Vitruvius: DE ARCHITECTVRA

[1] Cum animadvertissem, imperator, plures de architectura praecepta voluminaque commentariorum non ordinita sed incepta, uti particulas, errabundos reliquisse, dignam et utilissimam rem putavi antea disciplinae corpus ad perfectam ordinationem perducere et praescriptas in singulis voluminibus singulorum generum qualitates explicare. Itaque, Caesar, primo volumine tibi de officio eius et quibus eruditum esse rebus architectum oporteat, exposui. Secundo de copiis materiae, e quibus aedificia constituuntur, disputavi; tertio autem de aedium sacrarum dispositionibus et de earum generum varietate quasque et quot habeant species earumque quae sunt in singulis generibus distributiones.

[1] When I had observed, emperor, that many, concerning architecture, had left precepts and volumes of commentaries not organized but merely begun, as particles, wandering, I thought it a worthy and most useful thing first to bring the corpus of the discipline to a perfect ordering and to explain, prescribed in individual volumes, the qualities of the several genera. Therefore, Caesar, in the first volume I set forth for you about its office and the matters in which it is proper that the architect be erudite. In the second I discussed the supplies of material, out of which buildings are constituted; in the third, moreover, the dispositions of sacred houses and the variety of their genera—what and how many species they have—and the distributions of those which are in the individual genera.

[2] Ex tribus generibus quae subtilissimas haberent proportionibus modulorum quantitates ionici generis moribus, docui; nunc hoc volumine de doricis corinthiisque constitutis (et) omnibus dicam eorumque discrimina et proprietatis explicabo.

[2] Of the three genera, which have the most subtle quantities by proportions of modules according to the mores of the Ionic genus, I have taught; now in this volume I shall speak about the Doric and Corinthian constitutions (and) all of them, and I shall explain their differences and properties.

Caput Primum

Chapter One

[1] Columnae corinthiae praeter capitula omnes symmetrias habent uti ionicae, sed capitulorum altitudines efficiunt eas pro rata excelsiores et graciliores, quod ionici capituli altitudo tertia pars est crassitudinis columnae, corinthii tota crassitudo scapi. Igitur quod duae partes e crassitudine corinthiarum adiciuntur, efficiunt excelsitate speciem earum graciliorem.

[1] Corinthian columns, apart from the capitals, have all the symmetries as do Ionic ones, but the heights of the capitals make them proportionally taller and more gracile, because the height of an Ionic capital is a third part of the thickness of the column, whereas that of the Corinthian is the whole thickness of the shaft. Therefore, because two parts from the thickness are added in the case of Corinthian columns, their appearance is made more slender by the elevation.

[2] Cetera membra quae supra columnas inponuntur, aut e doricis symmetriis aut ionicis moribus in corinthiis columnis conlocantur, quod ipsum corinthium genus propriam coronarum reliquorumque ornamentorum non habuerat institutionem, set aut e triglyphorum rationibus mutuli in coronis et epistyliis guttae dorico more disponuntur, aut ex ionicis institutis zophoroe scalpturis ornati cum denticulis et coronis distribuuntur.

[2] The other members which are set above the columns are placed on Corinthian columns either from Doric symmetries or Ionic manners, because the Corinthian kind itself had not had its own institution of coronae (cornices) and the remaining ornaments; but either, from the rules of the triglyphs, mutules in the coronae and guttae on the epistyles (architraves) are arranged in Doric fashion, or, from Ionic institutions, the zophori (friezes), adorned with carvings, together with dentils and coronae, are distributed.

[3] Ita e generibus duobus capitulo interposito tertium genus in operibus est procreatum. E columnarum enim formationibus trium generum factae sunt nominationes, dorica, ionica, corinthia, e quibus prima et antiquitus dorica est nata.

[3] Thus from two genera, with a capital interposed, a third genus in works has been procreated. For from the formations of columns the denominations of three genera have been made: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, of which the Doric was first and born in antiquity.

Namque Achaia Peloponnessoque tota Dorus, Hellenos et Phthiados nymphae filius, regnavit, isque Argis, vetusta civitate, Iunonis templum aedificavit, eius generis fortuito formae fanum, deinde isdem generibus in ceteris Achaiae civitatibus, cum etiamnum non esset symmetriarum ratio nata.

For Dorus, son of Hellen and the nymph Phthia, reigned in Achaia and the whole Peloponnese; and he, at Argos, an ancient city, built a temple of Juno, a shrine of that order with a fortuitous form; then, with the same orders in the other cities of Achaia, when as yet the theory of symmetries had not been born.

[4] Postea autem quam Athenienses ex responsis Apollinis Delphici, communi consilio totius Hellados, XIII colonias uno tempore in Asiam deduxerunt ducesque in singulis coloniis constituerunt et summam imperii potestatem Ioni, Xuthi et Creusae filio, dederunt, quem etiam Apollo Delphis suum filium in responsis est professus, isque eas colonias in Asiam deduxit et Cariae fines occupavit ibique civitates amplissimas constituit Ephesum, Miletum, Myunta (quae olim ab aqua est devorata; cuius sacra et suffragium Milesiis Iones adtribuerunt), Prienen, Samum, Teon, Colophona, Chium, Erythras, Phocaeam, Clazomenas, Lebedon, Meliten (haec Melite propter civium adrogantiam ab his civitatibus bello indicto communi consilio est sublata; cuius loco postea regis Attali et Arsinoes beneficio Zmyrnaeorum civitas inter Ionas est recepta): hae civitates, cum Caras et Lelegas eiecissent, eam terrae regionem a duce suo Ione appellaverunt Ioniam ibique deorum inmortalium templa constituentes coeperunt fana aedificare.

[4] Afterwards, however, when the Athenians, from the responses of Apollo of Delphi, by the common counsel of all Hellas, led 13 colonies at one time into Asia and established leaders in each colony and gave the highest power of command to Ion, the son of Xuthus and Creusa—whom Apollo at Delphi even professed in his oracles to be his own son—he led those colonies into Asia and occupied the borders of Caria, and there he established very ample cities: Ephesus, Miletus, Myus (which once was devoured by the water; whose sacred rites and vote the Ionians assigned to the Milesians), Priene, Samos, Teos, Colophon, Chios, Erythrae, Phocaea, Clazomenae, Lebedos, Melite (this Melite, on account of the arrogance of its citizens, by these cities, war having been declared, by common counsel was removed; in whose place afterwards, by the benefaction of King Attalus and Arsinoe, the city of the Smyrnaeans was received among the Ionians): these cities, when they had driven out the Carians and the Leleges, named that region of land Ionia from their leader Ion, and there, establishing temples of the immortal gods, they began to build shrines.

[5] Et primum Apollini Panionio aedem, uti viderant in Achaia, constituerunt et eam Doricam appellaverunt, quod in Dorieon civitatibus primum factam eo genere viderunt.

[5] And first they established for Panionian Apollo a temple, as they had seen in Achaia, and they called it Doric, because they had seen it first made in that kind in the cities of the Dorians.

[6] In ea aede cum voluissent columnas conlocare, non habentes symmetrias earum et quaerentes quibus rationibus efficere possent, uti et ad onus ferendum essent idoneae et in aspectu probatam haberent venustatem, dimensi sunt virilis pedis vestigium et id retulerunt in altitudinem. Cum invenissent pedem sextam partem esse altitudinis in homine, item in columnam transtulerunt et qua crassitudine fecerunt basim scapi, tanta sex cum capitulo in altitudinem extulerunt. Ita dorica columna virilis corporis proportionem et firmitatem et venustatem in aedificiis praestare coepit.

