 Translators preface of 10 books on architecture. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Friedrich Carlson. The 10 books on architecture by Markus Vitrovius Polio translated by Maurice Hickey Morgan. Translators preface. During the last years of his life, Professor Morgan had devoted much time and energy to the preparation of a translation of Vitrovius, which he proposed to supplement with a revised text, illustrations and notes. He had completed the translation with the exception of the last four chapters of the 10th book, and had discussed with Professor Warren the illustrations intended for the first six books of the work. The notes had not been arranged or completed, though many of them were outlined in the manuscript, or the intention to insert them indicated. The several books of the translation, so far as it was completed, had been read to a little group of friends consisting of Professors Sheldon and Quittredge and myself, and had received our criticism which had at times been utilized in the revision of the work. After the death of Professor Morgan, in spite of my obvious incompetency from a technical point of view, I undertook at the request of his family to complete the translation and to see the book through the press. I must therefore assume entire responsibility for the translation of the 10th book, beginning with chapter 13, and further responsibility for necessary changes made by me in the earlier part of the translation, changes which, in no case, affect any theory held by Professor Morgan, but which involve mainly the adoption of simpler forms of statements or the correction of obvious oversights. The text followed is that of Valentine Rose in the second edition, Leipzig, 1899, and the variations from this text are, with a few exceptions which are indicated in the footnotes, in the nature of a return to the consensus of the manuscript readings. The illustrations in the first six books are believed to be substantially in accord with the wishes of Professor Morgan. The suggestions for illustrations in the later books were incomplete and did not indicate in all cases which sufficient definiteness to allow them to be executed, the changes from conventional plans and designs intended by the translator. It has therefore been decided to include in this part of the work only those illustrations which are known to have had the full approval of Professor Morgan. The one exception to this principle is the production of a rough model of the Ram of Hegator, constructed by me on the basis of the measurements given by Vitruvius and Athenius. It does not seem to me necessary, or even advisable, to enter into a long discussion as the date of Vitruvius, which has been assigned to various periods from the time of Augustus to the early centuries of our era. Professor Morgan, in several articles in the Harvard studies in classical philology and in the proceedings of the American Academy, all of which have been reprinted in a volume of addresses and essays New York, 1909, upheld the now generally accepted view that Vitruvius wrote in the time of Augustus and furnished conclusive evidence that nothing in his language is inconsistent with this view. In revising the translation I met with one bit of evidence for a date before the end of the reign of Nero which I have never been adduced. In Book 8, Chapter 3, Section 21, the Kingdom of Cotius is mentioned. The name depending, it is true, on an amundation, but one which has been universally accepted since it was first proposed in 1513. The Kingdom of Cotius was made into a Roman province by Nero and it is inconceivable that any Roman writer subsequently referred to it as a kingdom. It does seem necessary to add a few words about the literary merits of Vitruvius in this treatise and about Professor Morgan's views as to the general principles to be followed in the translation. Vitruvius was not a great literary personage, ambitious as he was to appear in that character. As Professor Morgan has aptly said, he has all the marks of one unused to composition to whom writing is a painful task. In his hand the measuring rod was a far mitery implement than the pen. His turgid and pompous rhetoric displays itself in the introductions to the different books where his exaggerated effort to introduce some semblance of style into his commonplace lectures on the noble principles which should govern the conduct of the architect or into the prosaic lists of architects and writers on architecture is everywhere apparent. Even in the more technical portions of his work, a like-conscious effort may be detected and at the same time a lack of confidence in his ability to express himself in unmistakable language. He avoids periodic sentences, uses only the simpler subjunctive constructions, repeats the antecedent in relative clauses and, not infrequently, adopts a formal language closely akin to that of specifications and contracts, the style with which he was naturally most familiar. He ends each book with a brief summary, almost a formula, someone like a sigh of relief in which the reader unconsciously shares. At times his spinning is ambiguous, not because of grammatical faults which are comparatively few and unimportant, but because, when he does attempt a periodic sentence, he becomes involved and finds it difficult to excricate himself. Some of these peculiarities and crudities of expression Professor Morgan purposely imitated because of his conviction that a translation should not merely reproduce the substance of a book but should also give as clear a picture as possible of the original, of its author, and of the working of its mind. The translation is intended then to be faithful and exact, but it deliberately avoids an attempt to treat the language of Vitruvius as though it were Ciceroanian or to give a false impression of conspicuous literary merit in a work which is destitute of that quality. The translator had, however, the utmost confidence in the sincerity of Vitruvius and in the serious purpose of his treatise on architecture. To those who have liberally given their advice and suggestions in response to requests from Professor Morgan, it is impossible for me to make adequate acknowledgement. The number is so great and my knowledge of the in-depthness in individual cases is so small that each must be content with the thought of the full and generous acknowledgement which he would have received had Professor Morgan himself written this preface. Personally, I am under the greatest obligations to Professor H. L. Warren, who has freely given both assistance and criticism to Professor G. L. Kittredge, who has read with me most of the proof to the syntax of the Harvard University Press who have made possible the publication of the work and to the members of the visiting committee of the Department of Classics and the classmates of Professor Morgan who have generously supplied the necessary funds for the illustrations, signed Albert A. Howard. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Fredrik Karlsson, ten books on architecture by Vitruvius, translated by Marius Hickey Morgan. Book one, preface. One, while your divine intelligence and will, imperative Caesar, were engaged in acquiring the right to command the world and while your fellow citizens, when all their enemies had been laid low by your invincible valor, were glorying in your triumph and victory, while all foreign nations were in subjection awaiting your beck and call and the Roman people and senate released from their alarm were beginning to be guided by your most noble conceptions and policies. I hardly dared, in view of your serious employments, to publish my writings and long considered ideas on architecture for fear of subjecting myself to your displeasure by an unseasonable interruption. Two, but when I saw that you were giving your attention not only to the welfare of society in general and to the establishment of public order, but also to the providing of public buildings intended for utilitarian purposes so that not only should the state have been enriched with provinces by your means, but that the greatness of its power might likewise be attended with distinguished authority in its public buildings. I thought that I ought to take the first opportunity to lay before you my writings on this theme. For in the first place it was this subject which made me known to your father to whom I was devoted on account of his great qualities. After the council of heaven gave him a place in the dwellings of immortal life and transferred your father's power to your hands, my devotion continuing unchanged as I remembered him inclined me to support you. And so with Marcus Aurelius, Publius Minidius and Cnaeus Cornelius, I was ready to supply and repair Balistai, Scorpionus and other artillery and I have received rewards for good service with them. After your first bestowal of these upon me, you continued to renew them on the recommendation of your sister. 3. Owing to this favor, I need to have no fear of want to the end of my life and being thus laid under obligation I began to write this work for you because I saw that you have built and are now building extensively. And that in future also you will take care that our public and private buildings shall be worthy to go down to posterity by the side of your other splendid achievements. I have drawn up definite rules to enable you by observing them to have personal knowledge of the quality both of existing buildings and of those which are yet to be constructed. For in the following books I have disclosed all the principles of the art. Chapter 1. The Education of the Architect 1. The architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgment that all work done by the other parts is put to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory. Practice is the continuous and regular exercise of employment where manual work is done with any necessary material according to the design of a drawing. Theory, on the other hand, is the ability to demonstrate and explain the productions of dexterity on the principles of proportion. 