Vitruvius

Vitruvius’ full name was Marcus Vitruvius Pollio; he lived and worked in the 1^st Century BC and was a renowned Roman Architect, engineer and author of a renowned discourse: De architectura a book that became the standard instruction manual for generations of Roman architects.

Little biographical evidence of Vitruvius’ life survives, save that which may be gleaned from his own works, which are unfortunately rather ambiguous on the subject. Scholars have presumed that the emperor to whom De architectura was dedicated was Augustus I (although surprisingly Vitruvius himself nowhere identifies the figure). This dating means, however, that De architectura was probably devised sometime after 27 BC. Elsewhere in his writings, Vitruvius describes himself as an elderly man, and we may therefore presume that he was still working during the reign of Julius Caesar since Vitruvius himself provides an account of the basilica which he built at Fanum (now Fano).

De architectura is a work that is solidly grounded in first-hand experience but one which also incorporates the best theoretical methodologies to be found in academic works published by eminent Greek architects such as Hermogenes. Vitruvius’ treatise deals with almost every facet of building design, but its scope is limited as a result of his decision to base the work primarily on Greek models. This fact, perhaps more that any other, soon led to a rapid dating of De architectura because Roman architects soon, and decisively, departed from the practice of their renowned Greek forbears in order to serve the new methodSs of proclaiming a world empire.

De architectura is sub-divided into 10 books each of which treats a different aspect of city planning and architecture: book one deals with the education of the architect and the fundamental principles and departments of architecture; book two with building materials and basic construction methods; book three with temple construction; book four with the use of the Greek orders; book five with public buildings (theatres, baths and so on); book six with private buildings; book seven with floors, stucco decoration pigments and frescos; book eight with hydraulics; book nine with clocks and astronomy; and book ten with civil and military machines.

Vitruvius’ point of view was fundamentally Hellenistic and he had a deep-rooted desire to maintain and foster the classical tradition in the construction of his temples and civic structures, the preambles to each separate book of De architectura reveal his low opinion of some of his counterparts and include several unenthusiastic observations about contemporaneous architecture. Most of Pliny’s observations about Roman construction methods and wall painting in the Natural History were cribbed, unacknowledged, from Vitruvius. Vitruvius’ great wish to have his reputation honoured by posterity was fulfilled. The Renaissance insistence on classical precedent, the classical phase of the Baroque, and the architectural reminiscences of the Neoclassical period all led to his work becoming the chief authority on classical architecture as it was, in turn, developed by early modern architects such as Palladio and Serlio.