The Ten Books on Architecture
Antistates, Callaeschrus, Antimachides, and Pormus laid the foundations
when Peisistratus began the temple of Olympian Jove, but after his death
they abandoned the undertaking, on account of political troubles. Hence
it was that when, about four hundred years later, King Antiochus
promised to pay the expenses of that work, the huge cella, the
surrounding columns in dipteral arrangement, and the architraves and
other ornaments, adjusted according to the laws of symmetry, were nobly
constructed with great skill and supreme knowledge by Cossutius, a
citizen of Rome. Moreover, this work has a name for its grandeur, not
only in general, but also among the select few.
16. There are, in fact, four places possessing temples embellished with
workmanship in marble that causes them to be mentioned in a class by
themselves with the highest renown. To their great excellence and the
wisdom of their conception they owe their place of esteem in the
ceremonial worship of the gods. First there is the temple of Diana at
Ephesus, in the Ionic style, undertaken by Chersiphron of Gnosus and his
son Metagenes, and said to have been finished later by Demetrius, who
was himself a slave of Diana, and by Paeonius the Milesian. At Miletus,
the temple of Apollo, also Ionic in its proportions, was the undertaking
of the same Paeonius and of the Ephesian Daphnis. At Eleusis, the cella
of Ceres and Proserpine, of vast size, was completed to the roof by
Ictinus in the Doric style, but without exterior columns and with plenty
of room for the customary sacrifices.
17. Afterwards, however, when Demetrius of Phalerum was master of
Athens, Philo set up columns in front before the temple, and made it
prostyle. Thus, by adding an entrance hall, he gave the initiates more
room, and imparted the greatest dignity to the building. Finally, in
Athens, the temple of the Olympion with its dimensions on a generous
scale, and built in the Corinthian style and proportions, is said to
have been constructed, as written above, by Cossutius, no commentary by
whom has been found. But Cossutius is not the only man by whom we should
like to have writings on our subject. Another is Gaius Mucius, who,
having great knowledge on which to rely, completed the cella, columns,
and entablature of the Marian temple of Honour and Valour, in
symmetrical proportions according to the accepted rules of the art. If
this building had been of marble, so that besides the refinement of its
art it possessed the dignity coming from magnificence and great outlay,
it would be reckoned among the first and greatest of works.
18. Since it appears, then, that our architects in the old days, and a
good many even in our own times, have been as great as those of the
Greeks, and nevertheless only a few of them have published treatises, I
resolved not to be silent, but to treat the different topics
methodically in different books. Hence, since I have given an account of
private houses in the sixth book, in this, which is the seventh in
order, I shall treat of polished finishings and the methods of giving
them both beauty and durability.
CHAPTER I
FLOORS
1. First I shall begin with the concrete flooring, which is the most
important of the polished finishings, observing that great pains and the
utmost precaution must be taken to ensure its durability. If this
concrete flooring is to be laid level with the ground, let the soil be
tested to see whether it is everywhere solid, and if it is, level it off
and upon it lay the broken stone with its bedding. But if the floor is
either wholly or partly filling, it should be rammed down hard with
great care. In case a wooden framework is used, however, we must see
that no wall which does not reach up to the top of the house is
constructed under the floor. Any wall which is there should preferably
fall short, so as to leave the wooden planking above it an unsupported
span. If a wall comes up solid, the unyielding nature of its solid
structure must, when the joists begin to dry, or to sag and settle, lead
to cracks in the floor on the right and left along the line of wall.
2. We must also be careful that no common oak gets in with the winter
oak boards, for as soon as common oak boards get damp, they warp and
cause cracks in floors. But if there is no winter oak, and necessity
drives, for lack of this it seems advisable to use common oak boards cut
pretty thin; for the less thick they are, the more easily they can be
held in place by being nailed on. Then, at the ends of every joist, nail
on two boards so that they shall not be able to warp and stick up at the
edges. As for Turkey oak or beech or ash, none of them can last to a
great age.
When the wooden planking is finished, cover it with fern, if there is
any, otherwise with straw, to protect the wood from being hurt by the
lime.
3. Then, upon this lay the bedding, composed of stones not smaller than
can fill the hand. After the bedding is laid, mix the broken stone in
the proportions, if it is new, of three parts to one of lime; if it is
old material used again, five parts may answer to two in the mixture.
Next, lay the mixture of broken stone, bring on your gangs, and beat it
again and again with wooden beetles into a solid mass, and let it be not
less than three quarters of a foot in thickness when the beating is
finished. On this lay the nucleus, consisting of pounded tile mixed with
lime in the proportions of three parts to one, and forming a layer not
less than six digits thick. On top of the nucleus, the floor, whether
made of cut slips or of cubes, should be well and truly laid by rule and
level.
4. After it is laid and set at the proper inclination, let it be rubbed
down so that, if it consists of cut slips, the lozenges, or triangles,
or squares, or hexagons may not stick up at different levels, but be all
jointed together on the same plane with one another; if it is laid in
cubes, so that all the edges may be level; for the rubbing down will not
be properly finished unless all the edges are on the same level plane.
