As it appears that we have given an adequate account of them, next will
follow descriptions of the arrangements of baths.
CHAPTER X
BATHS
1. In the first place, the warmest possible situation must be selected;
that is, one which faces away from the north and northeast. The rooms
for the hot and tepid baths should be lighted from the southwest, or, if
the nature of the situation prevents this, at all events from the south,
because the set time for bathing is principally from midday to evening.
We must also see to it that the hot bath rooms in the women's and men's
departments adjoin each other, and are situated in the same quarter; for
thus it will be possible that the same furnace should serve both of them
and their fittings. Three bronze cauldrons are to be set over the
furnace, one for hot, another for tepid, and the third for cold water,
placed in such positions that the amount of water which flows out of the
hot water cauldron may be replaced from that for tepid water, and in the
same way the cauldron for tepid water may be supplied from that for
cold. The arrangement must allow the semi-cylinders for the bath basins
to be heated from the same furnace.
2. The hanging floors of the hot bath rooms are to be constructed as
follows. First the surface of the ground should be laid with tiles a
foot and a half square, sloping towards the furnace in such a way that,
if a ball is thrown in, it cannot stop inside but must return of itself
to the furnace room; thus the heat of the fire will more readily spread
under the hanging flooring. Upon them, pillars made of eight-inch bricks
are built, and set at such a distance apart that two-foot tiles may be
used to cover them. These pillars should be two feet in height, laid
with clay mixed with hair, and covered on top with the two-foot tiles
which support the floor.
3. The vaulted ceilings will be more serviceable if built of masonry;
but if they are of framework, they should have tile work on the under
side, to be constructed as follows. Let iron bars or arcs be made, and
hang them to the framework by means of iron hooks set as close together
as possible; and let these bars or arcs be placed at such distances
apart that each pair of them may support and carry an unflanged tile.
Thus the entire vaulting will be completely supported on iron. These
vaults should have the joints on their upper side daubed with clay mixed
with hair, and their under side, facing the floor, should first be
plastered with pounded tile mixed with lime, and then covered with
polished stucco in relief or smooth. Vaults in hot bath rooms will be
more serviceable if they are doubled; for then the moisture from the
heat will not be able to spoil the timber in the framework, but will
merely circulate between the two vaults.
4. The size of the baths must depend upon the number of the population.
The rooms should be thus proportioned: let their breadth be one third of
their length, excluding the niches for the washbowl and the bath basin.
The washbowl ought without fail to be placed under a window, so that the
shadows of those who stand round it may not obstruct the light. Niches
for washbowls must be made so roomy that when the first comers have
taken their places, the others who are waiting round may have proper
standing room. The bath basin should be not less than six feet broad
from the wall to the edge, the lower step and the "cushion" taking up
two feet of this space.
5. The Laconicum and other sweating baths must adjoin the tepid room,
and their height to the bottom of the curved dome should be equal to
their width. Let an aperture be left in the middle of the dome with a
bronze disc hanging from it by chains. By raising and lowering it, the
temperature of the sweating bath can be regulated. The chamber itself
ought, as it seems, to be circular, so that the force of the fire and
heat may spread evenly from the centre all round the circumference.
CHAPTER XI
THE PALAESTRA
1. Next, although the building of palaestrae is not usual in Italy, I
think it best to set forth the traditional way, and to show how they are
constructed among the Greeks. The square or oblong peristyle in a
palaestra should be so formed that the circuit of it makes a walk of two
stadia, a distance which the Greeks call the [Greek: diaulos]. Let three
of its colonnades be single, but let the fourth, which is on the south
side, be double, so that when there is bad weather accompanied by wind,
the drops of rain may not be able to reach the interior.
2. In the three colonnades construct roomy recesses (A) with seats in
them, where philosophers, rhetoricians, and others who delight in
learning may sit and converse. In the double colonnade let the rooms be
arranged thus: the young men's hall (B) in the middle; this is a very
spacious recess (exedra) with seats in it, and it should be one third
longer than it is broad. At the right, the bag room (C); then next, the
dust room (D); beyond the dust room, at the corner of the colonnade, the
cold washing room (E), which the Greeks call [Greek: loutron]. At the
left of the young men's hall is the anointing room (F); then, next to
the anointing room, the cold bath room (G), and beyond that a passage
into the furnace room (H) at the corner of the colonnade. Next, but
inside and on a line with the cold bath room, put the vaulted sweating
bath (I), its length twice its breadth, and having at the ends on one
side a Laconicum (K), proportioned in the same manner as above
described, and opposite the Laconicum the warm washing room (L). Inside
a palaestra, the peristyle ought to be laid out as described above.