[6] In that temple, when they wished to set columns, not having their symmetries and seeking by what ratios they could effect that they be suitable for bearing the burden and have an approved comeliness in aspect, they measured the footprint of a man and related it to the height. When they had found that the foot is the sixth part of the height in a human, likewise they transferred it into the column, and with whatever thickness they made the base of the shaft, by that measure they raised it to six in height, together with the capital. Thus the Doric column began to exhibit in buildings the proportion of the male body, and firmness, and grace.

[7] Item postea Dianae constituere aedem, quaerentes novi generis speciem isdem vestigiis ad muliebrem transtulerunt gracilitatem, et fecerunt primum columnae crassitudinem octava parte, ut haberet speciem excelsiorem. Basi spiram subposuerunt pro calceo, capitulo volutas uti capillamento concrispatos cincinnos praependentes dextra ac sinistra conlocaverunt et cymatiis et encarpis pro crinibus dispositis frontes ornaverunt truncoque toto strias uti stolarum rugas matronali more dimiserunt, ita duobus discriminibus columnarum inventionem, unam virili sine ornatu nudam speciem alteram muliebri.

[7] Likewise afterward, when they established a temple of Diana, seeking the appearance of a new kind, they transferred with the same footprints to the feminine the slenderness, and first made the column’s thickness one eighth, so that it might have a more lofty aspect. Under the base they set a spira in place of a shoe; in the capital they placed the volutes, as a hairdressing, like curled ringlets hanging down on the right and on the left, and with cymatia and encarpia arranged in place of hair they adorned the foreheads; and over the whole shaft they let fall flutings as the wrinkles of stolae in matronal manner: thus, by two distinctions, the invention of columns—one of manly appearance, bare without ornament, the other of womanly.

[8] Subtilitateque iudiciorum progressi et gracilioribus modulis delectati septem crassitudinis diametros in altitudinem columnae doricae, ionicae novem constituerunt. Id autem quod Iones fecerunt primo, Ionicum est nominatum.

[8] Advancing in the subtlety of judgments and delighted with more gracile modules, they established seven diameters of thickness into the height of the Doric column, and nine for the Ionic. But that which the Ionians did first has been named Ionic.

Tertium vero, quod Corinthium dicitur, virginalis habet gracilitatis imitationem, quod virgines propter aetatis teneritatem gracilioribus membris figuratae effectus recipiunt in ornatu venustiores.

The third, indeed, which is called Corinthian, has an imitation of virginal gracility, because maidens, on account of the tenderness of their age, being figured with more slender limbs, receive more graceful effects in adornment.

[9] Eius autem capituli prima inventio sic memoratur esse facta. Virgo civis Corinthia iam matura nuptiis inplicata morbo decessit. Post sepulturam eius, quibus ea virgo viva poculis delectabatur, nutrix collecta et conposita in calatho pertulit ad monumentum et in summo conlocavit et, uti ea permanerent diutius subdiu, tegula texit.

[9] But the first invention of its capital is remembered to have been made thus. A maiden, a Corinthian citizen, already mature for nuptials and engaged, died of disease. After her burial, the nurse, having gathered and arranged in a basket the cups with which that maiden took delight while alive, carried them to the monument and placed them on the top, and, so that these might remain longer in the open air, covered them with a tile.

Is calathus fortuito supra acanthi radicem fuerit conlocatus. Interim pondere pressa radix acanthi media folia et cauliculos circum vernum tempus profudit, cuius cauliculi secundum calathi latera crescentes et ab angulis tegulae ponderis necessitate expressi flexuras in extremas partes volutarum facere sunt coacti.

This basket by chance had been placed above the root of an acanthus. Meanwhile, the root of the acanthus, pressed by the weight, put forth in the springtime its middle leaves and cauliculi; whose cauliculi, growing along the sides of the basket and, from the corners of the tile, pressed out by the necessity of the weight, were compelled to make flexures into the outer parts of the volutes.

[10] Tunc Calimachus qui propter elegantiam et subtilitatem artis marmoreae ab Atheniensibuscatatechnos fuerat nominatus, praeteriens hoc monumentum animadvertit eum calathum et circa foliorum nascentem teneritatem, delectatusque genere et formae novitate ad id exemplar columnas apud Corinthios fecit symmetriasque constituit; ex eo in operis perfectionibus Corinthii generis distribuit rationes.

[10] Then Callimachus, who, on account of the elegance and subtlety of the marble art, had been named by the Athenianscatatechnos, while passing by this monument noticed that basket and the tender nascence of the leaves around it; and, delighted by the novelty of the kind and of the form, he made columns at Corinth to that exemplar and established the symmetries; from this he apportioned the principles in the perfections of works of the Corinthian kind.

[11] Eius autem capituli symmetria sic est facienda, uti, quanta fuerit crassitudo imae columnae, tanta sit altitudo capituli cum abaco. Abaci latitudo ita habeat rationem, ut, quanta fuerit altitudo, tanta duo sint diagonia ab angulo ad angulum; spatia enim ita iustas habebunt frontes quoquoversus latitudinis. Frontes simentur introrsus ab extremis angulis abaci suae frontis latitudinis nona.

[11] But the symmetry of its capital is to be made thus: as great as is the thickness of the lowermost column, so great is the height of the capital with the abacus. Let the abacus’s breadth have this ratio, that, whatever the height shall be, of that magnitude are the two diagonals from angle to angle; for then the spaces will have faces of just measure on every side of the breadth. Let the faces be set inward from the extreme corners of the abacus by a ninth of the breadth of their own face.

Ad imum capituli tantam habeat crassitudinem, quantam habet summa columna praeter apothesim et astragalum. Abaci crassitudo septima capituli altitudinis.

At the bottom of the capital let it have as much thickness as the top of the column has, except for the apothesis and the astragal. The thickness of the abacus is one seventh of the capital’s height.

[12] Dempta abaci crassitudine dividatur reliqua pars in partes tres, e quibus una imo folio detur; secundum folium mediam altitudinem teneat; coliculi eandem habeant altitudinem, e quibus folia nascuntur proiecta, uti excipiant quae ex coliculis natae procurrunt ad extremos angulos volutae; minoresque helices intra suum medium, qui est in abaco; flores subiecti scalpantur. Flores in quattuor partibus, quanta erit abaci crassitudo, tam magni formentur. Ita his symmetriis corinthia capitula suas habebunt exactiones.

[12] With the thickness of the abacus removed, let the remaining part be divided into three parts, of which one is assigned to the lowest leaf; let the second leaf occupy the middle height; let the cauliculi have the same height, from which the leaves are born projecting, so that they may receive the volutes which, sprung from the cauliculi, run to the extreme corners; and the smaller helices within their own middle, which is in the abacus; let the flowers set beneath be carved. Let the flowers in the four quarters be formed as large as the thickness of the abacus will be. Thus, with these symmetries, Corinthian capitals will have their exact determinations.

Sunt autem, quae isdem columnis inponuntur, capitulorum genera variis vocabulis nominata, quorum nec proprietates symmetriarum nec columnarum genus aliud nominare possumus, sed ipsorum vocabula traducta et commutata ex corinthiis et pulvinatis et doricis videmus, quorum symmetriae sunt in novarum scalpturarum translatae subtilitatem.

There are, moreover, kinds of capitals which are set upon the same columns, named by various terms, of which we can designate neither properties of symmetries nor a different genus of columns; but we see their very names translated and altered from Corinthian, pulvinate (cushion-like), and Doric, whose symmetries have been translated into the subtlety of new carvings.

Caput Secundum

Chapter Two

[1] Quoniam autem de generibus columnarum origines et inventiones supra sunt scriptae, non alienum mihi videtur isdem rationibus de ornamentis eorum, quemadmodum sunt prognata et quibus principiis et originibus inventa, dicere. In aedificiis omnibus insuper conlocatur materiato variis vocabulis nominata. Ea autem uti in nominationibus, ita in res varias habet utilitates.

