Editing Vitruvius (section)

==Life and career==

Little is known about Vitruvius' life. Most inferences about him are extracted from his only surviving work {{Lang|la|[[De Architectura]]}}. His full name is sometimes given as "Marcus Vitruvius Pollio", but both the first and last names are uncertain.<ref>John Oksanish, ''Vitruvian Man: Rome under Construction'', Oxford UP (2019), p. 33</ref> [[Marcus Cetius Faventinus]] writes of "Vitruvius Polio aliique auctores"; this can be read as "Vitruvius Polio, and others" or, less likely, as "Vitruvius, Polio, and others". An inscription in Verona, which names a ''[[Lucius Vitruvius Cordo]]'', and an inscription from [[Numidia|Thilbilis]] in North Africa, which names a ''Marcus Vitruvius Mamurra'' have been suggested as evidence that Vitruvius and [[Mamurra]] (who was a military ''praefectus fabrum'' under [[Julius Caesar]]) were from the same family;<ref>Pais, E. ''[https://archive.org/details/ricerchesullasto02paisuoft Ricerche sulla storia e sul diritto publico di Roma]'' (Rome, 1916).</ref> or were even the same individual. Neither association, however, is borne out by {{lang|la|De Architectura}} (which Vitruvius dedicated to [[Augustus]]), nor by the little that is known of Mamurra.

Vitruvius was a military engineer (''[[Roman military engineering|praefectus fabrum]]''), or a ''[[praefect]] architectus armamentarius'' of the ''[[apparitor]]'' status group (a branch of the Roman civil service). He is mentioned in [[Pliny the Elder]]'s table of contents for {{lang|la|[[Naturalis Historia]]}} (Natural History), in the heading for [[mosaic]] techniques.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Moore, Richard E. M. |title= A Newly Observed Stratum in Roman Floor Mosaics |publisher= Archaeological Institute of America  |volume= 72 |issue= 1 |date = January 1968|pages= 57–68 |jstor= 501823 |journal= American Journal of Archaeology |doi= 10.2307/501823 |s2cid= 191364921 }}</ref> [[Frontinus]] refers to "Vitruvius the architect" in his late 1st-century work ''[[De aquaeductu]]''.

Likely born a free Roman citizen, by his own account Vitruvius served in the [[Roman army]] under Caesar with the otherwise poorly identified Marcus Aurelius, Publius Minidius, and Gnaeus Cornelius. These names vary depending on the edition of {{lang|la|De architectura}}. Publius Minidius is also written as Publius Numidicus and Publius Numidius, speculated as the same Publius Numisius inscribed on the [[Heraclea Lyncestis#Roman Theater|Roman Theatre at Heraclea]].<ref>Niccolò Marcello Venuti ''Description of the First Discoveries of the Ancient City of Heraclea, Found Near Portici A Country Palace Belonging to the King of the Two Sicilies'' published by R. Baldwin, translated by Wickes Skurray, 1750. p62 [https://archive.org/stream/adescriptionfir00venugoog/adescriptionfir00venugoog_djvu.txt]</ref>

As an [[army engineer]] he specialized in the construction of ''[[ballista]]'' and ''[[Scorpio (dart-thrower)|scorpio]]'' [[artillery]] [[Roman siege engines|war machines]] for [[siege]]s. It is speculated that Vitruvius served with Caesar's chief engineer [[Lucius Cornelius Balbus (major)|Lucius Cornelius Balbus]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Trumbull |first=David |title=Classical Sources, Greek and Roman Esthetics Reading: The Grand Tour Reader; Vitruvius Background: Life of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c. 90–20 BC) |work=An Epitome of Book III of Vitruvius |year=2007 |url=http://medieval.ucdavis.edu/GRAND.TOUR/Lecture02.html |access-date=2009-11-18 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The locations where he served can be reconstructed from, for example, descriptions of the building methods of various "foreign tribes". Although he describes places throughout {{lang|la|De Architectura}}, he does not say he was present. His service likely included [[Africa Province|north Africa]], [[Hispania]], [[Gaul]] (including [[Gallia Aquitania|Aquitaine]]), and [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]].