2. It follows therefore that architects who have aimed at acquiring manual skill without scholarships have never been able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their paints, while those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the shadow, not the substance. But those who have a thorough knowledge of both, like men armed at all points, have the suitor attained their object and carried authority with them. 3. In all matters, but particularly in architecture, there are these two points, the things signified and that which gives it its significance. That which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking and that which gives significance is a demonstration on scientific principles. It appears then that one who professes himself an architect should be well versed in both directions. He ought therefore to be both naturally gifted and amendable to instruction. Neither natural ability without instruction nor instruction without natural ability can make the perfect artist. Let him be educated, skillful with the pencil instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens. 4. The reasons for all this are as follows. An architect ought to be an educated man so as to leave a more lasting remembrance in his treatises. Secondly, he must have a knowledge of drawing so that he can readily make sketches to show their parents of the work which he proposes. Geometry also is of much assistance in architecture and in particular it teaches us the use of the rule and compasses by which especially we acquire readiness in making plans for buildings in their grounds and rightly apply the square, the level, and the plummet. By means of optics again, the light in buildings can be drawn from fixed quarters of the sky. It is true that it is by arithmetic that the total cost of buildings is calculated and measurements are computed. But difficult questions involving symmetry are solved by means of geometrical theories and methods. 5. A wide knowledge of history is requisite because among the ornamental parts of an architect designed for a work there are many the underlying idea of whose employment he should be able to explain to inquirers. For instance, suppose him to set up the marble statues of women in long robes called karyatides to take the place of columns, where the mutuals and coroners placed directly above their heads he will give the following explanations to his questionnaires. Karya, a state in Peloponnesus sided with the Persian enemies against Greece. Later the Greeks having gloriously won their freedom by victory in the war made common cause and declared war against the people of Karya. They took the town, killed the men, abandoned the state to desolation and carried off their wives into slavery without permitting them however to lay aside the long robes and other marks on their rank as married women so that they may be obliged not only to march in the triumph but to appear forever after as a type of slavery burdened with the weight of their shame and so making a tournament for their state. Hence the architects of the time designed for building, building statues of these women placed as the Karya load in order that the sin and the punishment of the people of Karya might be known and handed down even to posterity. Six. Likewise the Lysenidemonians under the leadership of Pausenius, son of Egesipolis after conquering the Persian armies, infinite in number with a small force of the battle of Plataea celebrated a glorious triumph with a spirals booty and with the money obtained from the sale thereof built the Persian porch to be a monument to the renown of valor of the people and a trophy of victory for posterity. And there they set effigies of the prisoners, raid and barbarian costume and holding up the roof, their pride punished by their deserved affront that enemies might tremble for fear of the effects of their courage and that their own people looking up at this ensemble of their valor and courage by the glory of it might be ready to defend their independence. So from that time on many had put up statues of Persians supporting and tablatures and their ornaments and thus from that motive have greatly enriched the diversity of their works. There are other stories of the same kind which architects ought to know. Seven. As for philosophy it makes an architect high-minded and not self-assuming but rather renders him courteous, just and honest without avariciousness. This is very important for no work can be rightly done without honesty and incorruptibility. Let him not be grasping nor have his mind preoccupied with the idea of receiving perquisites but let him with dignity keep up his position by cherishing a good reputation. These are among the precepts of philosophy. Furthermore philosophy treats of physics where a more careful knowledge is required because the problems which come under his head are numerous and of very different kinds. As for example in the case of the conducting of water for its points of intake and at curves and at places where it is raised to a level currents of air naturally form in one way or another and nobody who has not learned the fundamental principles of physics from philosophy will be able to provide against the damage which they do. So the reader of Stacebius or Archimedes and the other writers of treatises of the same class will not be able to appreciate them unless he has been trained at these subjects by the philosophers. Music also the architect ought to understand so that he may have knowledge of the canonical and mathematical theory and besides be able to tune ballistae, catapulte and scorpions to the proper key. For to the right and left in the beams are the holes in the frames through which the strings of twisted sinew are stretched by means of windless bars. And these strings must not be clamped and made fast until they give the same correct note to the ear of the skilled workman. For the arms thrust through those stretched strings must on being let go strike their blow together at the same moment but if they are not in the unison they will prevent the cause of projectiles from being straight. In theaters likewise there are the bronze vessels which are placed in niches under the seats in accordance with the musical intervals on mathematical principles. These vessels are arranged with a view to musical concords or harmony and a portioned in the compass of the fourth, the fifth and octave and so on up to the double octave in such a way that when the voice of an actor falls in unison with any of them its power is increased and it reaches the ears of the audience with greater clearness and sweetness. Water organs too and the other instruments which resemble them cannot be made by one who is without the principles of music. 10. The architect should also have a knowledge of the study of medicine on account of the questions of climates, air, the healthiness and unhealthiness of sites and the use of different waters. For without these considerations the healthiness of a dwelling cannot be assured and as for the principles of law he should know those which are necessary in the case of buildings having party walls with regard to water dripping from the eaves and also the laws about drains, windows and water supply. And other things of this sort should be known to architects so that before they begin upon buildings they may be careful not to leave disputed points for the householders to settle after the works are finished and so that in drawing up contracts the interests of both employer and contractor may be wisely safeguarded. For if a contract is skillfully drawn each may obtain a release from the other without disadvantage. From astronomy we find the east, west, south and north as well as the theory of the heavens the equinox, solstice and courses of the stars. If one has no knowledge of these matters he will not be able to have any comprehension of the theory of sundials. Consequently, since this study is so vast in extent embellished and enriched as it is with many different kinds of learning I think that men have no right to profess themselves architects hastily without having climbed from boyhood the steps of these studies and thus nursed by the knowledge of many arts and sciences having reached the heights of the holy ground of architecture. 12. But perhaps to the inexperienced it will seem a marvel that human nature can comprehend such a great number of studies and keep them in the memory. Still, the observations that all studies have a common bond of union and intercourse with one another will lead to the belief that this can easily be realized. For a liberal education forms as it were a single body made up of these members So, therefore, who from tender years receive instructions in the various forms of learning recognize the same stamp on all the arts and an intercourse between all studies and so they more readily comprehend them all. This is what led one of the ancient architects, Pythios, the celebrated builder of the temple of Minerva at Priene to say in his commentaries that an architect ought to be able to accomplish much more in all the arts and sciences than the men who by their own particular kinds of work and the practice of it have brought each a single subject to the highest perfection. But this is, in point of fact, not realized. 13. For an architect ought not be and cannot be such a philologian as was Aristarchus although not illiterate, nor a musician like Aristesanus, though not absolutely ignorant of music, nor a painter like Appels though not unskillful in drawing, nor a sculptor such as was Myron or Father Cletus though not unacquainted with the plastic art nor again a physician like Hippocrates though not ignorant of medicine nor in the other sciences needy excel in each not be unskillful in them for in the midst of all this great variety of subjects an individual cannot attain to perfection in each because it is scarcely in his power to take in and comprehend the general theories of them. 14. Still, it is not architects alone that cannot in all matters reach perfection but even men who individual practice specialities in the arts do not all attain to the highest point of merit. Therefore if among artists working each in the single field not all but only a few in an entire generation acquire fame and that with difficulty how can an architect who has to be skillful in many arts accomplish not merely defeat in itself a great marvel of being deficient in none of them but also that of surpassing all those artists who have devoted themselves with unremitting industry to single fields. 