, cum in umore conlocatur recipiens penitus per foramina liquorem eiecto aere et igni operatione umidae potestatis vitiatur. Cerrus quercus fagus, quod pariter habent mixtionem umoris et ignis et terreni, aeris plurimum, provisa raritates umoris penitus recipiendo celeriter marcescunt. Populus alba et nigra, item salix, tilia vitex ignis et aeris habendo satietatem, umoris temperate, parum autem terreni habens leviore temperatura comparata, egregiam habere videtur in usu rigiditatem.

[9] The aesculus, however, since it is tempered with respect to all the principles, has great utilities in buildings; but when it is placed in moisture, admitting the liquid thoroughly through the pores and, with air and fire cast out, it is vitiated by the operation of the moist potency. The cerrus, quercus, and fagus, because they alike have a mixture of moisture and fire and of the earthy, and very much of air, when the porosities are afforded to moisture, by receiving it to the depths they quickly wither. The white and black poplar, likewise the willow, linden, and vitex, having a satiety of fire and of air, a tempered amount of moisture, but little of the earthy, with a lighter temperament supplied, seem to have excellent rigidity in use.

Ergo cum non sint dura terreni mixtione propter raritatem sunt candida et in sculpturis commodam praestant tractabilitatem.

Therefore, since they are not hard through an earthy admixture, on account of their porosity they are white, and in sculptures they afford convenient tractability.

[10] Alnus autem, quae proxima fluminum ripis procreatur et minime materies utilis videtur, habet in se egregias rationes. Etenim aere et igni plurimo temperata, non multem terreno, umore paulo. Itaque in palustribus locis infra fundamenta aedificiorum palationibus crebre fixa, recipiens in se quod minus habet in corpore liquoris, permanet inmortalis ad aeternitatem et sustinet inmania pondera structurae et sine vitiis conservat.

[10] Alder, however, which is generated nearest the banks of rivers and seems the least useful timber, has in itself admirable properties. For, being tempered with a very great amount of air and fire, not much of the earthy, and a little of moisture, therefore in marshy places, beneath the foundations of buildings, when fixed frequently as piles, taking into itself the moisture which it lacks in its substance, it remains immortal unto eternity and sustains the immense weights of the structure, and preserves it without defects.

Ita quae non potest extra terram paulum tempus durare, ea in umore obruta permanet ad diuturnitam.

Thus that which cannot endure outside the earth for a little time, when buried in moisture, remains to long duration.

[11] Est autem maximum id considerare Ravennae, quod ibi omnia opera et publica et privata sub fundamentis eius generis habeant palos. Ulmus vero et fraxinus maximos habent umoris minimumque aeris et ignis, terreni temperate mixtione comparatae. Sunt in operibus, cum fabricantur, lentae et ab pondere umoris non habent rigorem et celeriter pandant; simul autem vetustate sunt aridae factae aut in agro perfecto qui est eis liquor stantes emoriuntur, fiunt duriores et in commissuris et coagmentationibus ab lentitudine firmas recipiunt catenationes.

[11] It is, moreover, most important to observe at Ravenna, that there all works, both public and private, have piles of that kind beneath their foundations. Elm, indeed, and ash have the greatest share of moisture and the least of air and fire, being composed by a temperate mixture of the earthy element. In works, when they are being fabricated, they are pliant, and by the weight of their moisture they do not have rigidity, and they warp quickly; but as soon as by age they have been made dry, or, standing in the open when the moisture that is theirs has been fully spent, they die, they become harder, and in joints and coagmentations, by reason of their pliancy, they receive firm catenations.

[12] Item carpinus, quod est minima ignis et terreni mixtione, aeris autem et umoris summa continetur temperatura, non est fragilis, sed habet utilissimam tractabilitatem. Itaque Graeci, quod ea materia iuga iumentis conparant, quod apud eos iugazyga vocitantur, item zygian eam appellant. Non minus est admirandum de cupresso et pinu, quod eae habentes umoris abundantiam aequamque ceterorum mixtionem, propter umoris satietatem in operibus solent esse pandae, sed in vetustatem sine vitiis conservantur, quod is liquor, qui inest penitus in corporibus earum, habet amarum saporem qui propter acritudinem non patitur penetrare cariem neque eas bestiolas quae sunt nocentes.

