Editing Vitruvius

{{short description|1st century BC Roman architect and engineer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{about|the Roman architect|the lunar impact crater|Vitruvius (crater)|the fictional character|List of The Lego Movie (franchise) characters#Vitruvius}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Vitruvius
| image              = Vitruvio Pollione portrait (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Engraving by Jacopo Bernardi after Vincenzo Raggio, 1823 or 1847
| birth_date         = 80–70 BC
| birth_place        = [[Roman Republic]]
| death_date         = after 15 BC (aged 55–65)
| death_place        = 
| occupation         = {{hlist|Author|architect|civil engineer|[[military engineer]]}}
| notable_works      = {{lang|la|[[De architectura]]}}
}}

'''Vitruvius''' ({{IPAc-en|v|ɪ|ˈ|t|r|uː|v|i|ə|s}} {{respell|vi|TROO|vee|əs}}; {{IPA|la|wɪˈtruːwi.ʊs|lang}}; {{circa|80}}–70 BC – after {{circa|15&nbsp;BC}}) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled {{lang|la|[[De architectura]]}}.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Vitruvius |volume= 28 |last=  Middleton |first= John Henry |author-link= John Henry Middleton |pages=150-151 |short=1}}</ref> As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on [[architectural theory]], as well as a major source on the canon of [[classical architecture]].<ref>Kruft, Hanno-Walter. ''A History of Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to the Present'' (New York, Princeton Architectural Press: 1994).</ref>  It is not clear to what extent his contemporaries regarded his book as original or important.

He states that all buildings should have three attributes: {{lang|la|firmitas}}, {{lang|la|utilitas}}, and {{lang|la|venustas}} ("strength", "utility", and "beauty"),<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman art and architecture|others=Marconi, Clemente, 1966–|isbn=978-0-19-978330-4|location=New York|oclc=881386276|year = 2015}}</ref> principles reflected in much [[Ancient Roman architecture]]. His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous [[Renaissance]] drawing of the ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' by [[Leonardo da Vinci]].

Little is known about Vitruvius' life, but by his own description<ref name="autogenerated1">De Arch. Book 1, preface. section 2.</ref> he served as an artilleryman, the third class of arms in the Roman military offices. He probably served as a senior officer of artillery in charge of ''doctores ballistarum'' (artillery experts) and ''libratores'' who actually operated the machines.<ref>[[Yann Le Bohec]], "The Imperial Roman Army", Routledge, p. 49, 2000, {{ISBN|0-415-22295-8}}.</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 possible that Vitruvius served with [[Julius Caesar]]'s chief engineer [[Lucius Cornelius Balbus (major)|Lucius Cornelius Balbus]].

Vitruvius' {{lang|la|De architectura}} was well-known and widely copied in the Middle Ages and survives in many dozens of manuscripts,<ref name="Krinsky">{{cite journal |last1=Krinsky |first1=Carol Herselle |title=Seventy-Eight Vitruvius Manuscripts |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |date=1967 |volume=30 |pages=36–70 |doi=10.2307/750736 |jstor=750736 |s2cid=195019013 }}</ref> though in 1414 it was "rediscovered" by the Florentine humanist [[Poggio Bracciolini]] in the [[Abbey library of Saint Gall|library of Saint Gall Abbey]]. [[Leon Battista Alberti]] published it in his seminal treatise on architecture, {{lang|la|[[De re aedificatoria]]}} ({{circa|1450}}). The first known Latin printed edition was by Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in Rome in 1486. Translations followed in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, and several other languages. Though any original illustrations have been lost, the first illustrated edition was published in [[Venice]] in 1511 by [[Fra Giovanni Giocondo]], with [[woodcut]] illustrations based on descriptions in the text. [[Donato Bramante|Bramante]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Andrea Palladio|Palladio]], [[Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola|Vignola]] and earlier architects are known to have studied the work of Vitruvius, and consequently it has had a significant impact on the architecture of many European countries.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==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>