15. It appears then that Puthius made a mistake by not observing that the arts are each composed of two things the actual work and the theory of it. One of these the doing of the work is proper to men trained in the individual subject while the other the theory is common to all scholars. For example to physicians and physicians the rhythmical beat of the pulse and its metrical movement but if there is a wound to be healed or a sick man to be saved from danger the musician will not call for the business will be appropriate to the physician. So in the case of a musical instrument not the physician but the musician will be the man to tune it so that the ears may find their due pleasure in its strains. 16. Astronomers likewise have a common ground for discussion with musicians in the harmony of the stars and musical concords and tetrids and triads of the fourth and the fifth and with geometricians in the subject of vision and in all sciences many points perhaps all are common so far as the discussion of them is concerned. But the actual undertaking of works which are brought to perfection by the hand and its manipulation is the function of those who have been specially trained to deal with the single art. It appears therefore that he has done enough and to spare who in each subject possesses a fairly good knowledge of those parts with their principles which are indispensable for architecture so that if he is acquired to pass judgment and to express approval in the case of those things or art he may not be found wanting. As for men upon whom nature has bestowed so much ingenuity, acuteness and memory that they are able to have thorough knowledge of geometry, astronomy, music and the other arts they go beyond the functions of architects and become pure mathematicians. Hence they can readily take up positions against those arts because many other artistic weapons which with they are armed. Such men however are rarely found but there have been such at times for example Aris Tarkus of Samos, Phyllulaus and Architas of Tarentum Apollonius of Perga Eretosthenes of Siren and among Syracusens, Archimedes and Scopinas who through mathematics and natural philosophy discovered, expounded and left to posterity many things in connection with mechanics and with sundials. 17. Since therefore the possession of such talents due to natural capacity is not vogue-safed at random to entire nations but only to a few great men, since moreover the function of the architects requires a training in all the departments of learning and finally since reason on account of the wide extent of the subject concedes that he may possess not the highest but not even necessarily a moderate knowledge of the subject of study I request Caesar both of you and those who may read the said books that if anything is said forth with too little regard for grammatical rule it may be pardoned for it is not as a very great philosopher nor as an eloquent rhetorician nor as a grammarian trained the highest principle of his art that I have striven to write this work but as an architect who has had only a dip into those studies. Still as regard the efficacy of the art and the theories of it I promise and expect that in these volumes I shall undoubtedly show myself of very considerable importance not only to builders but also to all scholars. End of Book 1, Chapter 1 Book 1, Chapters 2-3 of 10 books on architecture. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Fredrik Carlson 10 books on architecture by Vitruvius translated by Morris Hickey Morgan. Chapter 2 The Fundamental Principles of Architecture 1. Architecture depends on order, arrangement, symmetry, arrhythmy, propriety and economy. 2. Order gives due measure to the members of a work considered separately and symmetrical agreement to the proportions of the whole. It is an adjustment according to quantity. By this I mean the selection of modules from the members of the work itself and starting from these individual parts of members constructing the whole work to correspond. Arrangement includes the putting of things in their proper places and the elegance of effect which is due to adjustments appropriate to the character of the work. Its forms of expression are these ground plan, elevation and perspective. A ground plan is made by the proper successive use of compasses and rule through which we get outlines for the plane surfaces of the buildings. An elevation is a picture of the front of a building set upright and properly drawn in the proportions of the contemplated work. Perspective is the method of sketching a front with the sides withdrawing into the background the lines all meeting in the center of a circle. All three come of reflection and invention. Reflection is careful and laborious thought and watchful attention directed to the agreeable effect of one's plan. Invention, on the other hand, is the solving of intricate problems and the discovery of new principles by means of brilliancy and versatility. These are the departments belonging under arrangement. Eurythm is beauty and fitness in the adjustment of the members. This is found when the members of a work are of a height suited to their breadth of a breadth suited to their length and, in a word, when they all correspond symmetrically. Symmetry is a proper agreement between the members of the work itself and relation between the different parts and the whole general scheme in accordance with a certain part selected as standard. Thus, in the human body there is a kind of symmetrical harmony between forearm, foot, palm, finger and other small parts and so it is with perfect buildings. In the case of temples, symmetry may be calculated from the thickness of a column, from a triglyph even from a module in the ballista, from the hole or from what the Greeks call the peritretos in a ship from the space between the thulpins and in other things from various members. Propriety is that perfection of style which comes when a work is authoritatively constructed on approved principles. It arises from prescription from usage or from nature. From prescription in the case of hyperethereal edifices open to the sky in honour of Jupiter lightning the heaven the sun or the moon. For these are gods whose semblances and manifestations we behold before our very eyes in the sky when it is cloudless and bright. The temples of Minerva, Mars and Hercules will be Doric since the virile strength of these gods makes daintiness entirely inappropriate to their houses. In temples to Venus, Flora Prosopine, Springwater and the Nymphs the Corinthian Order will be found to have peculiar significance because these are delicate divinities and so its rather slender outlines its flowers leaves and ornamental volutes will lend propriety where it is due. The construction of temples of the Ionic Order to Juno, Diana Father Bacchus and the other gods of their kind will be in keeping with the middle position which they hold for the building of such will be an appropriate combination of the severity of Doric and the delicacy of the Corinthian. 6. Propriety arises from usage when buildings having magnificent interiors are provided with elegant entrance courts to correspond. For there will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by low mean entrance or if dentals be carved in the cornice of the Doric and Tablature or triglyphs represented in the Ionic and Tablature of the cushion shaped capitals of the Collins the effect will be spoiled by the transfer of the peculiarities of the one order of the building to the other the usage in each class having been fixed long ago. 7. Finally propriety will be due to natural causes if, for example in the case of all sacred precincts we select very healthy neighborhoods with suitable springs and water in the places where the faines are to be built particularly in the case of those to Esculapias and to health gods by whose healing powers great numbers of the thick are apparently cured for when their diseased bodies are transformed from an unhealthy to a healthy spot and treated with waters from health giving springs they will the more speedily grow well 7. The result will be that the divinity will stand in higher esteem and find his dignity increased all owing to the nature of his sight. There will also be natural propriety in using an eastern light for bedrooms and libraries, a western light in winter for baths and wintered apartments and a northern light for picture galleries and other steady light is needed for that quarter of the sky grows neither light nor dark with the course of the sun but remains steady and unshifting all day long 8. Economy denotes the proper management of materials and of sight as well as a thrifty balancing of cost and common sense in the construction of works. This will be observed if in the first place the architect does not demand things which cannot be found or made ready without great expense for example it is not everywhere that there is plenty of pitsand, rubble, fur, clear fur and marble since they are produced in different places and to assemble them is difficult and costly where there is no pitsand we must use the kinds washed up by rivers or by the sea the lack of fur and clear fur is invaded by using cypress poplar, elm or pine and other problems we must solve in similar ways. 9. A second stage in economy is reached when we have to plan the different kinds of dwellings suitable for ordinary householders for great wealth or for the high position of the statesmen a house in town obviously calls for one form of construction into which stream the products of country states requires another. This will not be the same in the case of moneylenders and still different for the opulent luxurious for the powers under those deliberations the commonwealth is guided dwellings are to be provided according to their special needs and in a word the proper form of economy must be observed in building houses for each country class. 