[12] Likewise the hornbeam, which has the least admixture of fire and earth, but is contained by the highest temperament of air and moisture, is not brittle, but has a most useful tractability. Thus the Greeks, because from this material they fashion yokes for draft animals, since among them yokes are calledzyga, likewise call it zygian. No less is it to be admired about the cypress and the pine, that, having an abundance of moisture and an equal mixture of the others, on account of the surfeit of moisture they are wont to be warped in constructions; yet over time they are preserved without defects, because the liquor which is deep within their bodies has a bitter flavor which, by its acridity, does not allow decay to penetrate nor those noxious little creatures.

Ideoque quae ex his generibus opera constituuntur, permanent ad aeternam diuturnitatem.

And therefore the works that are constituted from these kinds endure to eternal durability.

[13] Item cedrus et iuniperus easdem habent virtutes et utilitates; sed quemadmodum ex copressu et pinu resina ex cedro oleum quod cedrium dicitur, nascitur, quo reliquae res cum sunt unctae, uti etiam libri, a tineis et carie non laeduntur. Arboris autem eius sunt similes cupresseae foliaturae; materies vena directa. Ephesi in aede simulacrum Dianae ex ea, lacunaria et ibi et in ceteris nobilibus fanis propter aeternitatem sunt facta.

[13] Likewise cedar and juniper have the same virtues and utilities; but just as from cypress and pine resin is produced, from cedar an oil which is called cedrium is produced, with which, when other things are anointed, books too, they are not damaged by moths and rot. The foliage of that tree is like the cypress; the timber has a straight vein (grain). At Ephesus in the temple the image of Diana is from it, and coffered ceilings (lacunaria) both there and in the other noble fanes have been made on account of its everlastingness.

Nascuntur autem eae arbores maxime Cretae et Africae et nonnullis Syriae regionibus.

However, those trees grow chiefly in Crete and Africa and in several regions of Syria.

[14] Larix vero, qui non est notus nisi is municipalibus qui sunt circa ripam fluminis Padi et litora maris Hadriani, non solum ab suco vehementi amaritate ab carie aut tinea non nocetur, sed etiam flammam ex igni non recipit, nec ipse per se potest ardere, nisi uti saxum in fornace ad calcem coquendam aliis lignis uratur; nec tamen tunc flammam recipit nec carbonem remittit, sed longo spatio tarde comburitur. Quod est minima ignis et aeris e principiis temperatura, umore autem et terreno est spisse solidata, non habet spatia foraminum, qua possit ignis penetrare, reicitque eius vim nec patitur ab eo sibi cito noceri, propterque pondus ab aqua non sustinetur, sed cum portatur, aut in navibus aut supra abiegnas rates conlocatur.

[14] The larch, however, which is not known except to those municipals who are around the bank of the river Po and the shores of the Adriatic Sea, is not only, by the vehement bitterness of its sap, not harmed by caries or woodworm, but also it does not take flame from fire, nor can it by itself burn, unless, as a stone in a furnace for burning to lime, it is heated with other woods; nor yet then does it take flame nor yield charcoal, but over a long span it is slowly consumed. This is because it has the least temperament from the principles of fire and air, but in moisture and earth it is thickly solidified; it does not have pore-spaces by which fire can penetrate, and it repels its force and does not allow itself to be quickly harmed by it; and on account of its weight it is not supported by water, but when it is transported, it is placed either in ships or upon fir-wood rafts.

[15] Ea autem materies quemadmodum sit inventa, est causa cognoscere. Divus Caesar cum exercitum habuisset circa Alpes imperavissetque municipiis praestare commeatus, ibique esset castellum munitum, quod vocaretur Larignum, tunc, qui in eo fuerunt, naturali munitione confisi noluerunt inperio parere. Itaque imperator copias iussit admoveri, erat autem ante eius castelli portam turris ex hac materia alternis trabibus transversis uti pyra inter se composita alte, uti posset de summo sudibus et lapidibus accedentes repellere.