==''De architectura''==
{{Main|De architectura}}

{{further|Mathematics and architecture}}
[[File:Greekhse1.jpg|left|thumb|Roman house plan after Vitruvius]]

Vitruvius is the author of ''De architectura, libri decem'', known today as ''The Ten Books on Architecture'',<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960">Vitruvius, Pollio (transl. Morris Hicky Morgan, 1960), ''The Ten Books on Architecture''. Courier Dover Publications. {{ISBN|0-486-20645-9}}.</ref> a treatise written in [[Latin]] on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus. In the preface of Book I, Vitruvius dedicates his writings to giving personal knowledge of the quality of buildings to the emperor. Likely Vitruvius is referring to [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa#Public service|Marcus Agrippa]]'s campaign of public repairs and improvements. This work is the only surviving major book on architecture from [[classical antiquity]]. According to Petri Liukkonen, this text "influenced deeply from the [[Early Renaissance]] onwards artists, thinkers, and architects, among them [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472), [[Leonardo da Vinci]] (1452–1519), and [[Michelangelo]] (1475–1564)."<ref name="bandw"/> The next major book on architecture, [[Leone Battista Alberti|Alberti's]] reformulation of ''Ten Books'', was not written until 1452.

However, we know there was a significant body of writing about architecture in Greek, where "architects habitually wrote books about their work", including two we know of about the [[Parthenon]] alone. To [[A. W. Lawrence]], Vitruvius "has recorded a most elaborate set of rules taken from Greek authors, who must have compiled them gradually in the course of the preceding centuries".<ref>[[A. W. Lawrence|Lawrence, A. W.]], ''Greek Architecture'', p. 169, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art</ref>

Vitruvius is famous for asserting in his book {{lang|la|De architectura}} that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of ''firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis'' – that is, stability, utility, and beauty. These are sometimes termed the Vitruvian virtues or the [[Vitruvian Triad]]. According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials, that gave them shelter against the elements. When perfecting this art of building, the Greeks invented the architectural orders: [[Doric order|Doric]], [[Ionic order|Ionic]] and [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]]. It gave them a sense of proportion, culminating in understanding the proportions of the greatest work of art: the human body. This led Vitruvius in defining his [[Vitruvian Man]], as drawn later by [[Leonardo da Vinci]]: the human body inscribed in the circle and the square (the fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order). In this book series, Vitruvius also wrote about [[climate]] in relation to housing architecture and how to choose locations for cities.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/architecture|title=Philosophy of Architecture|year=2015|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.htm|title=Vitruvius The Ten Books On Architecture|work=The Project Gutenberg}}</ref>

===Scope===
[[File:Vitruvius the Ten Books on Architecture Basilica at Fano.png|thumb|Vitruvius designed and supervised the construction of this [[basilica]] in [[Fano]] (reconstruction). However, many of the other things he did would not now be considered the realm of architecture{{clarify|date=November 2023}}]]
Vitruvius is the first Roman architect to have written surviving records of his field. He himself cites older but less complete works. He was less an original thinker or creative intellect than a codifier of existing architectural practice. [[Roman architecture|Roman architects]] practised a wide variety of disciplines; in modern terms they would also be described as landscape architects, civil engineers, military engineers, structural engineers, surveyors, artists, and [[Artisan|craftsmen]] combined. Etymologically the word architect derives from Greek words meaning 'master' and 'builder'. The first of the ''Ten Books'' deals with many subjects which are now within the scope of [[landscape architecture]].

In Book I, Chapter 1, titled The Education of the Architect, Vitruvius instructs...