3. The departments of architecture 1. There are 3 departments of architecture the art of building, the making of timepieces and the construction of machinery building is in its turn divided into 2 parts of which the first is the construction of fortified towns and of works for general use in public places and the second is the putting up of structures for private individuals there are 3 classes of public buildings the first for defensive the second for religious and the third for utilitarian purposes under defense comes the planning of walls towers and gates permanent devices for resistance against hostile attacks under religion the erection of faines and temples to the immortal gods under utility the provision of meeting places for public use such as harbors markets, colonnades baths, theaters promenades and all other similar arrangements in public places 2. All these must be built with due reference to durability convenience and beauty will be assured when foundations are carried down to the solid ground and materials wisely and liberally selected convenience when the arrangement of the apartments is faultless and presents no hindrance to use and when each class of building is assigned to its suitable and appropriate exposure and beauty when the appearance of the work is pleasing and in good taste proportion according to correct principles of symmetry end of book 1 chapter 3 book 1, chapters 4-5 of 10 books on architecture this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Fredrik Karlsson 10 books on architecture by Vitrivious translated by Morris Hickey Morgan chapter 4 the site of a city 1 for fortified towns the following general principles are to be observed first comes the choice of a very healthy site such a site will be high neither misty nor frosty and in a climate neither hot nor cold but temperate further without marshes in the neighborhood for when the morning breezes blow toward the town at sunrise mingle with the mists from the marshes and mingle with the mist the poisonous breath of the creatures of the marshes to be wafted into the bodies of the inhabitants they will make the site unhealthy again if the town is on the coast with a southern western exposure it will not be healthy because in summer the southern sky grows hot at sunrise and is fiery at noon while a western exposure grows warm after sunrise is hot at noon and at evening all aglow 2 these variations in heat and the subsequent cooling off are harmful to the people living on such sites the same conclusion may be reached in the case of inanimate things for instance nobody draws the light for covered wine rooms from the south or west or further from north since the quarter is never subject to change but is always constant and unshifting so it is with granaries grain exposed to the sun's course soon loses its good quality and provisions and fruit unless stored in a place unexposed to the sun's course do not keep long 3 for heat is a universal solvent melting out of things that are power sucking away and removing their natural strength with its fiery exhalations so they grow soft and hence weak under its glow we see this in the case of iron which however hard it may naturally be yet when heated thoroughly in a furnace fire can be easily worked into any kind of shape and still if cooled while it is soft and white hot it hardens again with a mere dip in cold water on its former quality 4 we may recognize the truth of this from the fact that in summer the heat makes everybody weak not only in unhealthy but even in healthy places and that in winter even the most unhealthy districts are much healthier because they are given a solidity by the cooling off similarly persons removed from cold countries to hot cannot endure it but waste away whereas those who pass from hot places to the cold regions of the north not only do not suffer in health from the change of residence but even gain by it 5 it appears that in founding towns we must beware of districts from which hot winds can spread abroad over the inhabitants for while all bodies are composed of the four elements that is of heat, moisture and air yet there are mixtures according to natural temperament which make up the natures of all the different animals of the world each after its kind 6 therefore if one of these elements heat becomes predominant in anybody whatsoever it destroys and dissolves all the others with its violence this defect may be due to violent heat from certain quarters of the sky pouring into the open pores in too great proportion to admit of a mixture suited to the natural temperament of the body in question again if too much moisture enters the channels of a body and thus introduces disproportion the other elements adulterated by the liquid are impaired and the virtues of the mixture dissolve this defect in turn may arise from the cooling properties of moist winds and breezes blowing upon the body in the same way increase or diminution of the proportion of air and of the earthy which is natural to the body may enfeeble the other elements the predominance of the earthy being due to over much food that of air to a heavy atmosphere if one wishes a more accurate understanding of all this he need only consider and observe the natures of birds, fishes and land animals and he will thus come to reflect upon distinctions of temperament one form of mixture is proper to birds another to fishes and a far different form to land animals winged creatures have less of the earthy, less moisture heat and moderation air in large amount made up therefore of the lighter elements they can more readily soar away into the air fish, with their aquatic nature being moderately supplied with heat and made up in part of air and the earthy with as little moisture as possible can more easily exist in moisture for the very reason that they have less of it than of the other elements in their bodies and so when they are drawn to land they leave life and water at the same moment similarly the land animals being moderately supplied with the elements of air and heat and having less of the earthy and a great deal of moisture cannot long continue alive in the water because their proportion of moisture is already abundant 8. Therefore, if all this as we have explained showing us that the bodies of animals are made up of the elements and these bodies, as we believe giving away and breaking up as a result of excess or deficiency in this or that element we cannot but believe that we must take great care to select a very temperate climate for the sight of our city since healthfulness is as we have said the first requisite 9. I cannot too strongly insist upon the need of a return to the method of old times our ancestors when about to build a town or an army post sacrifice some of the cattle that we want to feed on the site proposed and examine their livers if the livers of the first victims were dark colored or abnormal they sacrificed others to see whether their fault was due to disease or their food they never began to build defensive works in a place until after they had made many such trials and satisfy themselves that good water and food had made the livers sound and firm if they continue to find it abnormal they argued from this that the food and water supply found in such a place would be just as unhealthy for man and so they moved away and changed to another neighborhood healthfulness being their chief object 10. that pasture and food may indicate the healthful qualities of a site is a fact which can be observed and investigated in the case of certain pastures and creed on each side of the river Potherias which separates the two cretin states of Gnosis and Gortina there are cattle at pasture on the right and left banks of that river but while the cattle that feed near Gnosis have the usual spleen those on the other side near Gortina have no perceptible spleen on investigating the subject physicians discovered on this side a kind of herb which the cattle chew and thus make their spleen small the herb is therefore gathered and used as a medicine for the cure of splenetic people the cretins call it hasplenon from food and water then we may learn whether sites are naturally unhealthy or healthy 11. if the wall town is built among the marshes themselves provided that they are by the sea with a northern or northeastern exposure and are above the level of the seashore the site will be reasonable enough for ditches can be dug to let out the water to the shore and also in times storms the sea swells and comes back up into the marshes where its bitter blend prevents the reproductions of the usual marsh creches while any that swim down from the higher levels to the shore are killed at once by the saltness to which they are unused an instance of this may be found in the Gaelic marshes surrounding Altino, Ravenna, Aquilea and other towns and places of the kind close by marshes they are marvelously healthy for the reason which I have given. 12. but marshes that are stagnant and have no outlets either by rivers or ditches like the pomptown marshes merely patrify as they stand emitting heavy unhealthy vapors a case of a town built in such a spot was Old Sulpia in Apulia founded by Diomed on his way back from Troy or according to some writers by Elpias of Rhodes year after year there was sickness until finally the suffering inhabitants came with a public petition to Marcus Hostelius and got him to agree to seek and find them a proper place to which to remove their city without delay he made the most skillful investigations and at once purchased an estate near the sea in a healthy place and asked the senate and roman people for permission to remove the town he constructed the walls and laid out the house lots granting one to each citizen for a mere trifle this done he cut an opening from a lake into the sea and thus made of the lake a harbor for the town the result is that now the people of Sulpia live on a healthy site and at a distance of only 4 miles from the old town 5. the city walls after insuring on these principles the healthfulness of the future city and selecting a neighborhood that can supply plenty of food stuffs to maintain the community with good roads or else convenient rivers or seaports affording easy means of transport to the city the next thing to do is to lay the foundations for the towers and walls dig down to solid bottom if it can be found and lay them therein going as deep as the magnitude of the proposed work seems to require they should be much thicker than the parts of the wall that will appear above ground and their structure should be as solid as it can possibly be laid 2. the towers must be projected beyond the line of a wall so that an enemy wishing to approach the wall to carry it by assault may be exposed to the fire on missiles on his open flank from the towers on his right and left special pains should be taken that there be no easy avenue by which to storm the wall the road should be encompassed at steep points and planned so as to approach the gates not in straight line but from the right to the left for as a result of this the right hand side of the salons unprotected by their shields will be next to the wall town should be laid out not as an exact square with salient angles but in circular forms to give a view of the enemy from many points defense is difficult where there are salient angles because