[15] But how that material was discovered, there is cause to learn. When the deified Caesar had an army about the Alps and had ordered the municipalities to furnish provisions, and there was there a fortified stronghold which was called Larignum, then those who were in it, trusting in the natural fortification, were unwilling to obey the command. Therefore the emperor ordered the troops to be brought up; and before the gate of that fortress there was a tower of this material, composed high with alternating transverse beams, put together among themselves like a pyre, so that from the top it might repel those approaching with stakes and stones.

Tunc vero cum animadversum est alia eos tela praeter sudes non habere neque posse longius a muro propter pondus iaculari, imperatum est fasciculos ex virgis alligatos et faces ardentes ad eam munitonem accendentes mittere.

Then indeed, when it was noticed that they had no other missiles besides stakes, and could not hurl farther from the wall on account of the weight, it was ordered that bundles tied from rods and burning torches be sent against that fortification, setting it alight.

[16] Itaque celeriter milites congesserunt. Posteaquam flamma circa illam materiam virgas comprehendisset, ad caelum sublata efficit opinionem, uti videretur iam tota moles concidisse. Cum autem ea per se extincta esset et re quieta turris intacta apparuisset, admirans Caesar iussit extra telorum missionem eos circumvallari.

[16] Therefore the soldiers quickly piled them up. After the flame had seized the rods around that material, borne aloft to the sky it produced the impression that the whole mass already seemed to have collapsed. But when it had gone out of its own accord and, the matter quieted, the tower appeared untouched, Caesar, marveling, ordered that they be circumvallated outside the range of missiles.

Itaque timore coacti oppidani cum se dedidissent, quaesitum, unde essent ea ligna quae ab igni non laederentur. Tunc ei demonstraverunt eas arbores, quarum in his locis maximae sunt copiae. Et ideo id castellum Larignum, item materias larigna est appelata.

Therefore, the townspeople, compelled by fear, when they had surrendered themselves, it was asked whence were those timbers which were not harmed by fire. Then they showed him those trees, of which in these places there is the greatest supply. And for that reason the fort was appellated Larignum, likewise the timbers are called larch.

Haec autem per Padum Ravennam deportatur. In colonia Fanestri, Pisauri, Anconae reliquisque, quae sunt in ea regione, municipiis praebetur. Cuius materies si esset facultas adportationibus ad urbem, maximae haberentur in aedificiis utilitates, et si non in omne, certe tabulae in subgrundiis circum insulas si essent ex ea conlocatae, ab traiectionibus incendiorum aedificia periculo liberarentur, quod ea neque flammam nec carbonem possunt recipere nec facere per se.

This, moreover, is carried down the Po to Ravenna. It is furnished to the colony of Fanestrum, to Pisaurum, to Ancona, and to the remaining municipia which are in that region. If there were a facility for shipments of its timber to the City, very great utilities would be had in buildings; and if not in every part, certainly if boards in the subgrundia around the insulae were placed of it, buildings would be freed from danger from the cross-overs of conflagrations, because it can receive neither flame nor coal/ember nor produce them by itself.

[17] Sunt autem eae arbores foliis similibus pini; materies earum prolixa, tractabilis ad intestinum opus non minus quam sappinea, habetque resinam liquidam mellis Attici colore, quae etiam medetur phthisicis.

[17] Those trees have leaves similar to the pine; their timber is long, tractable for interior work no less than fir-wood, and it has a liquid resin of the color of Attic honey, which even heals the phthisic.

De singulis generibus, quibus proprietatibus e natura rerum videantur esse comparatae quibusque procreantur rationibus, exposui. Insequitur animadversio, quid ita quae in urbe supernas dicitur abies, deterior est, quae infernas, egregios in aedificiis ad diuturnitatem praestat usus, et de his rebus, quemadmodum videantur e locorum proprietatibus habere vitia aut virtutes, uti ea sint considerantibus apertiora, exponere.

About the individual kinds, by what properties from the nature of things they seem to have been constituted and by what processes they are procreated, I have set forth. Next follows a consideration: why the fir which in the city is called “upper” is inferior, while that which is called “lower” affords outstanding uses in buildings for long duration; and to set forth about these matters how they seem, from the properties of the places, to have vices or virtues, so that these things may be more open to those considering them.