To place the role of Vitruvius the military engineer in context, a description of "The Prefect of the camp" or army engineer is quoted here as given by [[Flavius Vegetius Renatus]] in ''The Military Institutions of the Romans'':

<blockquote>The Prefect of the camp, though inferior in rank to the [Prefect], had a post of no small importance. The position of the camp, the direction of the entrenchments, the inspection of the tents or huts of the soldiers and the baggage were comprehended in his province. His authority extended over the sick, and the physicians who had the care of them; and he regulated the expenses relative thereto. He had the charge of providing carriages, bathhouses and the proper tools for sawing and cutting wood, digging trenches, raising parapets, sinking wells and bringing water into the camp. He likewise had the care of furnishing the troops with wood and straw, as well as the rams, ''[[Onager (siege weapon)|onagri]],'' ''balistae'' and all the other engines of war under his direction. This post was always conferred on an officer of great skill, experience and long service, and who consequently was capable of instructing others in those branches of the profession in which he had distinguished himself.<ref>Flavius Vegetius Renatus (390 BC). John Clarke (tr. 1767). [http://www.digitalattic.org/home/war/vegetius/ ''The Military Institutions of the Romans''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421095339/http://www.digitalattic.org/home/war/vegetius/ |date=21 April 2020 }}.</ref></blockquote>

At various locations described by Vitruvius,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Works that pre-date 1900 – Firmness, Commodity, and Delight – The University of Chicago Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/firmness-commodity-and-delight/pre-1900/ |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}}</ref> battles and [[Siege#Greco-Roman and medieval siege warfare|sieges]] occurred. He is the only source for the siege of [[Larino|Larignum]] in 56 BC.<ref>Mary Corbin Sies and Christopher Silver (1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TUpLvJrKc64C&dq=battle+of+Larignum&pg=PA42 ''Planning the twentieth-century American city'']. JHU Press, 1996, p. 42.</ref> Of the battlegrounds of the [[Gallic War]] there are references to:
* The siege and massacre of the 40,000 residents at [[Avaricum]] in 52 BC. [[Vercingetorix]] commented that "the Romans did not conquer by valour nor in the field, but by a kind of art and skill in assault, with which they [Gauls] themselves were unacquainted."<ref>Julius Caesar, ''De bello Gallico'' [http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=CaeComm.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=7&division=div2 7.29] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708095736/http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=CaeComm.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=7&division=div2 |date=8 July 2012 }}</ref>
* The broken siege at [[Battle of Gergovia|Gergovia]] in 52 BC.
* The circumvallation and [[Battle of Alesia#Siege and battle|Battle of Alesia]] in 52 BC. The women and children of the encircled city were evicted to conserve food, and then starved to death between the opposing walls of the defenders and besiegers.
* The siege of [[Uxellodunum]] in 51 BC.
These are all sieges of large Gallic ''[[oppida]]''. Of the sites involved in [[Caesar's civil war]], we find the [[Siege of Massilia]] in 49 BC (modern France),<ref>Vitruvius mentions Massilia several times, and the siege itself in ''Book X''.</ref> the [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)|Battle of Dyrrhachium]] of 48 BC (modern Albania), the [[Battle of Pharsalus]] in 48 BC (Hellas – Greece), the [[Battle of Zela]] of 47 BC (modern Turkey), and the [[Battle of Thapsus]] in 46 BC in Caesar's [[Africa Province|African]] campaign.<ref name="bandw">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/vitruv.htm |title=Vitruvius |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113223633/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/vitruv.htm |archive-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> A [[Roman legion|legion]] that fits the same sequence of locations is the [[Legio VI Ferrata]], of which ''ballista'' would be an auxiliary unit.

Mainly known for his writings, Vitruvius was himself an architect. In Roman times architecture was a broader subject than at present including the modern fields of architecture, [[construction management]], [[construction engineering]], [[chemical engineering]], civil engineering, [[materials engineering]], mechanical engineering, [[military engineering]] and [[urban planning]];<ref>[https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~Vit/vitruvius.html The "Vitruvius Project"]. Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science Department. Retrieved 2008.</ref> [[Architectural engineering|architectural engineers]] consider him the first of their discipline, a specialization previously known as technical architecture.