the angle protects the enemy rather than the inhabitants 3. the thickness of the wall should in my opinion be such that armed men meeting on top of it may pass one another without interference in the thickness there should be set a very close succession of ties made of charred olive wood binding the two faces of the wall together like pins to give it a lasting endurance for that is a material which neither decay nor the weather nor time can harm for even though buried in the earth or set in the water it keeps sound and useful forever and so not only city walls but substructures in general and all walls that require a thickness like that of a city wall will be long and failing to decay if tied in this manner 4. the tower should be set at intervals of not more than a bow shot apart so that in case of an assault upon any one of them the enemy may be repulsed with scorpions and other means of hurling missiles from the towers right and left opposite the inner side of every tower the wall should be interrupted for a space the width of the tower and have only a wooden flooring across leading to the interior of the tower but not firmly nailed this is to be cut away by the defenders in case the enemy gets possession of any portion of the wall and if the work is quickly done the enemy will not be able to make his way to the other towers and the rest of the wall unless he is ready to face a fall 5. the towers themselves must be either round or polygonal square towers are soon shattered by military engines for the battering rams pound their angles to pieces but in the case of round towers they can do no harm being engaged as it were in driving wedges to their center the system of fortification by wall and towers may be made safest by the addition of earthen ramparts for neither rams nor mining nor other engineering devices can do them any harm 6. the rampant form of defense however is not required in all places but only where outside the wall there is a high ground from which an assault on the fortifications may be made over a level space lying between in place of this kind we must first make very wide deep ditches next sink foundation for a wall in the bed of the ditch and build them thick enough to support an earth work with ease 7. then within this substructure lay a second foundation far enough inside the first to leave ample room for cohorts in line of battle to take position on the broad top of the rampart for its defense having laid these two foundations at this distance from another build cross walls between them uniting the outer and inner foundation in a comb like arrangement set like the teeth of a saw with this form of construction the enormous burden of earth will be distributed into small bodies and will not lie with all its weight in one crushing mass to trust out the substructures 8. with regard to the material on which the actual wall should be constructed or finished there can be no definite prescription because we cannot obtain in all places the supplies that we desire dimension stone flint rubble burnt or unburned brick use them as you find them in every neighborhood or particular locality that can have a wall built of burnt brick like that of Babylon where there was plenty of asphalt to take the place of lime and sand and yet possibly each may be provided with materials of equal usefulness so that out of them a faultless wall may be built to last forever end of book one chapter five chapter seven of ten books on architecture this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Frida Carlson ten books on architecture by Vitruvius translated by Morris Higgy Morgan chapter six the directions of the street with remarks on the winds one the town being fortified the next step is the apportionment of house lots within the walls and the laying out of streets and alleys with regard to climatic conditions they will be properly laid out if foresight is employed to exclude the winds from the alleys cold winds are disagreeable hot winds, innervating moist winds, unhealthy we must therefore avoid mistakes in this matter and beware of the common experience of many communities for example Mitterlin in the island of Lesbos is a town built with magnificence and good taste its position shows a lack of foresight in that community when the wind is south the people fall ill when it is northwest it sets them coughing with a north wind they do indeed recover but cannot stand about in alleys and streets owing to the severe cold two wind is a flowing wave of air moving hither and thither indefinitely first when heat meets moisture the rush of heat generating a mighty current of air that this is the fact we may learn from bronze eelophiles and thus by means of scientific inventions discover a divine truth lurking in the laws of the heavens eelophiles are hollow bronze balls with a very small opening through which water is poured into them set before a fire not a breath issues from them they get warm but as soon as they begin to boil out comes a strong blast due to the fire thus from this slide a very short experiment we may understand and judge of the mighty and wonderful laws of the heavens and the nature of winds by shutting out the winds from our dwellings therefore we shall not only make the place helpful for people who are well but also in the case of diseases perhaps to unfavorable situations elsewhere the patients who in other healthy places might be cured by a different form of treatment will here be more quickly cured by the mildness that comes from the shutting out of the winds the diseases which are hard to cure in neighborhoods such as those to which I have referred above are Qatar, Hoarseness Cuffs, Pluricy Consumption, Spitting of Blood and all others that are cured not by lowering the system but by building it up they are hard to cure first because they are originally due to chills secondly because the patient system being already exhausted by disease the air there which is in constant agitation owing to winds and therefore deteriorated takes all the sap of life out of the diseased bodies and leaves them eager every day on the other hand a mild thick air without draughts and not constantly blowing back and forth builds up their frames by its unwavering steadiness and so strengthens and restores people who are afflicted with these diseases four some have held that there are only four winds Solanus from due east Oster from the south from the west Cependrio from the north but more careful investigators tell us that there are eight chief among such was Adronicus of Cyrus who in proof built the marble octagonal tower in Athens on the several sides of the octagon he executed reliefs representing the several winds each facing the point from which it blows and on top of the tower he sets a conical shaped piece of marble and on this a bronze triton with a rod outstretched in its right hand it was so contrived as to go round with the winds always stopping to face the breeze and holding its rod as a pointer directly over the representation of the wind that was blowing five thus Eurus is placed to the southeast between Solanus and Oster, Africa's to the southwest between Oster and Oster, Africa's Kaurus where as many call it Kaurus between Favonius and Cependrio and Aquilo between Cependrio and Solanus such then appears to have been his device including the numbers and names of the wind and indicating the directions from which particular winds blow these facts being thus determined to find the directions and quarters of the winds your method six in the middle of the city place a marble amosium laying it true by the level or else let the spot be made so true by means of rule and level that no amosium is necessary in the very center of that spot set up a bronze gnomon or shadow tracker in greek schiatras at about the fifth hour in the morning take the end at the shadow cast by this gnomon and mark it with a point then opening your compasses to this point which marks the length of the gnomon's shadow describe a circle from the center in the afternoon watch the shadow of your gnomon as it lengthens and when it once more touches the circumference of this circle and the shadow in the afternoon is equal in length to that of the morning mark it with a point seven from these two points describe with your compasses intersecting arcs and through their intersection and the center let a line be drawn to the circumference of the circle to give us the quarters of south and north then using a sixteenth part the entire circumference of the circle as a diameter describe a circle with the center on the line to the south at the point where it crosses the circumference and put points to the right and left on the circumference on the south side repeating the process on the north side from the four points thus obtained draw lines intersecting the center from one side of the circumference to the other thus we shall have an eighth part of the circumference set out for austere and another force of pentrio the rest of the entire circumference is then to be divided into three equal parts on each side and thus we have designed a figure equally apportioned among the eight winds then let the directions of your streets and alleys be laid down on the lines of division between the quarters of two winds eight on this principle of arrangement the disagreeable force of the winds will be shut out from dwellings and lines of houses for if the streets run full in the face of the winds there are constant blasts rushing in from the open country and then confined by narrow alleys sweep through them with great violence the lines of houses must therefore be directed away from the quarters from which the winds blow so that as they come in they may strike against the angles of the blocks and their force thus be broken and dispersed nine those who know names for very many winds will perhaps be surprised at our setting for that there are only eight remembering however the darkness of Cyrene employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods discovered from the cores of the sun the shadows cast by an equinoctial gnomon and the inclination of the heaven that the circumference of the earth is 252,000 stadia that is 31,500,000 paces and observing that an eighth part of this occupied by a wind 3,937,500 paces they should not be surprised to find that a single wind ranging over so wide a field is subject to shifts this way and that leading to a variety of breezes ten so we often have leuconiters and alternates blowing