{{quote|1. Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts. Practice and theory are its parents. Practice is the frequent and continued contemplation of the mode of executing any given work, or of the mere operation of the hands, for the conversion of the material in the best and readiest way. Theory is the result of that reasoning which demonstrates and explains that the material wrought has been so converted as to answer the end proposed.}}

{{quote|2. Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance. He who is theoretic as well as practical, is therefore doubly armed; able not only to prove the propriety of his design, but equally so to carry it into execution.<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu">{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/1*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius on Architecture — Book I|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>}}

He goes on to say that the architect should be versed in drawing, geometry, optics (lighting), history, philosophy, music, theatre, medicine, and law.

In Book I, Chapter 3 (''The Departments of Architecture''), Vitruvius divides architecture into three branches, namely; building; the construction of [[sundial]]s and [[water clocks]];<ref>Turner, A. J., ''in'' Folkrets, M., and Lorch, R., (Editors), "Sic itur ad astra", ''Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften – Festschrift für den Arabisten Paul Kunitzsch zum 70,'' Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000, p.563 ff.</ref> and the design and use of machines in construction and warfare.<ref>Long, Pamela O., ''in'' Galison, Peter, and Thompson, Emily (Editors), ''The Architecture of Science'', The MIT Press, 1999, p. 81</ref><ref>Borys, Ann Marie, ''Vincenzo Scamozzi and the Chorography of Early Modern Architecture'', Routledge, 2014, pp. 85, 179</ref> He further divides building into public and private. Public building includes city planning, public security structures such as walls, gates and towers; the convenient placing of public facilities such as theatres, forums and markets, baths, roads and pavings; and the construction and position of shrines and temples for religious use.<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu"/> Later books are devoted to the understanding, design and construction of each of these.

===Proportions of man===
[[File:De Architectura030.jpg|thumb|left|"Vitruvian Man", illustration in the edition of {{lang|la|De architectura}} by Vitruvius; illustrated edition by Cesare Cesariano (1521)]]
[[File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], an illustration of the human body inscribed in the circle and the square derived from a passage about geometry and human proportions in Vitruvius' writings]]

In Book III, Chapter 1, Paragraph 3, Vitruvius writes about the proportions of man:
{{quote|3. Just so the parts of Temples should correspond with each other, and with the whole. The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/3*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius on Architecture — Book III|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>}}

It was upon these writings that Renaissance engineers, architects and artists like [[Taccola|Mariano di Jacopo Taccola]], Pellegrino Prisciani and [[Francesco di Giorgio Martini]] and finally [[Leonardo da Vinci]] based the illustration of the ''[[Vitruvian Man]]''.<ref>{{citation|surname1=[[Marc van den Broek]]|title=Leonardo da Vinci Spirits of Invention. A Search for Traces |publisher=A.TE.M. |location=Hamburg|isbn=978-3-00-063700-1|date=2019|language=en}}</ref>

Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion.

The drawing itself is often used as an implied symbol of the essential [[symmetry]] of the human body, and by extension, of the [[universe]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewholeuniversebook.com/2/page2.html |title=Bibliographic reference |publisher=The Whole Universe Book |access-date=2011-11-30}}</ref>

===Lists of names given in Book VII Introduction===
In the introduction to book seven, Vitruvius goes to great lengths to present why he is qualified to write {{lang|la|De Architectura}}. This is the only location in the work where Vitruvius specifically addresses his personal breadth of knowledge. Similar to a modern reference section, the author's position as one who is knowledgeable and educated is established. The topics range across many fields of expertise reflecting that in Roman times as today construction is a diverse field. Vitruvius is clearly a well-read man.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In addition to providing his qualification, Vitruvius summarizes a recurring theme throughout the 10 books, a non-trivial and core contribution of his treatise beyond simply being a construction book. Vitruvius makes the point that the work of some of the most talented is unknown, while many of those of lesser talent but greater political position are famous.<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960"/> This theme runs through Vitruvius's ten books repeatedly – echoing an implicit prediction that he and his works will also be forgotten.