[1] Since, however, the origins and inventions of the kinds of columns have been written above, it does not seem alien to me, by the same rationales, to speak about their ornaments—how they are begotten and by what principles and origins they were invented. In all buildings, moreover, there is placed above a timbering, designated by various vocables. And this, just as in its denominations, so also has utilities for various matters.

Trabes enim supra columnas et parastaticas et antas ponuntur; in contignationibus tigna et axes; sub tectis, si maiora spatia sunt, et transtra et capreoli, si commoda, columen, et cantherii prominentes ad extremam suggrundationem; supra cantherios templa; deinde insuper sub tegulas asseres ita prominentes, uti parietes protecturis eorum tegantur.

For beams, namely, are placed above the columns and the parastades and the antae; in the floor-framings, beams and joists; beneath the roofs, if the spans are larger, both crossbeams and principal rafters, and, where suitable, the ridgepole, and the cantherii projecting to the outermost eaves-suggrundation; above the cantherii, the battens; then, further above, under the tiles, planks projecting in such a way that the walls are covered by their overhangs.

[2] Ita unaquaeque res et locum et genus et ordinem proprium tuetur. E quibus rebus et a materiatura fabrili in lapideis et marmoreis aedium sacrarum aedificationibus artifices dispositiones eorum scalpturis sunt imitati et eas inventiones persequendas putaverunt. Ideo, quod antiqui fabri quodam in loco aedificantes, cum ita ab interioribus parietibus ad extremas partes tigna prominentia habuissent conlocata, inter tigna struxerunt supraque coronas et fastigia venustiore specie fabrilibus operibus ornaverunt, tum proiecturas tignorum, quantum eminebant, ad lineam et perpendiculum parietum praesecuerunt, quae species cum invenusta is visa esset, tabellas ita formatas, uti nunc fiunt triglyphi, contra tignorum praecisiones in fronte fixerunt et eas cera caerulea depinxerunt, ut praecisiones tignorum tectae non offenderent visum ita divisiones tignorum tectae triglyphorum dispositionem et inter tigna metoparum habere in doricis operibus coeperunt.

[2] Thus each thing keeps its own place, kind, and proper order. From these matters, and from the timbering of carpentry, in the stone and marble constructions of sacred buildings, the artificers imitated their dispositions with carvings and thought those inventions ought to be pursued. Therefore, because the ancient craftsmen, building in a certain place, when they had set beams so that they projected from the inner walls to the outer parts, built between the beams, and above they adorned the cornices and pediments with a more charming aspect by fabrile workmanship, then they cut back the projectures of the beams, in so far as they stood out, to the line and the perpendicular of the walls; and since that appearance seemed uncomely to them, they fastened little tablets, formed in such a way as triglyphs are now made, against the cuttings of the beams on the face, and they painted them with sky-blue wax, so that, the cuttings of the beams being covered, they might not offend the sight: thus, with the divisions of the beams covered, they began to have the disposition of triglyphs, and between the beams of metopes, in Doric works.

[3] Postea alii in aliis operibus ad perpendiculum triglyphorum cantherios prominentes proiecerunt eorumque proiecturas simaverunt. Ex eo, uti tignorum dispositionibus triglyphi, ita e cantheriorum proiecturis mutulorum sub coronulis ratio est inventa. Ita fere in operibus lapideis et marmoreis mutuli inclinatis scalpturis deformantur, quod imitatio est cantheriorum; etenim necessario propter stillicidia proclinati conlocantur.

[3] Afterwards others, in other works, projected rafters jutting in plumb with the triglyphs, and they shaped their projections with a cyma (hollow moulding). From this, just as triglyphs come from the dispositions of beams, so from the projections of the rafters the scheme of mutules beneath the little cornices was devised. Thus, in works of stone and marble, the mutules are generally fashioned with inclined carvings, because it is an imitation of rafters; for of necessity, on account of the drippings, they are set sloping.

Ergo et triglyphorum et mutulorum in doricis operibus ratio ex ea imitatione inventa est.

Therefore, both the rationale of triglyphs and of mutules in Doric works was invented from that imitation.

[4] Non enim, quemadmodum nonnulli errantes dixerunt fenestrarum imagines esse triglyphos, ita potest esse, quod in angulis contraque tetrantes columnarum triglyphi constituuntur, quibus in locis omnino non patitur res fenestras fieri. Dissolvuntur enim angulorum in aedificiis iuncturae, si in is fenestrarum fuerint lumina relicta. Etiamque ubi nunc triglyphi constituuntur, si ibi luminum spatia fuisse iudicabuntur, isdem rationibus denticuli in ionicis fenestrarum occupavisse loca videbuntur.

[4] For the triglyphs are not, as some erring folks have said, likenesses of windows; this cannot be, because triglyphs are set at the angles and opposite the “quarters” (tetrantes) of the columns, in which places the matter by no means permits windows to be made. For the joints of the angles in buildings are dissolved if openings of windows have been left in them. And also where triglyphs are now set, if it will be judged that spaces of lights were there, by the same reasoning the dentils in Ionic works will be seen to have occupied the places of windows.

Utraque enim, et inter denticulos et inter triglyphos quae sunt intervalla, metopae nominantur. Opas enim Graeci tignorum cubicula et asserum appellant, uti nostri ea cava columbaria. Ita quod inter duas opas est intertignium, id metope est apud eos nominata.

For both the intervals, both between the denticles and between the triglyphs, are called metopes. For the Greeks call opas the little chambers of beams and planks, just as our people call those hollows “columbaria.” Thus the inter-beam space which lies between two opae has among them been named a metope.

[5] Ita uti autem in doricis triglyphorum et mutulorum est innventa ratio, item in ionicis denticulorum constitutio propriam in operibus habet rationem, et quemadmodum mutuli cantheriorum proiecturae ferunt imaginem, sic in ionicis denticuli ex proiecturis asserum habent imitationem. Itaque in graecis operibus nemo sub mutulo denticulos constituit; non enim possunt subtus cantherior asseres esse. Quod ergo supra cantherios et templa in veritatem debet esse conlocantum, id in imaginibus si infra constitutum fuerit, mendosam habebit operis rationem.

[5] And just as in Doric works the rationale of triglyphs and mutules was invented, so in Ionic the arrangement of dentils has its own rationale in the works; and just as mutules bear the image of the projections of the rafters, so in the Ionic order the dentils have an imitation from the projections of the laths. And so in Greek works no one sets dentils beneath a mutule; for beneath rafters laths cannot be. Therefore that which in truth ought to be placed above the rafters and the purlins, if in representations it is set below, will have a faulty rationale of the work.

Etiam quod antiqui non probaverunt, neque instituerunt in fastigiis <mutolos aut> denticulos fieri sed puras coronas, ideo quod nec cantherii nec asseres contra fastigiorum frontes distribuuntur nec possunt prominere, sed ad stillicidia proclinati conlocantur. Ita quod non potest in veritate fieri, id non putaverunt in imaginibus factum posse certam rationem habere.

Moreover, because the ancients did not approve, nor did they institute, in pediments that <mutules or> dentils be made, but pure coronas, for neither rafters nor beams are arranged against the faces of pediments nor can they project, but are placed inclined toward the drip-lines. Thus what cannot be done in truth, they did not think, when done in images, could have a definite rationale.

[6] Omnia enim certa proprietate et a veris naturae deducta moribus transduxerunt in operum perfectiones, et ea probaverunt, quorum explicationes in disputationibus rationem possunt habere veritatis. Itaque ex eis originibus symmetrias et proportiones uniuscuiusque generis constitutas reliquerunt. Quorum ingressus persecutus de ionicis et corinthiis institutionibus supra dixi; nunc vero doricam rationem summamque eius speciem breviter exponam.