3. But on the outside, let three colonnades be arranged, one as you
leave the peristyle and two at the right and left, with running-tracks
in them. That one of them which faces the north should be a double
colonnade of very ample breadth, while the other should be single, and
so constructed that on the sides next the walls and the side along the
columns it may have edges, serving as paths, of not less than ten feet,
with the space between them sunken, so that steps are necessary in going
down from the edges a foot and a half to the plane, which plane should
be not less than twelve feet wide. Thus people walking round on the
edges will not be interfered with by the anointed who are exercising.
4. This kind of colonnade is called among the Greeks [Greek: xystos],
because athletes during the winter season exercise in covered running
tracks. Next to this "xystus" and to the double colonnade should be laid
out the uncovered walks which the Greeks term [Greek: paradromides] and
our people "xysta," into which, in fair weather during the winter, the
athletes come out from the "xystus" for exercise. The "xysta" ought to
be so constructed that there may be plantations between the two
colonnades, or groves of plane trees, with walks laid out in them among
the trees and resting places there, made of "opus signinum." Behind the
"xystus" a stadium, so designed that great numbers of people may have
plenty of room to look on at the contests between the athletes.
I have now described all that seemed necessary for the proper
arrangement of things within the city walls.
CHAPTER XII
HARBOURS, BREAKWATERS, AND SHIPYARDS
1. The subject of the usefulness of harbours is one which I must not
omit, but must explain by what means ships are sheltered in them from
storms. If their situation has natural advantages, with projecting capes
or promontories which curve or return inwards by their natural
conformation, such harbours are obviously of the greatest service. Round
them, of course, colonnades or shipyards must be built, or passages from
the colonnades to the business quarters, and towers must be set up on
both sides, from which chains can be drawn across by machinery.
2. But if we have a situation without natural advantages, and unfit to
shelter ships from storms, it is obvious that we must proceed as
follows. If there is no river in the neighbourhood, but if there can be
a roadstead on one side, then, let the advances be made from the other
side by means of walls or embankments, and let the enclosing harbour be
thus formed. Walls which are to be under water should be constructed as
follows. Take the powder which comes from the country extending from
Cumae to the promontory of Minerva, and mix it in the mortar trough in
the proportion of two to one.
3. Then, in the place previously determined, a cofferdam, with its sides
formed of oaken stakes with ties between them, is to be driven down into
the water and firmly propped there; then, the lower surface inside,
under the water, must be levelled off and dredged, working from beams
laid across; and finally, concrete from the mortar trough--the stuff
having been mixed as prescribed above--must be heaped up until the empty
space which was within the cofferdam is filled up by the wall. This,
however, is possessed as a gift of nature by such places as have been
described above.
But if by reason of currents or the assaults of the open sea the props
cannot hold the cofferdam together, then, let a platform of the greatest
possible strength be constructed, beginning on the ground itself or on a
substructure; and let the platform be constructed with a level surface
for less than half its extent, while the rest, which is close to the
beach, slopes down and out.
4. Then, on the water's edge and at the sides of the platform, let
marginal walls be constructed, about one and one half feet thick and
brought up to a level with the surface above mentioned; next, let the
sloping part be filled in with sand and levelled off with the marginal
wall and the surface of the platform. Then, upon this level surface
construct a block as large as is required, and when it is finished,
leave it for not less than two months to dry. Then, cut away the
marginal wall which supports the sand. Thus, the sand will be undermined
by the waves, and this will cause the block to fall into the sea. By
this method, repeated as often as necessary, an advance into the water
can be made.
5. But in places where this powder is not found, the following method
must be employed. A cofferdam with double sides, composed of charred
stakes fastened together with ties, should be constructed in the
appointed place, and clay in wicker baskets made of swamp rushes should
be packed in among the props. After this has been well packed down and
filled in as closely as possible, set up your water-screws, wheels, and
drums, and let the space now bounded by the enclosure be emptied and
dried. Then, dig out the bottom within the enclosure. If it proves to be
of earth, it must be cleared out and dried till you come to solid bottom
and for a space wider than the wall which is to be built upon it, and
then filled in with masonry consisting of rubble, lime, and sand.
6. But if the place proves to be soft, the bottom must be staked with
piles made of charred alder or olive wood, and then filled in with
charcoal as has been prescribed in the case of the foundations of
theatres and the city wall. Finally, build the wall of dimension stone,
with the bond stones as long as possible, so that particularly the
stones in the middle may be held together by the joints. Then, fill the