respectively to the right and left of oyster liboniters and subversperous to the right and left of africus argestis and at certain periods the aetessiae on either side of avonius cirsias and corus on the sides of caurus thracias and galicus on either side of sepentrio supernas and cicias to the right and left of achilo carbas and at certain period the ornithiae on either side of soldernus while urus cirsias and volturnus blow on the flanks of urus which is between them there are also many other names for winds derived from localities or from the squalls which sweep from rivers or down mountains eleven then two there are breezes of early morning for the sun on emerging from beneath the earth strikes humid air as he returns and as he goes up climbing the sky he spreads it out before him extracting breezes from the vapor that was there before the dawn those that still blow on after sunrise are clasped with urus and hence appears to come the greek name urus as the child of the breezes and the word for tomorrow aureon named from their early morning breezes some people do indeed say that eratosthenes could not have inferred the true basher of the earth whether true or untrue it cannot affect the truth of what I have written on the fixing of the quarters which the different winds blow twelve if he was wrong the only result will be that the individual winds may blow not with the scope expected from his measurement but with the powers either more or less widely extended for the red year understanding of these topics since I have treated them with brevity it has seemed best to me to give two figures or as the greeks say schematta at the end of this book one decide to show the precise quarters from which the winds arise the other how by turning the directions of the rows of houses and the streets away from their full force we may avoid unhealthy blasts let A be the center of a plain surface and B the point to which the shadow of the gnomon reaches in the morning taking A as the center open the compasses to the point B which marks the shadow and describe a circle put the gnomon back where it was before and wait for the shadow to lessen and grow again until in the afternoon it is equal to its length in the morning touching the circumference at the point C then from the points B and C describe where the compasses two arcs intersecting at D next draw a line from the point of intersection D through the center of the circle to the circumference and call it EF this line will show where the south and north lie then find where the compasses a sixteenth part of the entire circumference then center the compasses on the point E where the line to the south touches the circumference and set off the points G and H to the right and left of E otherwise on the north side center the compasses on the circumference at the point F on the line to the north and set off the points I and K to the right and left then draw lines through the center from G to K and from H to I thus the space from G to H will belong to Oster and the south and the space from I to K will be that of Cepentrio the north of the circumference is to be divided equally into three parts on the right and three on the left those to the east at the points L and M those to the west at the points N and O finally intersecting lines are to be drawn from M to O from L to N thus we shall have the circumference divided into eight equal spaces for the winds the figure being finished we shall have at the eight different divisions beginning at the south the letter G from Euros and Oster H between Oster and Africa N between Africa and Favonius O between Favonius and Corus K between Corus and Cepentrio I between Cepentrio and Aquilo and Solonus and M between Solonus and Euros this done apply agnomen to these eight divisions and thus fix the directions of the different alleys Chapter 7 The Sites for Public Buildings 1. Having laid out the alleys and determined the streets we have next to treat the choice of building sites for temples, the forum and all other public spaces with a view to general convenience and utility If the city is on the sea we should choose ground close to the harbor as the place where the forum is to be built but if it land in the middle of the town For the temples the sites for those of the guards under whose particular protection the state is thought to rest and for Jupiter Juno and Minerva should be on the very highest point commanding a view of the greater part of the city Mercury should be in the forum or like Isis and Serapis in the Emporium Apollo and Father Bacchus near the theater Hercules at the Circus in communities which have no gymnasia nor amphitheaters Mars outside the city but at the training ground and so Venus but at the harbor It is moreover shown by the Etruscan Diviners and treatises on their signs that the feints of Venus, Vulcan and Mars should be situated outside the walls in order that the young men and women may not become habituated in the city to the temptations incident to the worship of Venus and that buildings may be free from the terror of fires through the religious rites and sacrifices which call the power of Vulcan beyond the walls As for Mars when that divinity is enshrined outside the walls the citizens will never take up arms against each other and he will defend the city from its enemies and save it from danger in war 2. Ceres should also be outside the city in a place to which people need never go except for the purpose of sacrifice that place should be under the protection of religion purity and good morals 2. Proposites should be set apart for the precincts of the other gods according to the nature of the sacrifices offered to them 3. The principle governing the actual construction of temples and their symmetry I shall explain in my third and fourth books 4. In the second I have thought it best to give an account of the materials used in buildings with their good qualities and advantages to describe and explain the proportions of buildings their arrangements and the different forms of symmetry End of book 1 Book 2 Introduction and chapters 1 to 2 of 10 books on architecture this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Fredrik Karlsson 10 books on architecture by Vitruvius translated by Morris Hickey Morgan Book 2 Introduction 1. Dinocrates, an architect who was full of confidence in his own ideas and skill set out from Macedonia in the reign of Alexander to go to the army being eager to win the approbation of the king he took with him from his country letters from relatives and friends to the principal military men and officers of the court in order to gain access to the city being politely recede by them he asked to be presented to Alexander as soon as possible they promised but were rather slow waiting for a suitable opportunity so Dinocrates thinking that they were playing with him had recourse to his own efforts he was a very lofty stature and pleasing countenance finely formed and extremely dignified trusting therefore to these natural gifts he undressed himself in his inn anointed his body with oil set a chaplet of poplar leaves on his head draped his left shoulder with a lion skin and holding a club in his right hand starked forth to a place in front of the tribunal where the king was administering justice 2. His strange appearance made the people turn round and this led Alexander to look at him in astonishment he gave orders to make way for him to draw near and asked who he was Dinocrates quote he a Macedonian architect who brings the ideas and designs worthy of their renown I have made a design for the shaping of Mount Athos into the statue of a man in whose left hand I have represented a very spacious fortified city and his right a bowl to receive the water of all the streams which are in that mountain so that it may pour from the bowl into the sea 3. On finding that this was impossible without transport from beyond the sea Dinocrates quote he I appreciate your design as excellent in composition and I am delighted with it but I apprehend that anybody who should found a city in that spot would be censored for bad judgment whereas a newborn babe cannot be nourished without the nurse's milk nor conducted to the approaches that lead to growth in life so a city cannot thrive without fields and the fruits thereof pouring into its wall nor have a large population without plenty of food nor maintain its population without a supply of it therefore while thinking that your design is commendable I consider the site as not commendable you stay with me because I mean to make use of your services 4. From that time Dinocrates did not leave the king but follow him into Egypt there Alexander observing a harbor rendered safe by nature an excellent center for trade corn fields throughout all Egypt and the great usefulness of the mighty river Nile ordered him to build the city of Alexandria named after the king this was how Dinocrates recommended only by his good looks and dignified carriage came to be so famous but as for me emperor nature has not giving me stature age has marred my face and my strength is impaired by ill health therefore since these advantages fail me I shall win your approval as I hope by the help of my knowledge and my writings in my first book I have said what I had to say about the functions of architecture and the scope of the art as well as about fortified towns and the apportionment of building sites within the fortifications although it would next be in order to explain the proper proportions and symmetry of temples and public buildings as well as of private houses I thought best to postpone this until after I had treated the practical merits of the materials out of which when they are brought together buildings are constructed with due regard to their proper kind of material for each part and until I had shown what natural elements those materials are composed but before beginning to explain their natural properties I will prefix the motives which originally gave rise to buildings and the development of inventions in this field following in the steps of early nature and of those writers who have devoted treatises to the origins of civilization and the investigation of inventions my exposition will therefore follow the instruction which I have received from them Chapter 1 The Origin of the Dwelling House 1. The men of old were born like the wild beasts in woods, caves and groves and lived on savage fare as time went on the sickly crowded trees in a certain place tossed