[6] For they transferred everything, with a definite propriety and drawn from the true manners of nature, into the perfections of works, and they approved those things whose explications in disputations can have a claim to truth. Accordingly, from these origins they left established the symmetries and proportions of each kind. Having followed the introductions of these, I have spoken above about the Ionic and Corinthian institutions; now indeed I will briefly set forth the Doric rationale and its general aspect.

Caput Tertium

Chapter Three

[1] Nonnulli antiqui architecti negaverunt dorico genere aedes sacras oportere fieri, quod mendosae et disconvenientes in his symmetriae conficiebantur. Itaque negavit Arcesius, item Pythius, non minus Hermogenes. Nam is cum paratam habuisset marmoris copiam in doricae aedis perfectionem, commutavit ex eadem copia eam ionicam Libero Patri fecit.

[1] Some ancient architects denied that sacred temples ought to be made in the Doric order, because faulty and incongruent symmetries were being produced in them. And so Arcesius denied it, likewise Pythius, and no less Hermogenes. For when he had had a supply of marble prepared for the completion of a Doric temple, he changed it, and from the same supply made it Ionic for Liber the Father.

Sed tamen non quod invenusta est species aut genus aut formae dignitas, sed quod inpedita est distributio et incommoda in opere triglyphorum et lacunariorum distributione.

But nevertheless not because the aspect or genus or the dignity of the form is ungraceful, but because the distribution is impeded and incommodious in the work, in the distribution of the triglyphs and the lacunaria.

[2] Namque necesse est triglyphos constitui contra medios tetrantes columnarum, metopasque, quae inter triglyphos fient, aeque longas esse quam altas. Contraque in angulares columnas triglyphi in extremis partius consituuntur et non contra medios tetrantes. Ita metopae quae proximae ad angulares triglyphos fiunt, non exeunt quadratae sed oblongiores triglyphi dimidia latitudine.

[2] For indeed it is necessary that triglyphs be set opposite the middle tetrants of the columns, and that the metopes, which will be made between the triglyphs, be as long as they are high. But on the corner columns the triglyphs are placed at the extremities and not opposite the middle tetrants. Thus the metopes which are made next to the corner triglyphs do not turn out square, but more oblong by half the width of a triglyph.

At qui metopas aequales volunt facere, intercolunnia extrema contrahunt triglyphi dimidia latitudine. Hoc autem, sive in metoparum longitudinibus sive intercolumniorum contractionibus efficietur, est mendosum. Quapropter antiqui vitare visi sunt in aedibus sacris doricae symmetriae rationem.

But those who wish to make the metopes equal contract the extreme intercolumniations by half the width of a triglyph. But this, whether it is effected by the lengths of the metopes or by the contractions of the intercolumniations, is faulty. Wherefore the ancients are seen to have avoided, in sacred buildings, the Doric symmetry-system.

[3] Nos autem exponimus, uti ordo postulat, quemadmodum a praeceptoribus accepimus, uti, si qui voluerit his rationibus adtendens ita ingredi, habeat proportiones explicatas, quibus emendatas et sine vitiis efficere possit aedium sacrarum dorico more perfectiones. Frons aedis doricae in loco, quo columnae constituuntur, dividatur, si tetrastylos erit, in partes XXVII, si hexastylos, XXXXII. Ex his pars una erit modulus, qui Graeceembater dicitur, cuius moduli constitutione ratiocinationibus efficiuntur omnis operis distributiones.

[3] But we set forth, as the order requires, just as we received from our preceptors, so that, if anyone should wish, attending to these methods, to proceed thus, he may have the proportions explained, by which he can effect the perfections of sacred buildings in the Doric manner, corrected and without faults. The front of a Doric temple, in the place where the columns are set, is to be divided—if it will be tetrastyle, into 27 parts; if hexastyle, 42. Of these, one part will be the modulus, which in Greek is calledembater; by the establishment of this modulus, through calculations, the apportionments of the entire work are effected.

[4] Crassitudo columnarum erit duorum modulorum, altitudo cum capitudo XIIII. Capituli crassitudo unius moduli, latitudo duorum et moduli sextae partis. Crassitudo capituli dividatur in partes tres, e quibus una plinthus cum cymatio fiat, altera echinus cum anulis, tertia hypotrachelion.

[4] The thickness of the columns will be of two moduli, the height with the capital 14. The thickness of the capital is one modulus, the breadth two moduli and a sixth part of a modulus. Let the thickness of the capital be divided into three parts, of which one part is the plinth with the cymatium, another the echinus with rings, the third the hypotrachelion.

Contrahatur columna ita, uti in tertio libro de ionicis est scriptum. Epistylii altitudo unius moduli cum taenia et guttis; taenia moduli septima; guttarum longitudo sub taenia contra triglyphos alta cum regula parte sexta moduli praependeat. Item epistylii latitudo ima respondeat hypotrachelio summae columnae.

Let the column be contracted in such a way as is written in the third book concerning the Ionics. The height of the epistyle is one module, with the taenia and the guttae; the taenia is a seventh of a module; let the length of the guttae under the taenia, opposite the triglyphs, together with the regula, hang down to one sixth part of a module. Likewise, let the lower breadth of the epistyle correspond to the hypotrachelion of the top of the column.

Supra epistylium conlocandi sunt triglyphi cum suis metopis, alti unius <et> dimidiati moduli, lati in fronte unius moduli, ita divisi, ut in angularibus columnis et in mediis contra tetrantes medios sint conlocati, et intercolumniis reliquis bini, in mediis pronao et postico terni. Ita relaxatis mediis intervallis sine inpeditionibus aditus accedentibus erit ad deorum simulacra.

Above the epistyle, triglyphs with their metopes are to be placed, of a height of one <et> a half modules, of a width on the front of one module, so divided that on the corner columns and on the middle ones they are set opposite the middle tetrants, and in the remaining intercolumniations by twos, in the middle of the pronaos and the posticum by threes. Thus, with the middle intervals relaxed, there will be approaches without impediments for those coming up to the simulacra of the gods.

[5] Triglyphorum latitudo dividatur in partes sex, ex quibus quinque partibus in medio, duae dimidiae dextra ac sinistra designentur regula. Una in medio deformetur femur, quod Graecemeros dicitur; secundum eam canaliculi ad normae cacumen inprimantur; ex ordine eorum dextra ac sinistra altera femina constituantur; in extremis partibus semicanaliculi intervertuantur. Triglyphis ita conlocatis, metopae quae sunt inter triglyphos, aeque altae sint quam longae; item in extremis angulis semimetopia sint inpressa dimidia moduli latitudine.

[5] Let the width of the triglyphs be divided into six parts, of which five parts in the middle, and on the right and left two half-parts, are to be marked out by the rule. In the middle let one “thigh” be formed, which in Greek is calledmeros; along it let little channels be impressed up to the apex of the square (norma); in alignment with them let the other thighs be set on the right and on the left; at the extreme parts let half-channels be alternated. With the triglyphs thus set, let the metopes which are between the triglyphs be as high as they are long; likewise, at the extreme corners let semi-metopes be stamped in, of half a module in width.

Ita enim erit, ut omnia vitia et metoparum et intercolumniorum et lacunariorum, quod aequales divisiones factae erunt, emendentur.

For thus it will be, that all the faults of the metopes and of the intercolumniations and of the coffered ceilings, since equal divisions will have been made, will be corrected.

[6] Triglyphi capitula sexta parte moduli sunt faciunda. Sopra triglyphorum capitula corona est conlocalanda in proiectura dimidiae et sextae partis habens cymatium doricum in imo, alterum in summo. Item cum cymatiis corona crassa ex dimidia moduli.

