An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius Part 11

The Ancients built their _Ports_ in two manners; at those which were _Natural_, they only made _Portico's_ round about with _Magazines_ and _Towers_ at the Ends, for to shut the _Port_ with a Chain.

Those which were _Artificial_, were built three several ways: The first was to make Part.i.tions of Wood only, without emptying the Water which was within the Part.i.tions, and they cast into the Part.i.tions, Stone and Mortar made with _Pozzolana_, thrown in hand over head; for they were certain that this Mortar wou'd grow dry in the bottom of the Water. The second Way was by making Part.i.tions with ordinary Clay, or fat Earth at the bottom of the Sea, after the Water had been emptied out by Pumps.

The third Way was to build a Mole upon the Sea-Coast, and to cast it in when the _Mason's_ Work was sufficiently dry, which only required two Months time. That they might the better throw these Moles into the Sea, they built them half upon the Sea-Coast, and half upon an heap of Sand which they made close to the Sea-Coast; to the end, that this Sand which was stopped by nothing but by the Walls, built only to support it during the time that the Mole was a drying, might let it fall when the Sea came to carry away the Sand after that the Walls were beaten down.

[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 10._]

The _Bathes_ of the Ancients consisted of many Chambers; some for Men, and some for Women.

Some of the Chambers had a moderate Heat, to warm their Bodies insensibly, and prepare them for a stronger Heat to make them Sweat.

The Chamber they were to Sweat in, was called _Laconic.u.m_, and was round, and Vaulted like the ends of an Oven, pierced at the top with a round Opening, which was opened and shut with a Buckler of Bra.s.s, which hung at a Chain, by which means they augmented or diminished the Heat according to the Proportion that they pull'd up, or let down the Buckler.

One and the same Furnace heated both the Air and the Water, according to the Disposition of the places which were nearer or further from the Furnace, whose heat was communicated to the Chambers from under the Flooring, which was made full of little holes.

The Water was likewise diversly tempered by the different situation of three great Vessels of Bra.s.s, whose Water went from one into another, and there were Pipes that conveyed these three sorts of Water into the _Bath_.

The _Academies_ of the Ancients, which they called _Palaestra_, was a place where the Youth learned Letters and their Exercises. They were composed of three parts, _viz._ Of a _Peristyle_, a _Xyste_, and a _Stadium_; the _Peristyle_ was a Court surrounded with _Portico's_, which were of two sorts; three of them were Simple, and one Double.

The Simple stood in a row against three Bodies of Lodgings, composed of many great Halls, where the Philosophers had their Disputes and Conferences.

The Bodies of the Lodgings, which was the length of the double _Portico_, and one part of the Bodies of Lodgings which turned in, were distributed into several parts, for the Studies and Exercises of Youth; for there they had their _Cla.s.ses_, their _Baths_, their _Stoves_, and their _Tenis-Court_.

The _Xyste_ was a place planted with Trees, and surrounded with _Portico's_ on every side: These _Portico's_ were of two sorts.

There was one double which was set against the Bodies of the Lodgings, to which the double _Portico_ of the _Peristyle_ was joyned.

The _Simple Portico's_ had two Wings, under these _Simple Portico's_ there were hollow Ways, where they performed their Exercises; the rest of the _Portico_ was raised to the right and the left, for those that had a mind to Walk while the rest performed their Exercises, in the hollow ways.

The Place which was compa.s.sed with these three _Portico's_, was planted with Trees, which made Allies, where the Wrestlers exercised in Winter, when it was fair Weather.

The _Stadium_ was on the Side of the _Peristyle_ and the _Xyste_. It was an Alley of 90 Perches; on each Side it had many Steps or Degrees, which made a sort of a long _Theater_ bending in at both ends; these Steps or Degrees were made for the convenience of seeing them that Run.

CHAP. II.

_Of Private Buildings._

ARTICLE I.

_Of the Courts of Houses._

[Sidenote: _Lib. 6. Chap. 3._]

The Houses of the Ancients had five sorts of Courts, of which the greatest part were covered round about by the Jettings which supported the Water-Channel or Gutter, in which all the Water that fell from the Roof met together.