Vitruvius illustrates this point by naming what he considers the most talented individuals in history.<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960"/> Implicitly challenging the reader that they have never heard of some of these people, Vitruvius goes on and predicts that some of these individuals will be forgotten and their works [[Lost literary work|lost]], while other, less deserving political characters of history will be forever remembered with pageantry.

<!--Italicized names below, which show as red links as of 29 July 2015 (and perhaps others which were red links when this sentence was first written) do not have a Wikipedia page as of 29 July 2015 and, outside of inclusion on Vitruvius's list under a categorization, nothing is known of them. Ironically, they may be unknown because the ancient [[Library of Alexandria]] was accidentally burned in 48 BC during a siege by Julius Caesar. Vitruvius does not mention the architecture of Egypt so was probably not involved in this siege.  Further, some of the non-italicized names which show as blue links as of 29 July 2015 have articles in Wikipedia that are Wikipedia "stubs" based on Vitruvius's list and short narratives.  Also, as of 29 July 2015, five of the following non-italicized names have links going to Wikipedia disambiguation pages;<ref>The five links that go to disambiguation pages as of 29 July 2015 are [[Attalus (disambiguation)|Attalus]], [[Pythis (disambiguation)|Pytheos]], [[Timotheos (disambiguation)|Timotheos]], [[Demophilus (disambiguation)|Demophilus]], and [[Leonidas (disambiguation)|Leonidas]].</ref> for these ones it is not clear whether the Wikipedia collective of authors have information about the persons meant by Vitruvius or not.-->
*''List of physicists:'' [[Thales]], [[Democritus]], [[Anaxagoras]], [[Xenophanes]]
*''List of philosophers:'' [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]], [[Epicurus]]
*''List of kings:'' [[Croesus]], [[Alexander the Great]], [[Darius the Great|Darius]]
*''On plagiarism:'' [[Aristophanes]], [[Ptolemy I Soter]], a person named [[Attalus (disambiguation)|Attalus]]
*''On abusing dead authors:'' [[Zoilus|Zoilus Homeromastix]], [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]]
*''On divergence of the visual rays:'' [[Agatharchus]], [[Aeschylus]], [[Democritus]], [[Anaxagoras]]
*''List of writers on temples:'' Silenus, ''Theodorus''<!-- [[Theodorus of Samos]]? -->, [[Chersiphron]] and [[Metagenes]], [[Ictinus]] and [[Carpion]], ''Theodorus the Phocian'', [[Hermogenes of Priene|Hermogenes]], [[Arcesius]], [[Satyros|Satyrus]] and a person named [[Pythis (disambiguation)|Pytheos]]
*''List of artists:'' [[Leochares]], [[Bryaxis]], [[Scopas]], [[Praxiteles]], Timotheos
*''List of writers on laws of symmetry:'' ''Nexaris'', ''Theocydes'', a person named [[Demophilus (disambiguation)|Demophilus]], ''Pollis'', a person named [[Leonidas (disambiguation)|Leonidas]], [[Silanion]], [[Melampus]], ''Sarnacus'', [[Euphranor]]
*''List of writers on machinery:'' [[Diades of Pella]], [[Archytas]], [[Archimedes]], [[Ctesibius]], ''[[Nymphodorus (physician)|Nymphodorus]]'', [[Philo of Byzantium]], [[Diphilus]], [[Democles]], ''Charias'', [[Polyidus of Thessaly]], [[Pyrrus]], ''[[Agesistratus]]''
*''List of writers on architecture:'' ''Fuficius'', [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Terentius Varro]], ''Publius Septimius (writer)''
*''List of architects:'' ''Antistates'', ''Callaeschrus'', ''Antimachides'', ''Pormus'', ''Cossutius''
*''List of greatest temple architects:'' ''Chersiphron of Gnosus'', [[Metagenes]], [[Demetrius]], ''Paeonius the Milesian'', ''Ephesian Daphnis'', [[Ictinus]], [[Philon|Philo]], ''Cossutius'', ''Gaius Mucianus''