Caput Decimum

Chapter Ten

[1] Montis Appennini primae radices ab Tyrrenico mari in Alpis et in extremas Etruriae regiones oriuntur. Eius vero montis iugum se circumagens et media curvatura prope tangens oras maris Hadriani pertingit circumitionibus contra fretum. Itaque citerior eius curvatura quae vergit ad Etruriae Campaniaque regiones, apricis est potestatibus; namque impetus habet perpetuos ad solis cursum.

[1] The first roots of the Apennine mountain arise from the Tyrrhenian sea into the Alps and into the farthest regions of Etruria. The ridge of that mountain, moreover, turning itself around and with its middle curvature almost touching the shores of the Adriatic sea, reaches by circuits toward the strait. And so its nearer curvature, which inclines to the regions of Etruria and Campania, is under sunny exposures; for it has perpetual impetus toward the course of the sun.

Ulterior autem, quae est proclinata ad superum mare, septentrionali regioni subiecta continetur umbrosisi et opacis perpetuitatibus. Itaque quae in ea parte nascuntur arbores, umida potestate nutritae non solum ipsae augentur amplissimis magnitudinibus, sed earum quoque venae umoris copia repletae urgentis liquoris abundantia saturantur. Cum autem excisae et dolatae vitalem potestatem amiserunt, venarum rigore permanente siccescendo propter raritatem fiunt inanes et evanidae, ideoque in aedificiis non possunt habere diuturnitatem.

But the farther side, which is inclined toward the upper sea, being subjected to the northern region, is held in perpetual shadow and opacity. And so the trees which grow in that part, nourished by a humid power, not only themselves are increased to very ample magnitudes, but their veins too, filled with a supply of moisture, are saturated with an abundance of pressing liquid. When, however, cut and hewn, they have lost their vital power; with the stiffness of the veins remaining, by drying out they become empty and evanescent on account of their rarity; and therefore in buildings they cannot possess long-lastingness.

[2] Quae autem ad solis cursum spectantibus locis procreantur, non habentes interveniorum raritates siccitatibus exsuctae solidantur, quia sol non modo ex terra lambendo sed etiam ex arboribus educit umores. Itaque, sunt in apricis regionibus, spissis venarum crebritatibus solidatae non habentes ex umore raritatem; quae, cum in materiem perdolantur, reddunt magnas utilitates ad vetustatem. Ideo infernates, quod ex apricis locis adportantur, meliores sunt, quam quae ab opacis de supernatibus advehuntur.

[2] But those which are produced in places facing the course of the sun, not having the porosities of interstices, are solidified, sucked dry by aridities, because the sun draws out moistures not only by “licking” from the earth but also from trees. Therefore, in sunny (aprican) regions, being solidified by the thick crowdedness of their veins, and not having porosity from moisture, they, when planed down into timber, yield great advantages for longevity. Hence the down-country ones, because they are brought from sunny places, are better than those conveyed from the shady upper regions.

[3] Quantum animo considerare potui, de copiis quae sunt necessariae in aedificiorum conparationibus, et quibus temperaturis e rerum natura principiorum habere videantur mixtionem quaeque insunt in singulis generibus virtutes et vitia, uti non sint ignota aedificantibus, exposui. Ita, qui potuerint eorum praeceptorum sequi praescriptiones, erunt prudentiores singulorumque generum usum eligere poterunt in operibus. Ergo quoniam de apparitionibus est explicatum, in ceteris voluminibus de ipsis aedificiis exponitur; et primum de deorum inmortalium aedibus sacris et de earum symmetriis et proportionibus, uti ordo postulat, insequenti perscribam.

[3] As far as I was able to consider in mind, I have set forth about the supplies that are necessary in the preparations of buildings, and with what temperatures, from the nature of things, the principles seem to have a mixture, and what virtues and vices are present in each kind, so that they may not be unknown to builders. Thus, those who shall have been able to follow the prescriptions of those precepts will be more prudent and will be able to choose the use of each kind in works. Therefore, since it has been explained about the preparations, in the remaining volumes there will be set forth about the buildings themselves; and first I will write in full, as order demands, about the sacred shrines of the immortal gods and about their symmetries and proportions, in what follows.