[6] The capitals of the triglyphs are to be made of the sixth part of a module. Above the capitals of the triglyphs a corona is to be placed, with a projection of a half and a sixth part, having a Doric cymatium below and another above. Likewise, together with the cymatia, let the corona be thick to the extent of a half of a module.

Dividendae autem sunt in corona ima ad perpendiculum triglyphorum et medias metopas viarum derectiones et guttarum distributiones, ita uti guttae sex in longitudinem, tres in latitudinem pateant. Reliqua spatia, quod latiores sint metopae quam triglyphi, pura relinquantur aut numina scalpantur, ad ipsumque mentum coronae incidatur linea quae scotia dicitur. Reliqua omnia, tympana, simae, coronae, quemadmodum supra scriptum est in ionicis, ita perficiantur.

Moreover, in the lower corona, let the verticals (plumb-lines) of the triglyphs and the middles of the metopes be divided for the alignments and for the distributions of the guttae, such that the guttae appear six in the longitudinal direction and three in the transverse. The remaining spaces, because the metopes are wider than the triglyphs, are to be left pure, or divinities are to be carved; and at the very “chin” of the corona a line is to be incised which is called the scotia. All the rest—tympana, simae, coronae—are to be finished just as has been written above in the Ionics.

[7] Haec ratio in operibus distylis erit constituta. Si vero systylon et monotriglyphon opus erit faciundum, frons aedis, si tetrastylo erit, dividatur in partes XVIIII s, si hexastylos erit, dividatur in partes XXVIIII s. Ex his pars una erit modulus, ad quem, uti supra scriptum est, dividantur.

[7] This method will be established in distyle works. But if a systyle and monotriglyphic work is to be made, the front of the temple, if it will be tetrastyle, let it be divided into 19 and a half parts; if it will be hexastyle, let it be divided into 29 and a half parts. Of these, one part will be the modulus, according to which, as has been written above, they are to be divided.

[8] Ita supra singula epistylia et metopae et triglyphi bini erunt conlocandi; in angularibus hoc amplius, quantum dimidiatum est spatium hemitryglyphi, id accedit. In mediano contra fastigium trium triglyphorum et trium metoparum spatium distabit, quod latius medium intercolumnium accedentibus ad aedem habeat laxamentum et adversus simulacra deorum aspectus dignitatem.

[8] Thus above each epistyle, metopes and triglyphs in pairs are to be set; at the corners there is, in addition, as much as the space of the hemitriglyph is halved—this is added. In the middle, opposite the pediment, a span equal to three triglyphs and three metopes will be left apart, so that the broader middle intercolumniation may afford clearance to those approaching the temple and, opposite the images of the gods, a dignity of view.

[9] Columnas autem striari XX striis oportet. Quae si planae erunt, angulos habeant XX designatos. Sin autem excavabuntur, sic est forma facienda, ita uti quam magnum est intervallum striae, tam magnis striaturae paribus lateribus quadratum describatur; in medio autem quadrato circini centrum conlocetur et agatur linea rotundationis, quae quadrationis angulos tangat, et quantum erit curvaturae inter rotundationem et quadratam descriptionem, tantum ad formam excaventur.

[9] The columns ought to be striated with 20 striae. If they are plain, let them have 20 designated angles. But if they are to be excavated, thus must the form be made: in such a way that, however great is the interval of the stria, a square be described with equal sides of just that magnitude of the striation; and in the middle of the square let the compass’s center be placed, and let a line of rounding be drawn which touches the angles of the squaring; and by as much as there is curvature between the rounding and the squared description, by so much let them be excavated to the form.

Ita dorica columna sui generis striaturae habebit perfectionem.

Thus the Doric column will have the perfection of the fluting proper to its kind.

[10] De adiectione eius, qua media adaugetur, uti in tertio volumine de ionicis est perscripta, ita et in his transferatur.

[10] Concerning its addition, by which the middle is augmented, as it has been fully written in the third volume on the Ionics, so also let it be transferred into these.

Quoniam exterior species symmetriarum et corinthiorum et doricorum et ionicorum est perscripta, necesse est etiam interiores cellarum pronaique distributiones explicare.

Since the exterior aspect of the symmetries of the Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic [orders] has been set down in writing, it is necessary also to explain the interior distributions of the cellae and the pronaoi.

Caput Quartum

Chapter Four

[1] Distribuitur autem longitudo aedis, uti latitudo sit longitudinis dimidiae partis, ipsaque cella parte quarta longior sit, quam est latitudo, cum pariete qui paries valvarum habuerit conlocationem. Reliquae tres partes pronai ad antas parietum procurrant, quae antae columnarum crassitudinem habere debent. Et si aedes erit latitudine maior quam pedes XX, duae columnae inter duas antas interponantur, quae disiungant pteromatos et pronai spatium.

[1] The length of the temple is apportioned so that the breadth be one half of the length, and the cella itself be longer by a fourth part than the breadth, including the wall which will have the placement of the door-valves. Let the remaining three parts of the pronaos run forward to the antae of the walls, and those antae ought to have the thickness of the columns. And if the temple will be in breadth greater than 20 feet, let two columns be interposed between the two antae, to separate the pteroma and the space of the pronaos.

Item intercolumnia tria quae erunt inter antas et columnas, pluteis marmoreis sive ex intestino opere factis intercludantur, ita uti fores habeant, per quas intinera pronao fiant.

Likewise, let the three intercolumniations which will be between the antae and the columns be enclosed with marble screens or with ones made of rubble-work, in such a way that they have doors, through which passages to the pronaos may be made.

[2] Item si maior erit latitudo quam pedes XL, columnae contra regiones columnarum, quae inter antas sunt, introrsus conlocentur. Et hae altitudinem habeant aeque quam quae sunt in fronte, crassitudines autem earum extenuentur his rationibus, uti, si octava parte erunt quae sunt in fronte, hae fiant X parte, sin autem VIIII aut decima, pro rata parte. In concluso enim aere si quae extenuatae erunt, non discernentur.

[2] Likewise, if the breadth will be greater than 40 feet, columns opposite the regions of the columns which are between the antae should be set inward. And let these have height equal to those which are in front, but let their thicknesses be extenuated by these ratios: that is, if those in front are by the eighth part, let these be made by the 10th part; but if by the 9th or the 10th, in the proportional part. For in enclosed air, whatever are extenuated will not be discerned.

Sin autem videbuntur graciliores, cum exterioribus fuerint striae <XX aut> XXIIII, in his faciendae erunt XXVIII aut XXXII. Ita quod detrahitur de corpore scapi, striarum numero adiecto adaugebitur ratione, quo minus videtur, et ita exaequabitur dispari ratione columnarum crassitudo.

But if, however, they seem more slender, when the exterior flutes are <20 or> 24, on these there must be made 28 or 32. Thus what is taken away from the body of the shaft will be augmented in proportion by the number of flutes being added, whereby it seems less, and thus by an unequal proportion the thickness of the columns will be equalized.

[3] Hoc autem efficit ea ratio, quod oculus plura et crebriora signa tangendo maiore visus circuitione pervagatur. Namque si duae columnae aeque crassae lineis circummentientur, e quibus una sit non striata, altera striata, et circa striglium cava et angulos striarum linea corpora tangat, tametsi columnae aeque crassae fuerint, lineae, quae circumdatae erunt, aequales, quod striarum et striglium circuitus maiorem efficit lineae longitudinem. Sin autem hoc ita videbitur, non est alienum in angustis locis et in concluso spatio graciliores columnarum symmetrias in opere constituere, cum habeamus adiutricem striatarum temperaturam.