The herring-bone pattern, made of Tibur burnt brick, must also be
carefully finished, so as to be without gaps or ridges sticking up, but
all flat and rubbed down to rule. When the rubbing down is completely
finished by means of the smoothing and polishing processes, sift
powdered marble on top, and lay on a coating of lime and sand.
5. In the open air, specially adapted kinds of floors must be made,
because their framework, swelling with dampness, or shrinking from
dryness, or sagging and settling, injures the floors by these changes;
besides, the frost and rime will not let them go unhurt. Hence, if
necessity drives, we must proceed as follows in order to make them as
free from defects as possible. After finishing the plank flooring, lay a
second plank flooring over it at right angles, and nail it down so as to
give double protection to the framework. Then, mix with new broken stone
one third the quantity of pounded tile, and let lime be added to the
mixture in the mortar trough in the proportion of two parts to five.
6. Having made the bedding, lay on this mixture of broken stone, and
let it be not less than a foot thick when the beating is finished. Then,
after laying the nucleus, as above described, construct the floor of
large cubes cut about two digits each way, and let it have an
inclination of two digits for every ten feet. If it is well put together
and properly rubbed down, it will be free from all flaws. In order that
the mortar in the joints may not suffer from frosts, drench it with
oil-dregs every year before winter begins. Thus treated, it will not let
the hoarfrost enter it.
7. If, however, it seems needful to use still greater care, lay two-foot
tiles, jointed together in a bed of mortar, over the broken stone, with
little channels of one finger's breadth cut in the faces of all the
joints. Connect these channels and fill them with a mixture of lime and
oil; then, rub the joints hard and make them compact. Thus, the lime
sticking in the channels will harden and solidify into a mass, and so
prevent water or anything else from penetrating through the joints.
After this layer is finished, spread the nucleus upon it, and work it
down by beating it with rods. Upon this lay the floor, at the
inclination above described, either of large cubes or burnt brick in
herring-bone pattern, and floors thus constructed will not soon be
spoiled.
CHAPTER II
THE SLAKING OF LIME FOR STUCCO
1. Leaving the subject of floors, we must next treat of stucco work.
This will be all right if the best lime, taken in lumps, is slaked a
good while before it is to be used, so that if any lump has not been
burned long enough in the kiln, it will be forced to throw off its heat
during the long course of slaking in the water, and will thus be
thoroughly burned to the same consistency. When it is taken not
thoroughly slaked but fresh, it has little crude bits concealed in it,
and so, when applied, it blisters. When such bits complete their slaking
after they are on the building, they break up and spoil the smooth
polish of the stucco.
2. But when the proper attention has been paid to the slaking, and
greater pains have thus been employed in the preparation for the work,
take a hoe, and apply it to the slaked lime in the mortar bed just as
you hew wood. If it sticks to the hoe in bits, the lime is not yet
tempered; and when the iron is drawn out dry and clean, it will show
that the lime is weak and thirsty; but when the lime is rich and
properly slaked, it will stick to the tool like glue, proving that it is
completely tempered. Then get the scaffolding ready, and proceed to
construct the vaultings in the rooms, unless they are to be decorated
with flat coffered ceilings.
CHAPTER III
VAULTINGS AND STUCCO WORK
1. When vaulting is required, the procedure should be as follows. Set up
horizontal furring strips at intervals of not more than two feet apart,
using preferably cypress, as fir is soon spoiled by decay and by age.
Arrange these strips so as to form a curve, and make them fast to the
joists of the floor above or to the roof, if it is there, by nailing
them with many iron nails to ties fixed at intervals. These ties should
be made of a kind of wood that neither decay nor time nor dampness can
spoil, such as box, juniper, olive, oak, cypress, or any other similar
wood except common oak; for this warps, and causes cracks in work in
which it is used.
2. Having arranged the furring strips, take cord made of Spanish broom,
and tie Greek reeds, previously pounded flat, to them in the required
contour. Immediately above the vaulting spread some mortar made of lime
and sand, to check any drops that may fall from the joists or from the
roof. If a supply of Greek reed is not to be had, gather slender marsh
reeds, and make them up with silk cord into bundles all of the same
thickness and adjusted to the proper length, provided that the bundles
are not more than two feet long between any two knots. Then tie them
with cord to the beams, as above described, and drive wooden pegs into
them. Make all the other preparations as above described.
3. Having thus set the vaultings in their places and interwoven them,
apply the rendering coat to their lower surface; then lay on the sand
mortar, and afterwards polish it off with the powdered marble. After the
vaultings have been polished, set the impost mouldings directly beneath
them. These obviously ought to be made extremely slender and delicate,
for when they are large, their weight carries them down, and they cannot
support themselves. Gypsum should by no means be used in their
composition, but powdered marble should be laid on uniformly, lest