by storms and winds and rubbing their branches against one another caught fire and so the inhabitants of the place were put to flight being terrified by the furious flame after it subsided they drew near and observing that they were very comfortable standing before the warm fire they put on logs and while thus keeping it alive brought up other people to it showing them by signs how much movement in that gathering of men at a time when utterance of sound was purely individual from daily habits they fixed upon articulate words just as these had happened to come then from indicating by name things in common use the result was that in this chance way they began to talk and thus originated conversation with one another 2. Therefore it was the discovery of fire that originally gave rise to the coming together of men to the deliberative assembly and to social intercourse and so as they kept coming together in greater numbers into one place finding themselves naturally gifted beyond the other animals in not being obliged to walk with faces to the ground but upright and gazing upon the splendor of the star effirmament also being able to do with ease whatever they chose with their hands and fingers they began in that first assembly to construct shelters. Some made them out of green bowels other dug caves on mountain sites and some in imitation of the nests of swallows and the way they built made places of refuge out of mud and twigs Next, by observing the shelters of others and adding new details to their own they constructed better and better kinds of huts as time went on. 3. And since they were of an imitative and teachable nature they would daily point out to each other the results of their building, boasting of the novelties in it and thus with their natural gifts sharpened by emulation their standards improved daily. At first they set up forked stakes connected by twigs and covered these walls with mud others made walls of lumps of dried mud covering them with reeds and leaves to keep out the rain and the heat finding that such roofs could not stand the rain during the storms of winter they built them with peaks dowed with mud the roof sloping and projecting so as to carry off the rain water 4. That houses originated as I have written above we can see for ourselves from the buildings that are to this day constructed of like materials by foreign tribes for instance in Gol, Spain, Portugal and Aquitaine. Roofed with oak shingles or thatched. Among the cautions in Pontus where there are forests in plenty they lay down entire trees flat on the ground to the right and the left leaving between a space to suit the length of the trees and then place above these another pair of trees resting on the ends of the former and at right angles with them these four trees enclosed the space for the dwelling then upon these they placed sticks of timber one after the other on the four sides crossing each other at the angles and so proceeding with their walls of trees laid perpendicularly above the lowest they build up high towers the interstices which are left on account of the thickness of the building material are stuffed up with chips and mud as for the roofs by cutting away the ends of the cross beams and making them converge gradually as they lay them across they bring them up to the top from the four sides in the shape of a pyramid. They cover it with leaves and mud and thus construct the roofs of their towers in a tortoise style 5. On the other hand, the frigents who live in an open country have no forests and consequently lack timber. They therefore select a natural hillock run a trench through the middle of it, dig passages and extend the interior space as widely as the site admits over it they build a pyramidal roof of logs fastened together and this they cover with reeds and brushwood, heaping up very high mounds of earth above their dwellings. Thus, their fashion in houses makes their winters very warm and their summers very cool. Some construct hovels with roofs of brushes from the swamps. Among other nations also in some places there are huts of the same or similar method of construction. Likewise at Marseille we can see roofs without tiles made of earth, mixed with straw. In Athens, on the Arepegos there is to this day a relic of antiquity with a mud roof. The hut of Romulus on the capital is a significant reminder of the fashions of old times and likewise the thatched roofs of temples or the citadel. 6. In these events we can draw our inferences with regard to the devices used in the buildings of antiquity and conclude that they were similar. Furthermore, Asmen made progress by becoming daily more expert in building and as their ingenuity was increased by their dexterity so that from habit they attained to considerable skill. Their intelligence was enlarged by their industry until the more proficient adopted the trade of carpenters. From these early beginnings and from the fact that nature had not only endowed the human race with senses like the rest of the animals but had also equipped their minds with the powers of thought and understanding thus putting all other animals under their sway they next gradually advanced from the construction of buildings to the other arts and sciences and so advanced from a rude and barbarous mode of life to civilization and refinement. 7. Then taking courage and looking forward from the standpoint of higher ideas born of the multiplication of the arts they gave up huts and began to build houses with foundations having brick or stone walls roofs of timber tiles 8. Observation and application led them from fluctuating and indefinite conceptions to definite rules of symmetry. Perceiving that nature had been lavish in the bestowal of timber and bountiful in stores of building material they treated this like careful nurses and thus developing the refinements of life embellished them with luxuries. Therefore I shall now read to the best of my ability of the things which are suitable to be used in buildings showing their qualities and their excellences. 8. Some persons however may find fault with the position of this book thinking it should have been placed first. I will therefore explain the matter lest it be thought that I have made a mistake. Being engaged in writing complete treatise on architecture I reserved to set forth in the first book the branches of learning and studies of which it consists to define its departments and to show what it is composed. Hence I have therefore declared what the qualities of an architect should be. In the first book therefore I have spoken of the function of the art but in this I shall discuss the use of the building materials which nature provides for this book does not show of what architecture is composed but treats of the origin of the building art how it was fostered and how it made progress step by step until it reached its present perfection. 9. This book is therefore in its proper order and place. I will now return to my subject and with regard to the materials suited to the construction of buildings consider their natural formation and in what proportion their elementary constituents were combined making it all clear and not obscure to my readers for there is no kind of material no body and no thing that can be produced or conceived of which is not made up of elementary particles and nature does not admit of a truthful exploration in accordance with the doctrines of the physicists without an accurate demonstration of the primary causes of things showing how and why they are as they are. 2. On the primordial substance according to the physicists 1. First of all Thales thought that water was the primordial substance of all things Heraclitus of Ephesus surnamed by the Greeks on account of the obscurity of his writings thought that it was fire 2. Democritus and his follower Epicurus thought that it was the atoms termed by our writers bodies that cannot be cut up or by some indivisibles 3. The school of the Pythagoreans added air and the earth to the water and fire hence although Democritus did not in a strict sense name them but spoke only of yet it seems to have meant these same elements because when taken by themselves they cannot be harmed nor are they susceptible to dissolution nor can they be cut up into parts but throughout time eternal they forever retain an infinite solidity. 2. All things therefore appeared to be made up and produced by the coming together of these elements so that they have been distributed by nature among infinite number of kinds of things hence I have believed it right to treat of the diversity and practical peculiarities of these things as well as of the qualities which they exhibit in buildings so that persons who are intending to build may understand them and so make no mistake but may gather materials which are suitable to use in their buildings End of book 2 Chapter 2 Book 2, chapters 3-6 of 10 books on architecture this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Fredrik Karlsson 10 books on architecture by Vitruvius translated by Morris Hickey Morgan Chapter 3 Brick 1 Beginning with Bricks I shall state of what kind of clay they should be made they should not be made of sandy or pebbly clay or of fine gravel because when made of these kinds they are in the first place heavy and secondly when washed by the rain as they stand in walls they go to pieces and break up and the straw in them does not hold together on account of the roughness of the material they should rather be made of white and chalky or of red clay or even a coarse grained gravelly clay the materials are smooth and therefore durable they are not heavy to work with and are readily laid 2 Bricks should be made in spring or autumn so that they may drive uniformly those made in summer are defective because the fierce heat of the sun bakes their surface and makes the brick seem dry while inside it is not dry and so the shrinking which follows as they dry causes cracks in the parts which were dried before and these cracks make the bricks weak bricks will be most serviceable if made two years before using for they cannot dry thoroughly in less time when fresh undried bricks are used in a wall the stucco covering stiffens and hardens into a permanent mass but the bricks settle and cannot keep the same height as the stucco the motion caused by their shrinking prevents them from adhering to it and they are separated from their union with it hence the stucco no longer joined to the core of the wall cannot stand by