[3] But this effect is produced by this rationale: because the eye, by touching more and more frequent signs, ranges with a greater circuit of vision. For if two columns of equal thickness are encompassed by lines, of which one is not striated, the other striated, and if the line, going around, touches the hollows of the strigils and the angles of the striae, although the columns would be equally thick, the lines which will have been laid around will equal, because the circuit of the striae and of the strigils makes a greater length of line. But if this is seen to be so, it is not out of place, in narrow places and in enclosed space, to establish in the work more slender symmetries of the columns, since we have as a helper the adjustment of the striated ones.

[4] Ipsius autem cellae parietum crassitudinem pro rata parte magnitudinis fieri oportet, dum antae eorum crassitudinibus columnarum sint aequales. Et si extructi futuri sunt, quam minutissimis caementis struantur, sin autem quadrato saxo aut marmore, maxime modicis paribusque videtur esse faciundum, quod media coagmenta medii lapides continentes firmiorem facient omnis operis perfectionem. Item circum coagmenta et cubilia eminentes expressionesgraphicoteran efficient in aspectu delectationem.

[4] But the thickness of the walls of the cella itself ought to be made in due proportion to the size, provided that the antae are equal in thicknesses to the columns. And if they are going to be constructed, let them be built with the smallest possible caementa; but if of squared stone or marble, it seems best to make them with moderate and equal blocks, because the middle joints, being held by the middle stones, will make the perfection of the whole work firmer. Likewise, around the joints and the beds, the eminent projections will produce in the aspect agraphicoteran delight.

Caput Quintum

Chapter Five

[1] Regiones autem, quas debent spectare aedes sacrae deorum inmortalium, sic erunt constituendae, uti, si nulla ratio inpedierit liberaque fuerit potestas, aedis signumque quod erit in cella conlocatum, spectet ad vespertinam caeli regionem, uti, qui adierint ad aram immolantes aut sacrificia facientes, spectent ad partem caeli orientis et simulacrum, quod erit in aede, et ita vota suscipientes contueantur aedem et orientem caelum ipsaque simulacra videantur exorientia contueri supplicantes et sacrificantes, quod aras omnes deorum necesse esse videatur ad orientem spectare.

[1] As for the regions which the sacred edifices of the immortal gods ought to face, they shall be laid out thus: if no consideration hinders and there is free power, the temple and the image which will be set up in the cella should look toward the evening region of the sky, so that those who come to the altar, immolating or performing sacrifices, may face the part of the sky of the east and the simulacrum which will be in the temple, and thus, undertaking vows, they may behold the shrine and the eastern sky, and the suppliants and sacrificers may seem to gaze upon the very images as they rise; because it appears necessary that all the altars of the gods face toward the east.

[2] Si autem loci natura interpellaverit, tunc convertendae sunt earum regionum constitutiones, uti quam plurima pars moenium e templis eorum conspiciatur. Item si secundum flumina aedis sacra fiet, ita uti Aegypto circa Nilum, ad fluminis ripas videantur spectare debere. Similiter si circum vias publicas erunt aedificia deorum, ita constituantur, uti praetereuntes possint respicere et in conspectu salutationes facere.

[2] But if the nature of the place should interfere, then the dispositions of those orientations are to be changed, so that as great a part as possible of the city walls may be seen from their temples. Likewise, if a sacred edifice is made along rivers, as in Egypt about the Nile, they ought to appear to face toward the banks of the river. Similarly, if there are buildings of the gods around public roads, let them be so arranged that those passing by can look toward them and make salutations in view.

Caput Sextum

Chapter Six

[1] Ostiorum autem et eorum antepagmentorum in aedibus hae sunt rationes, uti primum constituantur, quo genere sint futurae. Genera sunt enim thyromaton haec: doricum, ionicum, atticurges.

[1] Now for doors and their antepagmenta in buildings, these are the principles: first, that it be determined of what kind they are going to be. For the genera of the thyromata are these: Doric, Ionic, Atticurges.

Horum symmetriae conspiciuntur his rationibus, uti corona summa, quae supra antepagmentum superius inponetur, aeque librata sit capitulis summis columnarum quae in pronao fuerint. Lumen autem hypaethri constituatur sic, uti quae altitudo aedis a pavimento ad lacunaria fuerit, dividatur dividatur in partes tres semis<semque> et ex eis, duae partes <semissemque> lumini valvarum altitudine constituantur. Haec autem dividatur in parte XII et ex eis quinque et dimidia latitudo luminis fiat in imo.

The symmetries of these are perceived by these rules: that the top corona, which will be set above the upper antepagmentum, be level alike with the highest capitals of the columns that are in the pronaos. And let the light-opening of the hypaethrum be established thus: the height of the temple from the pavement to the coffers is to be divided divided into three and a half parts, and of these, two and a half parts are to be assigned to the height of the light of the folding-doors. This, moreover, is to be divided into 12 parts, and of these five and a half are to make the width of the light at the bottom.

Et in summo contrahatur, si erit lumen ab imo ad sedecim pedis, antepagmenti III parte; XVI pedum ad XXV, superior pars luminis contrahatur antepagmenti parte IIII; si ab pedibus XXV ad XXX, summa pars contrahatur antepagmenti parte VIII. Reliqua, quo altiora erunt, ad perpendiculum videntur oportere conlocari.

And at the top let it be contracted: if the opening from the bottom is 16 feet, by a 3rd part of the antepagmentum; from 16 feet to 25, let the upper part of the opening be contracted by a 4th part of the antepagmentum; if from 25 feet to 30, let the top part be contracted by an 8th part of the antepagmentum. The remainder, the higher they are, seem proper to be set to the perpendicular.

[2] Ipsa autem antepagmenta contrahantur in summo suae crassitudinis XIIII parte. Supercilii crassitudo, quanta antepagmentorum in summa parte erit crassitudo. Cymatium faciundum est antepagmenti parte sexta; proiectura autem, quanta est eius crassitudo.

[2] The architraves are to be tapered at the top by 1/14 of their thickness. The thickness of the cornice (supercilium) is to be as great as the thickness of the architraves at the top. The cymatium is to be made of 1/6 of the architrave; and its projection is to be equal to its thickness.

Sculpendum est cymatium lesbium cum astragalo. Supra cymatium quod erit in supercilio, conlocandum est hyperthyrum crassitudine supercilii, et in eo scalpendum est cymatium doricum, astragalum lasbium sima scalptura. Corona plana cum cymatio; proiectura autem eius erit quanta altitudo.

A Lesbian cymatium with an astragal is to be carved. Above the cymatium which will be on the supercilium, the hyperthyrum is to be set, of the thickness of the supercilium; and upon it there must be carved a Doric cymatium, a Lesbian astragal, and a sima carving. A flat corona with a cyma; and its projection will be as great as its height.

Supercilii, quod supra antepagmenta inponitur, dextra atque sinistra proiecturae sic sunt faciundae, uti crepidines excurrant et in ungue ipso cymatio coniungantur.

Of the supercilium, which is set upon the antepagmenta, the projections to right and left are to be made thus: that the crepidines run out and are joined to the cymatium at the very unguis.

[3] Sin autem ionico genere futura erunt, lumen altum ad eundem modum quemadmodum in doricis fieri videtur. Latitudo constituatur, ut altitudo dividatur in partes duas et dimidiam, eiusque partis unius ima luminis fiat latitudo. Contracturae ita uti in doricis.

[3] But if they are going to be of the Ionic kind, let the height of the clear opening be made in the same manner as in the Doric. Let the width be established such that the height is divided into two and a half parts, and let the width at the bottom of the opening be one of those parts. The contractions as in the Doric.

Crassitudo antepagmentorum <ex> altitudine luminis in fronte XIIII parte, cymatium huius crassitudinis sexta. Reliqua pars praeter cymatium dividitur in partes XII. Harum trium prima corsa fiat cum astragalo, secunda quattuor, tertia quinque, et eae aeque corsae cum astragalis circumcurrant.