These Courts made with Jettings, were of four sorts; The first was called the _Tuscan_, this Court was surrounded with a Jetting _en auvent_, which was laid upon four Beams, supported by other standing Beams placed in the Corners.

The second Sort was called _Corinthian_; it had likewise Beams, but they were further from the Walls than in the _Tuscan_ Court, and they were laid upon Pillars.

The third Sort was called _Tetrastyle_, because the Beams were supported with four Pillars which were in the place of the standing Beams that were made use of in the _Tuscan Court_.

The fourth Sort was called the _Vaulted_; because the Jetting that it had round about, was supported by Vaults.

The fifth Sort of _Court_ that had no Jetting, and which was called the _Uncovered_, had the _Water-Gutter_ directly upon the Wall, and was only covered with the Entablature.

ART. II.

_Of the_ Vestibulum _or_ Entry.

The Houses of the Ancients had _Great_ and _Magnificent Entries_, they were sometimes 15 Perches long and 9 broad, and they were supported upon two ranks of Pillars, which made a Wing on each Side, the Proportion of their breadth and length was taken three Ways. The first was, when having divided the length into 5, 3 were allowed for the breadth. The second was, when having divided it into 3, 2 were allowed for the breadth. The third was, when having made an Equilateral Square, the Diagonal of this Square was taken for the length, and the Side for the breadth.

The height was equal to the length, taken from the Pavement below, to the bottom of the _Plat-Fonds_ or _Flat-Roof_, which was hollowed on the other side the Beams, the seventh part of the whole height.

The Proportion that the _Alley_ which was in the middle between the Pillars, had with the Wings, was different according to the Magnitude of the _Vestibule_ or _Entry_, for the greater they were or the lesser, the Wings had a proportionable breadth with the _Alley_ in the middle; So that if the _Vestibule_ or _Entry_ was 100 Foot long, the Wings had only for their breadth the 50th. part of the length; and when it was but 30 Foot long, they had only the 3d. part.

ART. III.

_Of_ Halls.

The Ancients had three Sorts of _Halls_; _Viz._ The _Corinthian_, the _aegyptian_, and the _Cyzican_.

The _Corinthian_ had Pillars round about against the Wall, and these Pillars supported the Floor made in form of a Vault. _Surbaissee_.

The _aegyptian Halls_ had their Pillars distant from the Wall in the manner of the _Peristyle_, and they supported only an _Architrave_ without a _Frise_ and without a _Cornice_; upon this _Architrave_ there was another row of Pillars, between which were the Windows. The Floor which reached from the Pillars to the Wall, served for a _Terra.s.se_ without.

[Sidenote: _Lib. 6. Chap. 6._]

The _Cyzican Halls_ had this in particular, that they were turned to the North, and had a Prospect of the Gardens; they were princ.i.p.ally made use of by the _Greeks_; the Proportion of these _Halls_ was as follows, Their length was double their breadth, and as to their height, this Rule was observed to have the height of all Sorts of Apartments that are not so broad as long, they added their length to their breadth, and took half of the sum for their height. The Apartments which were no longer than broad, had in height their breadth, and half their breadth.

ART. IV.

_Of the Distribution of the Apartments among the Ancients._

[Sidenote: _Lib. 6. Chap. 10._]

[Sidenote: _Lib. 6. Chap. 3, 4._]

The _Romans_ and the _Greeks_ ordered and distributed differently their _Apartments_; for the _Romans_ had their _Courts_ and _Entries_ magnificent: but the _Greeks_ had only a narrow Entrance, through which they pa.s.sed into a _Peristyle_; this _Entry_ had of one Side a Porter's Lodge, on the other Side the Stables.

The _Apartments_ of these two Nations differed in this, the _Apartments_ of the Women were separate from the _Apartments_ of the Men among the _Greeks_; insomuch that they Dined apart. They had likewise particular _Rooms_ reserved for Strangers apart, where they only gave them Lodging, and never treated them above one Day.