===Rediscovery===
[[File:Battle of Thapsus.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Battle of Thapsus]] as depicted in an engraving after [[Andrea Palladio]]]]
[[File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - Interior of the Pantheon, Rome - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|200px|The interior of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] (from an 18th-century painting by [[Giovanni Paolo Panini|Panini]]). Although built after Vitruvius' death, its excellent state of preservation makes it of great importance to those interested in Vitruvian architecture]]

Vitruvius' {{lang|la|[[De architectura]]}} was "rediscovered" in 1414 by the Florentine humanist [[Poggio Bracciolini]] in the [[Abbey library of Saint Gall|library of Saint Gall Abbey]]. [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472) publicised it in his seminal treatise on architecture, {{lang|la|[[De re aedificatoria]]}} ({{circa|1450}}). The first known Latin printed edition was by Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in Rome, 1486.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palladiancenter.org/predecessors.html|title=CPSA Palladio's Literary Predecessors|website=www.palladiancenter.org|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=17 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217055656/http://www.palladiancenter.org/predecessors.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Translations followed in Italian ([[Cesare Cesariano]], 1521), French (Jean Martin, 1547<ref>[http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_LES1785.asp?param= Architectura – Les livres d'Architecture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318141215/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_LES1785.asp?param= |date=18 March 2011 }} {{in lang|fr}}</ref>), English, German ([[:de:Walther Hermann Ryff|Walther H. Ryff]], 1543) and Spanish and several other languages. The original illustrations had been lost and the first illustrated edition was published in [[Venice]] in 1511 by [[Fra Giovanni Giocondo]], with [[woodcut]] illustrations based on descriptions in the text.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/CESR_2994.asp?param=|title=Architectura – Les livres d'Architecture|website=architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721024238/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/CESR_2994.asp?param=|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later in the 16th-century [[Andrea Palladio]] provided illustrations for [[Daniele Barbaro]]'s commentary on Vitruvius, published in Italian and Latin versions. The most famous illustration is probably Da Vinci's ''[[Vitruvian Man]]''.

The surviving ruins of Roman antiquity, the [[Roman Forum]], temples, theatres, triumphal arches and their reliefs and statues offered visual examples of the descriptions in the Vitruvian text. Printed and illustrated editions of {{lang|la|De Architectura}} inspired [[Renaissance]], [[Baroque]] and [[Neoclassical architecture]]. [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], for example, invented a new type of [[Hoist (device)|hoist]] to lift the large stones for the dome of the cathedral in [[Florence]] and was inspired by {{lang|la|De Architectura}} as well as surviving Roman monuments such as the [[Pantheon (Rome)|Pantheon]] and the [[Baths of Diocletian]].

===Notable editions===
[[File:Vitruvius Pollio – De architectura, 1543 – BEIC 12903859.jpg|thumb|{{lang|la|De architectura}}, 1543]]
'''Latin'''
* 1495–1496 {{Cite book|title=De architectura|volume=|publisher=Cristoforo Pensi|location=Venezia|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13297685}}
* 1543 {{Cite book|title=De architectura|volume=|publisher=Georg Messerschmidt|location=Strasbourg|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12903859}}
* 1800 Augustus Rode, Berlin<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lsante01/Vitruvius/vit_ar00.html|title=bibliotheca Augustana|website=www.hs-augsburg.de|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>
* 1857 [[Teubner]] Edition by Valentin Rose
* 1899 [[Teubner]] Edition
* 1912 [[Teubner]] edition at [[The Latin Library]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vitruvius.html|title=Vitruvius|website=www.thelatinlibrary.com|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613101752/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vitruvius.html|archive-date=13 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Bill Thayer, transcription of the 1912 [[Teubner]] Edition<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/1*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius de Architectura — Liber Primus|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>

'''Italian'''
* [[Cesare Cesariano]], 1521, [[Como, Italy]], includes illustrations by [[Cesare Cesariano]]
* Danielle Barbaro, includes illustration by [[Andrea Palladio]]