The thickness of the antepagmenta, from the height of the opening at the front, is the 14th part; the cymatium is one sixth of this thickness. The remaining part, besides the cymatium, is divided into 12 parts. Of these, let the first course be 3 with an astragal, the second 4, the third 5; and let those courses run around equally with the astragals.

[4] Hyperthyra autem ad eundem modum componantur quemadmodum in doricis pro ratis pedibus. Ancones, sive parotides vocantur, excalpta dextra ac sinistra praependeant ad imi supercilii libramentum, praeter folium. Eae habeant in fronte crassitudinem antepagmenti tribus partibus, in imo quarta parte graciliore quam superiora.

[4] Moreover, let the hyperthyra be composed in the same manner as in the Doric, in place of feet. Let the ancones, which are called parotides, carved, overhang on the right and left down to the level of the lowest eyebrow, the leaf excepted. Let them have on the front a thickness of three parts taken from the antepagmentum, and at the bottom be by a fourth part more slender than the upper parts.

Fores ita compingantur, uti scapi cardinales sint ex latitudine luminis totius XII parte. Inter duos scapos tympana ex XII partibus habeant ternas partes.

Let the doors be joined together in such a way that the cardinal shafts are the 12th part of the breadth of the whole opening of light. Between the two shafts, the tympana, out of 12 parts, should have three parts.

[5] Inpagibus distrÏbutiones ita fient, uti divisis altitudinibus in partes V duae superiori, tres inferiori designentur. Super medium medii inpages conlocentur, ex reliquis alii in summo, alii in imo compingantur. Altitudo inpagis fiat tympani tertia parte, cymatium sexta parte inpagis.

[5] In the impages the distributions will be made thus: with the heights divided into 5 parts, let two be assigned to the upper, three to the lower. Above the middle let the middle impages be set; of the remainder, let some be fastened at the top, others at the bottom. Let the height of an impage be a third part of the panel (tympanum); let the cymatium be a sixth part of the impage.

Scaporum latitudines inpagis dimidia parte, item replum de inpage dimidia et sexta parte. Scapi, qui sunt secundum antepagmentum, dimidium inpagis constituantur. Sin autem valvatae erunt, altitudines ita manebunt, in latitudinem adiciatur amplius foris latitudo.

The widths of the stiles are to be one half of the panel; likewise the replum is to be of the panel by one half and a sixth part. The stiles which are next to the antepagment are to be set at one half of the panels. But if they are double‑leaved, the heights will remain thus; in the width let there be added, besides, the width of a door‑leaf.

Si quadriforis futura est, altitudo adiciatur.

If it is going to be four-leaved, let the height be increased.

[6] Atticurge autem isdem rationibus perficiuntur, quibus dorica. Praeterea corsae sub cymatiis in antepagmentis circumdantur, quae ita distribui debent, uti antepagmenti praeter cymatium ex partibus VII habeant duas partes. Ipsaque non fiunt clathrata neque bifora sed valvata, et aperturas habent in exteriores partes.

[6] But Attic-style ones are completed by the same ratios as the Doric. Moreover, courses (corsae) are run around beneath the cymatia on the antepagmenta, which ought to be distributed thus: that the antepagmentum, besides the cymatium, out of 7 parts should have two parts. And they themselves are not made latticed (clathrate) nor biforate, but valved, and they have their openings toward the exterior parts.

Quas rationes aedium sacrarum in formationibus oporteat fieri <doricis>, ionicis corinthiisque operibus, quoad potui attingere, veluti legitimis moribus exposui. Nunc de tuscanicis dispositionibus, quemadmodum institui oporteat, dicam.

What principles of sacred edifices in the formations ought to be made in the works <Doric>, Ionic, and Corinthian, so far as I could attain, I have set forth, as by legitimate mores. Now I will speak about Tuscanic dispositions, how they ought to be instituted.

Caput Septimum

Chapter Seven

[1] Locus, in quo aedis constituetur, cum habuerit in longitudine sex partes, una adempta reliquum quod erit, latitudini detur. Longitudo autem dividatur bipertito, et quae pars erit interior, cellarum spatiis designetur, quae erit proxima fronti, columnarum dispositione relinquatur. Item latitudo dividatur in partes X.

[1] The place in which the temple will be established, when it has six parts in length, with one taken away, let the remainder be given to the width. But let the length be divided into two, and the part that will be interior be designated for the spaces of the cella, and that which will be nearest the front be left for the disposition of the columns. Likewise let the width be divided into 10 parts.

[2] Ex his ternae partes dextra ac sinistra cellis minoribus, sive ibi alae futurae sunt, dentur; reliquae quattuor media aedi attribuantur. Spatium, quod erit ante cellas in pronao, ita columnis designetur, ut angulares contra antas, parietum extremorum regione, conlocentur; duae mediae e regione parietum, qui inter antas et mediam aedem fuerint, ita distribuantur; et inter antas et columnas priores per medium isdem regionibus alterae disponantur. Eaeque sint ima crassitudine altitudinis parte VII; altitudo tertia parte latitudinis templi; summaque columna quarta parte crassitudinis imae contrahatur.

[2] Of these, let three parts on the right and left be given to the smaller cells (cellae), or, if wings (alae) are to be there; let the remaining four be assigned to the middle shrine. Let the space that will be before the cells in the pronaos be thus marked out with columns: let the corner ones be set opposite the antae, in the region of the end walls; let the two middle ones be arranged opposite the walls which will be between the antae and the middle shrine; and between the antae and the foremost columns, along the middle, in the same alignments, let the others be set. And let them be, in the lower thickness, one-seventh of the height; the height one-third of the width of the temple; and let the top of the column be contracted by a fourth part of the lower thickness.

[3] Spirae earum altae dimidia parte crassitudinis fiant. Habeant spirae earum plinthum ad circinum, altam suae crassitudinis dimidia parte, torum insuper cum apophysi crassum quantum plinthus. Capituli altitudo dimidia crassitudinis.

[3] Let their bases be made high by the half part of the thickness. Let the bases have a plinth set out to the compass, high by half of its own thickness; above it a torus with an apophysis, as thick as the plinth. The height of the capital, half the thickness.

Abaci latitudo quanta ima crassitudo columnae. Capitulique crassitudo dividatur in partes tres, e quibus una plintho, quae est in abaco, detur, altera echino, tertia hypotrachelio cum apophysi.

The breadth of the abacus is as great as the lowest thickness of the column. And let the thickness of the capital be divided into three parts, of which one is given to the plinth, which is in the abacus, another to the echinus, the third to the hypotrachelion with the apophysis.

[4] Supra columnas trabes compactiles inponantur ut altitudinis modulis is, qua magnitudine operis postulabuntur. Eaeque trabes conpactiles ponantur ut eam habeant crassitudinem, quanta summae columnae erit hypotrachelium, et ita sint conpactae subscudibus et securiclis, ut conpactura duorum digitorum habeant laxationem. Cum enim inter se tangunt et non spiramentum et perflatum venti recipiunt, concalefaciuntur et celeriter putrescunt.

[4] Above the columns let compound beams be set, according to the modules of the height, of such magnitude as the size of the work shall require. And let these compound beams be placed so that they have that thickness which the hypotrachelium of the top of the column will have, and let them be compacted with wedges and little hatchets, so that the compacting have a loosening of two fingers. For when they touch one another and do not receive the breathing-space and blowing-through of the wind, they grow warm and quickly rot.

[5] Supra trabes et supra parietes traiecturae mutulorum parte IIII altitudinis columnae proiciantur; item in eorum frontibus antepagmenta figantur. Supraque id tympanum fastigii structura seu de materia conlocetur. Supraque eum fastigium, columen, cantherii, templa ita sunt conlocanda, ut stillicidium tecti absoluti tertiario respondeat.