In his work describing the construction of military installations, he also commented on the [[miasma theory]] – the idea that unhealthy air from wetlands was the cause of illness, saying:

{{quote|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 neighbourhood. For when the morning breezes blow toward the town at sunrise, if they bring with them mists from marshes and, mingled 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 southern or 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vitruvius |translator-first=Morris Hicky |translator-last=Morgan |title=The Ten Books on Architecture |date=1914 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-486-20645-5 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.htm |via=Project Gutenberg |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref>}}

[[Frontinus]] mentions Vitruvius in connection with the standard sizes of [[pipe (material)#Sizes|pipes]]:<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Frontinus/De_Aquis/text*.html#1.25 ''De Aquis''], I.25 {{in lang|la}} ebook of work also known as ''[[De aquaeductu]]'', accessed August 2008</ref> probably the role for which he was most widely respected in Roman times. He is often credited as father of [[architectural acoustics]] for describing the technique of ''[[echea]]s'' placement in theaters.<ref name="Information1974">{{cite journal|author=Reed Business Information|title=New Scientist|journal=New Scientist Careers Guide: The Employer Contacts Book for Scientists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCkprha8oIAC&pg=PA552|access-date=6 May 2013|date=21 November 1974|publisher=Reed Business Information|pages=552–|issn=0262-4079}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The only building, however, that we know Vitruvius to have worked on is one he tells us about,<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/5*.html#1.6 ''De Arch.''], Book V.i.6) {{in lang|la}} but with link to English translation, accessed August 2008</ref> a ''[[basilica]]'' completed in 19 BC.<ref>Fausto Pugnaloni and Paolo Clini. [http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/archaeology/general/archg0019.htm "Vitruvius Basilica in Fano, Italy, journey through the virtual space of the reconstructed memory"]. GISdevelopment.net last accessed 3 August 2008<!-- or 8 March, was ambiguous --></ref> It was built at Fanum Fortunae, now the modern town of [[Fano]]. The ''Basilica di Fano'' (to give the building its Italian name) has disappeared so completely that its very site is a matter of conjecture, although various attempts have been made to visualise it.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.commission5.isprs.org/wg4/workshop_ancona/proceedings/26.pdf |title=Vitruvius' basilica at Fano: the drawings of a lost building from ''De architectura libri decem'' |first=P. |last=Clini |year=2002 |journal=The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |at=vol. XXXIV, part 5/W12, pp. 121–126 |access-date=2016-02-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517124924/http://www.commission5.isprs.org/wg4/workshop_ancona/proceedings/26.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2012  }}</ref> The early Christian practice of converting Roman ''basilicae'' (public buildings) into cathedrals implies the ''basilica'' may be incorporated into the Romanesque [[Fano Cathedral]].

In later years the emperor Augustus, through his sister [[Octavia Minor]], sponsored Vitruvius, entitling him with what may have been a pension to guarantee financial independence.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

Whether {{lang|la|De architectura}} was written by one author or is a compilation completed by subsequent librarians and copyists, remains an open question. The date of his death is unknown, which suggests that he had enjoyed only a little popularity during his lifetime.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}<!-- though as he describes himself as an old man in his works, [for why this is removed, SEE User Talk: ChrisO]-->

[[Gerolamo Cardano]], in his 1552 book ''De subtilitate rerum'', ranks Vitruvius as one of the 12 persons whom he supposes to have excelled all men in the force of genius and invention; and might have given him first place if it was clear that he had set down his own discoveries.<ref>[[Charles Hutton]] (1795), [http://archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/toc/toc.cgi?page=1388;dir=hutto_dicti_078_en_1795;step=textonly ''Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605092425/http://archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/toc/toc.cgi?page=1388;dir=hutto_dicti_078_en_1795;step=textonly |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> 

James Anderson's "The Constitutions of the Free-Masons" (1734), reprinted by Benjamin Franklin, describes Vitruvius as "the Father of all true Architects to this Day."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=James A.M. |title=The Constitutions of the Free-Masons (1734). An Online Electronic Edition. |publisher=Faculty Publications, UNL Libraries |year=1734 |edition=25 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=libraryscience |pages=25 |language=English}}</ref>