'''French'''
* Jean Martin, 1547<ref>http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315095909/http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ |date=15 March 2023 }} http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315095909/http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ |date=15 March 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Claude Perrault]], 1673<ref>[http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/PerraultCl.asp?param=en Books on architecture by Claude Perrault] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007191950/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/PerraultCl.asp?param=en |date=7 October 2022 }}, Architectura website. Retrieved on 18 January 2020.</ref>
* [[Auguste Choisy]], 1909

'''English'''
* [[Henry Wotton]], 1624
* [[Joseph Gwilt]], 1826
* Bill Thayer transcription of the Gwilt 1826 Edition<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu"/>
* [[Morris H. Morgan]], with illustrations prepared by [[Herbert Langford Warren]], 1914, [[Harvard University Press]]<ref name="Vitruvius">{{cite book |last1=Vitruvius |first1=Pollio |title=The Ten Books on Architecture |date=1914 |translator-last=Morgan |translator-first=Morris Hicky |others=Illustrations prepared by Herbert Langford Warren |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/details/vitruviustenbook00vitr_0}}</ref>
* Frank Granger, [[Loeb Classical Library|Loeb]] Edition, 1931<ref>{{cite book|last1=Granger|first1=Frank|title=Vitruvius: On Architecture|date=1931|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674992776|pages=368|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ingrid Rowland]], 2001<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rowland|first1=Ingrid|title=Vitruvius: 'Ten Books on Architecture'|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521002923|pages=352}}</ref>
* Thomas Gordon Smith, The Monacelli Press (5 January 2004)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Thoma Granger|title=Vitruvius on Architecture|date=2004|publisher=The Monacelli Press|isbn=1885254989|page=224}}</ref>

==Roman technology==
[[File:Archscrew2.jpg|thumb|200px|Drainage wheel from [[Rio Tinto (river)|Rio Tinto]] mines]]
Books VIII, IX and X form the basis of much of what we know about Roman technology, now augmented by archaeological studies of extant remains, such as the [[water mill]]s at [[Barbegal]] in France. The other major source of information is the {{lang|la|[[Naturalis Historia]]}} compiled by [[Pliny the Elder]] much later in {{circa|75&nbsp;AD}}.

===Machines===
The work is important for its descriptions of the many different machines used for engineering structures such as [[Hoist (device)|hoists]], [[Crane (machine)|cranes]] and [[pulley]]s, as well as war machines such as [[catapult]]s, ''[[ballistae]],'' and [[siege engine]]s. As a practising engineer, Vitruvius must be speaking from personal experience rather than simply describing the works of others. He also describes the construction of [[sundials]] and [[water clocks]], and the use of an [[aeolipile]] (the first [[steam engine]]) as an experiment to demonstrate the nature of atmospheric air movements (wind).

===Aqueducts===
His description of [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]] construction includes the way they are surveyed, and the careful choice of materials needed, although [[Frontinus]] (a general who was appointed in the late 1st century AD to administer the many aqueducts of Rome), writing a century later, gives much more detail of the practical problems involved in their construction and maintenance. Surely Vitruvius' book would have been of great assistance in this. Vitruvius was writing in the 1st century BC when many of the finest [[Roman aqueducts]] were built, and survive to this day, such as those at [[Segovia]] and the [[Pont du Gard]]. The use of the [[inverted siphon]] is described in detail, together with the problems of high pressures developed in the pipe at the base of the siphon, a practical problem with which he seems to be acquainted.

===Materials===
He describes many different [[construction material]]s used for a wide variety of different structures, as well as such details as [[stucco]] painting. Concrete and [[Lime (material)|lime]] receive in-depth descriptions.