[5] Above the beams and above the walls, the projections of the mutules are to be thrown out by 1/4 of the height of the column; likewise, on their fronts, antepagmenta should be fastened. And above that, let the tympanum of the gable, whether of masonry or of timber, be set in place. And above that gable, the ridge (columen), rafters (cantherii), and purlins (templa) are to be arranged so that the eaves-drip of the finished roof corresponds to a 1/3.

Caput Octavum

Chapter Eight

[1] Fiunt autem aedes rutundae, e quibus aliae monopteroe sine cella columnatae constituuntur, aliae peripteroe dicuntur. Quae sine cella fiunt, tribunal habent et ascensum ex sua diametro tertiae partis. Insuper stylobata columnae constituuntur tam altae, quanta ab extremis parietibus est diametros stylobatarum, crassae altitudinis suae cum capitulis et spiris decumae partis.

[1] Moreover, round shrines are made, of which some monopteral, columnated without a cella, are set up, others are called peripteral. Those made without a cella have a tribunal and an ascent amounting to a third part of its diameter. On top, upon the stylobates, columns are set up as high as is the diameter of the stylobates measured from the outer walls, their thickness being a tenth part of their height, together with capitals and bases (spirae).

Epistylium altum columnae crassitudinis dimidia parte. Zophorum et reliqua, quae insuper inponuntur, ita uti in III volumine de symmetriis scripsi.

The epistyle has a height equal to one half of the column’s thickness. The zophorus and the remaining elements that are set above are as I wrote in volume 3 on symmetries.

[2] Sin autem peripteros ea aedes constituetur, duo gradus et stylobata ab imo constituantur. Deinde cellae paries conlocetur cum recessu eius a stylobata circa partem latitudinis quintam medioque valvarum locus ad aditus relinquatur; eaque cella tantam habeat diametrum praeter parietes et circumitionem, quantam altitudinem columna. Supra stylobata columnae circum cellam isdem symmetriisque disponantur.

[2] But if that temple is to be constituted peripteral, let two steps and stylobates be constructed from the bottom. Then let the wall of the cella be set in place with its recess from the stylobate at about a fifth part of the breadth, and in the middle let a place be left for the folding-doors at the entrances; and let that cella have a diameter, apart from the walls and the surrounding passage (circumition), equal to the height of the column. Above the stylobates let columns be arranged around the cella with the same symmetries.

[3] In medio tecti ratio ita habeatur, uti, quanta diametros totius operis erit futura, dimidia altitudo fiat tholi praeter florem; flos autem tantam habet magnitudinem, quantam habuerit columnae capitulum, praeter pyramidem. Reliqua, uti supra scripta sunt ea, proportionibus atque symmetriis facienda videntur.

[3] In the middle of the roof let the design be such that, whatever the diameter of the whole work shall be, the half-altitude of the tholus be made, apart from the flower; but the flower has a magnitude as great as the capital of the column has had, apart from the pyramid. The remaining things, as have been written above, seem to be to be made according to proportions and symmetries.

[4] Item generibus aliis constituuntur aedes ex isdem symmetriis ordinatae et alio genere dispositiones habentes, uti est Castoris in circo Flamino et inter duos lucos Veiovis, item argutius Nemori Dianae columnis adiectis dextra ac sinistra ad umeros pronai. Hoc autem genere primo facta est, uti est Castoris in circo, Athenis in arce et in Attica Sunio Palladis Minervae. Earum non aliae sed eaedem sunt proportiones.

[4] Likewise, in other kinds temples are constituted, ordered by the same symmetries and having dispositions of another sort, as is that of Castor in the Circus Flaminius and that of Veiovis between the two Groves, and, more artfully, that of Diana at the Grove with columns added on the right and left at the shoulders of the pronaos. Now of this kind the first was made, as is that of Castor in the circus, at Athens on the citadel, and in Attica at Sunium of Pallas Minerva. Of these the proportions are not different but the same.

Cellae enim longitudinibus duplices sunt ad latitudines uti reliquae; ex is omnia quae solent esse in frontibus, ad latera sunt translata.

For the cellae in their lengths are double to their widths, as the rest; from these, all the things which are wont to be on the fronts have been transferred to the sides.

[5] Nonnulli etiam de tuscanicis generibus sumentes columnarum dispositiones transferunt in corinthiorum et ionicorum operum ordinationes, et quibus in locis in pronao procurrunt antae, in isdem e regione cellae parietum columnas binas conlocantes efficiunt tuscanicorum et graecorum operum communem ratiocinationem.

[5] Some, too, taking the dispositions of columns from Tuscanic kinds, transfer them into the ordinations of Corinthian and Ionian works; and in those places where the antae run forward in the pronaos, by placing twin columns in the corresponding positions opposite the walls of the cella, they effect a common rationale of Tuscanic and Greek works.

[6] Alii vero removentes parietes aedis et adplicantes ad intercolumnia pteromatos, spatii sublati efficiunt amplum laxamentum cellae; reliqua autem proportionibus et symmetriis isdem conservantes aliud genus figurae nomisque videtur pseudoperipterum procreavisse. Haec autem genera propter usum sacrificiorum convertuntur. Non enim omnibus diis isdem rationibus aedes sunt faciundae, quod alius alia varietate sacrorum religionum habet effectus.

[6] Others indeed, removing the walls of the temple and applying the pteromata to the intercolumniations, with the space taken away produce a roomy expansion of the cella; but preserving the rest with the same proportions and symmetries, this seems to have generated another kind of figure and name, namely the pseudoperipteral. Moreover, these kinds are altered on account of the use of sacrifices. For temples are not to be made for all gods by the same methods, because each has its effect with a different variety of sacred religious rites.

[7] Omnes aedium sacrarum ratiocinationes, uti mihi traditae sunt, exposui ordinesque et symmetrias eorum partitionibus distinxi, et quorum dispares sunt figurae et quibus discriminibus inter se sunt disparatae, quoad potui significare scriptis, exposui. Nunc de areis deorum inmortalium, uti aptam constitutionem habeant ad sacrificiorum rationem, dicam.

[7] All the ratiocinations of sacred buildings, as they have been handed down to me, I have set forth, and their orders and symmetries I have distinguished by partitions; and whose figures are unlike, and by what discriminations they are set apart among themselves, I have expounded, so far as I could signify by writings. Now about the areas of the immortal gods, in order that they may have a fit constitution for the rationale of sacrifices, I will speak.

Caput Nonum

Chapter Nine

[1] Arae spectent ad orientem et semper inferiores sint conlocatae quam simulacra quae fuerint in aede, uti suspicientes divinitatem, qui supplicant, et sacrificant, disparibus altitudinibus ad sui cuiusque dei decorem componantur. Altitudines autem earum sic sunt explicandae, uti Iovi omnibusque caelestibus quam excelsissimae constituantur, Vestae Terrae Marique humiles conlocentur. Ita idoneae his institutionibus explicabuntur in meditationibus arearum deformationes.

[1] Let altars face toward the east and always be placed lower than the simulacra that are in the temple, so that those who supplicate and sacrifice, looking up to the divinity, may, with differing elevations, be arranged for the decorum of each respective god. The heights of these are to be explained thus: for Jupiter and all the celestial gods they should be established as lofty as possible; for Vesta, Earth, and Sea they should be set low. Thus, suitable to these instructions, in the meditations (design-considerations) the configurations of altars will be set forth.

Explicatis aedium sacrarum compositionibus in hoc libro insequenti de communium operum reddemus distributionibus explicationes.

With the compositions of sacred edifices explained, in this following book we shall render explications concerning the distributions of common works.