itself because it is so thin it breaks off and the walls themselves may perhaps be ruined by their settling this is so true that at artica in constructing walls they use brick only if it is dry and made five years previously and approved as such by the authority of a magistrate three there are three kinds of bricks first the kind called in greek lygian being that which our people use a foot and a half long and one foot wide the other two kinds are used by the greeks in their buildings of these one is called pentadoron the other tetradoron doron is the greek for palm for in greek doron means and the gift is always presented in the palm of the hand a brick five palm square is called pentadoron one four palm square tetradoron public buildings are constructed of pentadora private of tetradora four with these bricks there are also half bricks when these are used in a wall a course of bricks is laid on one face and a course of half bricks on the other is added to the line on each face the walls are bonded by alternate courses of the two different kinds and as the bricks are always laid so as to break joints this lends strength and a not unattractive appearance to both sides of such walls in the states of maxillua and calay in further spain as well as in pitain in asia minor there are bricks which when finished and dried will float on being thrown in water the reason why they can float seems to be that the clay of which they are made is like pumice stone so it is light and also it does not after being hardened by exposure to the air take up or absorb liquid so these bricks being of this light and porous quality and admitting no moisture into the texture must by laws of nature float in water like pumice no matter what their weight may be they have therefore great advantages for they are not heavy to use in building and once made they are not spoiled by bad weather chapter 4 sand one in walls of masonry the first question must be with regard to the sand in order that it may be fit to mix into mortar and have no dirt in it the kinds of pit sand are these black, grey, red and carbuncular are these the best will be found to be that which crackles when rubbed in the hand while that which has much dirt in it will not be sharp enough again throw some sand up on a white garment and then shake it out if the garment is not soiled and no dirt adheres to it the sand is suitable two but if there are no sand pits from which it can be dug then we must sift it out from riverbeds or from gravel or even from the sea beach this kind however has these defects when used in masonry it dries slowly the wall cannot be built without interruption but from time to time there must be pauses in the work and such a wall cannot carry vaultings furthermore when sea sand is used in walls and these are coated with stucco a salty F-Wrench is given out which spoils the surface three but pits unused in masonry dries quickly the stucco coating is permanent and the walls can support vaultings I am speaking of sand fresh from the sand pits for if it lies unused too long after being taken out it is disintegrated by exposure to sun, moon or howl frost and becomes earthy so when mixed in masonry it has no binding power on the rubble consequently settles and down comes the load which the walls can no longer support fresh pit sand however in spite of all its excellence in concrete structures is not equally useful in stucco the richness of which when the lime and straw are mixed with such sand will cause it to crack as it dries on account of the great strength of the mixture but river sand though useless in signenum of its thinness becomes perfectly solid in stucco when thoroughly worked by means of polishing instruments chapter 5 lime 1 sand and its sources have been thus treated next with regard to lime we must be careful that it is burned from a stone which whether soft or hard is in any case white lime made of close grained stone of the harder what will be good in structural parts lime of poorer stone in stucco after slaking it mix your mortar if using pit sand in the proportions of three parts of sand to one of lime if using river or sea sand mix two parts of sand with one of lime these will be the right proportions for the composition of the mixture further in using river or sea sand the addition of a third part composed of burnt brick pounded up and sifted will make your mortar of a better composition to use two the reason why lime makes a solid structure on being combined with water and sand seems to be this that rocks like all other bodies are composed of the four elements those which contain a larger proportion of air are soft of water are tough from the moisture of earth, hard and of fire more brittle therefore if limestone without being burned is merely pounded up small and then mixed with sand and so put into the work the moss does not solidify nor can it hold together but if the stone is first thrown into the kiln it loses its former property of solidity by exposure to the great heat of the fire and so with its strength burnt out and exhausted it is left with its pores open and empty hence the moisture and air in the body of the stone being burnt out and set free and only a residuum of heat being left lying in it if the stone is then immersed in water the moisture before the water can feel the influence of the fire makes it sway into the open pores then the stone begins to get hot and finally after it cools off the heat is rejected from the body of the lime three consequently limestone when taken out of the kiln cannot be as heavy as when it is thrown in but on being weighed through its bulk remains the same as before it is found to have lost about a third of its weight owing to the boiling out of the water therefore its pores being thus opened and its texture rendered loose it readily mixes with sand and hence the two materials cohere as they dry unite with the rubble and make a solid structure there is also a kind of powder which from natural causes produces astonishing results it is found in the neighbourhood of Baye and in the country belonging to the towns round about Mount Vesuvius this substance when mixed with lime and rubble not only lends strength to the buildings of other kinds but even when piers of it are constructed in the sea they set hard under water the reason for this seems to be that the soil on the slopes of the mountains in these neighbourhoods is hot and full of hot springs this would not be so unless the mountains had beneath them huge fires of burning sulphur or alum or asphalt so the fire heat of the flames coming up hot from far within through the fissures make the soil there light and the two found there is spongy and free from moisture hence when the three substances all formed on a similar principle by the force of fire are mixed together the water suddenly taken in makes them cohere and the moisture quickly hardens them so that they set into a mass which neither the waves nor the force of the water can dissolve that there is a burning heat in these regions may be proved by the further fact that in the mountains nearby which belongs to the Cumians there are places excavated to serve as sweating baths where the intense heat that comes from far below bores its way through the earth owing to the force of the fire and passing up appears in these regions thus making remarkably good sweating baths likewise also it is related that in ancient times the tides of heat swelling and overflowing from under Mount Vesuvius vomited forth fire from the mountain upon the neighboring country hence what is called sponge stone or Pompeian pumice appears to have been reduced by burning from another kind of stone to the condition of the kind which we see three the kind of sponge stone taken from this region is not produced everywhere else but only about Itna and among the hills of Misia which the Greeks called the burnt district and in other places of the same peculiar nature seeing that in such places there are found hot springs and warm vapor in excavations on the mountains and that the ancients tell us that there were once fires spreading over the fields in those very regions it seems to be certain that moisture has been extracted from the tufa and earth by the force of fire just as it is from limestone in kilns therefore when different and unlike things have been subjected to the action of fire and thus reduced to the same condition if after this while in a warm dry state they are suddenly saturated with water there is an effervescence of the heat latent in the bodies of them all and this makes them firmly uniting quickly assume the property of one solid mass there will still be the question why muscany although it abounds in hot springs does not furnish a powder out of which on the same principle a wall can be made which will set fast under water I have therefore thought best to explain how this seems to be before the question should be raised five the same kinds of soil are not found in all places and countries alike nor a stone found everywhere some soils are earthy others gravelly and again pebbly in other places the material is sandy in a word the properties of the soil are as different and unlike as other various countries in particular it may be observed that sand pits are hardly ever lacking in any place within the districts of Italy and Tuscany which are bounded by the apennines where as across the apennines toward the Adriatic none are found and in Accia and Asia a minor or in short across the sea the very term is unknown hence it is not in all the places where boiling springs of hot water abound that there is the same combination of favorable circumstances which has been described above for things are produced in accordance with the will of nature not to suit man's pleasure but as it were by a chance distribution six where the mountains are not earthy but consist of soft stone the force of the fire passing through the fissures in the stone sets it afire the soft and delicate part is burned out while the hard part is left consequently while in Campania the burning of the earth makes ashes in Tuscany the combustion of the stone makes carbuncular sand both are excellent in walls but one is better to use for buildings on land the other for piers on the salt water the Tuscan stone is softer in quality than Tufa but harder than earth and being thoroughly kindled by the violent heat from below the result is the production in some places of the kind of sand called carbuncular end of book 2 chapter 6