Vitruvius is cited as one of the earliest sources to connect lead mining and manufacture, its use in drinking water pipes, and its adverse effects on health. For this reason, he recommended the use of clay pipes and masonry channels in the provision of piped drinking-water.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Hodge, Trevor, A. |title= Vitruvius, Lead Pipes and Lead Poisoning |publisher= Archaeological Institute of America |volume= 85 |issue= 4 |date = October 1981|pages= 486–491 |jstor= 504874 |journal= American Journal of Archaeology |doi= 10.2307/504874 |s2cid= 193094209 }}</ref>

Vitruvius is the source for the anecdote that credits [[Archimedes]] with the discovery of the [[Archimedes' principle|mass-to-volume ratio]] while relaxing in his bath. Having been asked to investigate the suspected adulteration of the gold used to make a crown, Archimedes realised that the crown's volume could be measured exactly by its displacement of water, and ran into the street with the cry of'' [[Eureka (word)|Eureka!]]''

===Dewatering machines===
[[File:VitruviusTenBooksMHMorgan1914p295.gif|thumb|left|200px|Design for an Archimedean water-screw]]

He describes the construction of [[Archimedes' screw]] in Chapter X (without mentioning Archimedes by name). It was a device widely used for raising water to irrigate fields and drain mines. Other lifting machines he mentions include the endless chain of buckets and the [[reverse overshot water-wheel]]. Remains of the water wheels used for lifting water were discovered when old mines were re-opened at [[Rio Tinto (river)|Rio Tinto]] in Spain, [[Rosia Montana]] in Romania and [[Dolaucothi]] in west [[Wales]].{{cn|date=January 2023}} The Rio Tinto wheel is now shown in the [[British Museum]], and the Dolaucothi specimen in the [[National Museum of Wales]].

===Surveying instruments===
That he must have been well practised in surveying is shown by his descriptions of surveying instruments, especially the water level or ''[[chorobates]],'' which he compares favourably with the ''[[Groma surveying|groma]],'' a device using [[plumb line]]s. They were essential in all building operations, but especially in aqueduct construction, where a uniform gradient was important to the provision of a regular supply of water without damage to the walls of the channel. He also developed one of the first [[odometer]]s, consisting of a wheel of known circumference that dropped a pebble into a container on every rotation.

===Central heating===
[[File:Hypocaustum.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Ruins of the [[hypocaust]] under the floor of a Roman villa. The part under the [[exedra]] is covered.]]

He describes the many innovations made in building design to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. Foremost among them is the development of the ''[[hypocaust]],'' a type of [[central heating]] where hot air developed by a fire was channelled under the floor and inside the walls of [[public bath]]s and [[villa]]s. He gives explicit instructions how to design such buildings so that [[fuel efficiency]] is maximised, so that for example, the ''[[caldarium]]'' is next to the ''[[tepidarium]]'' followed by the ''[[frigidarium]]''. He also advises on using a type of regulator to control the heat in the hot rooms, a [[bronze]] disc set into the roof under a circular aperture which could be raised or lowered by a [[pulley]] to adjust the ventilation. Although he does not suggest it himself, it is likely that his dewatering devices such as the [[reverse overshot water-wheel]] were used in the larger baths to lift water to header tanks at the top of the larger ''thermae'', such as the [[Baths of Diocletian]]. The one which was used in Bath of Caracalla for grinding flour.

==Legacy==
*''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' – a drawing by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] 
*[[Colen Campbell#Vitruvius Britannicus|''Vitruvius Britannicus'']] – 18th century work on British architecture named after Vitruvius.
*''[[Den Danske Vitruvius]]'' – 18th century work on Danish architecture – inspired by Vitruvius Britannicus.<ref name="denstoredanske.dk">{{cite web|url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Kunst_og_kultur/Arkitektur/Norden/Den_Danske_Vitruvius|title=Den Danske Vitruvius|publisher=AOK|access-date=2009-06-23}}</ref>
* ''The American Vitruvius'' – 20th century work on civil architecture by [[Werner Hegemann]]
*[[William Vitruvius Morrison]] (1794–1838), the son of Irish architect [[Sir Richard Morrison]] and himself a noted architect of great houses, bridges, court houses and prisons.
*A small [[Vitruvius (crater)|lunar crater]] has been named after Vitruvius and also an elongated lunar mountain [[Mons Vitruvius]] close by.
*The [[Design Quality Indicator]] (DQI) tool for buildings uses Vitruvius's principles.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Aristotle]]
*[[Ctesibius]]
*[[Colen Campbell]]
*[[Frontinus]]
*[[Pliny the Elder]]
*[[Roman architecture]]
*[[Roman aqueducts]]
*[[Roman engineering]]
*[[Roman technology]]
*''[[Vitruvian Man]]''
*[[Vitruvian scroll]]
*[[Lucius Vitruvius Cordo]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Sources==
* Indra Kagis McEwen, ''Vitruvius: Writing the Body of Architecture''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-262-63306-X}}
* B. Baldwin, "The Date, Identity, and Career of Vitruvius". In ''Latomus'' 49 (1990), 425–34.
* [[Kai Brodersen]] & Christiane Brodersen: Cetius Faventinus. Das römische Eigenheim / De architectura privata, Latin and German. Wiesbaden: Marix 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-7374-0998-8}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Vitruvius |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* Clarke, Georgia. 2002. "Vitruvian Paradigms". ''Papers of the British School at Rome'' 70:319–346.
* De Angelis, Francesco. 2015. "Greek and Roman Specialized Writing on Art and Architecture". In ''The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture''. Edited by Clemente Marconi, 41–69. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* König, Alice. 2009. "From Architect to Imperator: Vitruvius and his Addressee in the De Architectura". In ''Authorial Voices in Greco-Roman Technical Writing''. Edited by Liba Chaia Taub and Aude Doody, 31–52. Trier, Germany: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier.
* Milnor, Kristina L. 2005. "Other Men's Wives". In ''Gender, Domesticity and the Age of Augustus: Inventing Private Life''. By [[Kristina Milnor]], 94–139. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Nichols, Marden Fitzpatrick. 2017".Author and Audience in Vitruvius’ De Architectura". Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Rowland, Ingrid D. 2014. "Vitruvius and His Influence". In ''A Companion to Roman Architecture''. Edited by Roger B. Ulrich and Caroline K. Quenemoen, 412–425. Malden, MA, and Oxford: Blackwell.
* Sear, Frank B. 1990. "Vitruvius and Roman Theater Design". ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 94.2: 249–258.
* Smith, Thomas Gordon. 2004. ''Vitruvius on Architecture''. New York: Monacelli Press.
* Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. 1994. "The Articulation of the House". In ''Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum''. By Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, 38–61. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
* Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew. 2008. "Vitruvius: Building Roman Identity". In ''Rome's Cultural Revolution''. By Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, 144–210. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

==External links==
{{Commons|Marcus Vitruvius Pollio|Vitruvius}}
{{Wikisource author}}
{{Wikisourcelang|la|Marcus Vitruvius Pollio}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|Vitruvius}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=9180}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=5221}}
* [http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/Vitruve.asp?param= Vitruvius online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318004331/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/Vitruve.asp?param= |date=18 March 2011 }}
* [http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/bodies/vitruvius/proportion.html Vitruvius' theories of beauty] – a learning resource from the British Library
* [http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi580.htm Discussion of the inventions of Vitruvius]

{{Ancient Rome topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1st-century BC births]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century BC architects]]
[[Category:1st-century BC writers in Latin]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman architects]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman civil engineers]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman military engineers]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman military writers]]
[[Category:Roman Republican soldiers]]
[[Category:Architectural theoreticians]]
[[Category:Classical antiquarian architecture writers]]
[[Category:Golden Age Latin writers]]
[[Category:History of mining]]
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[[Category:Vitruvii]]