Vitruvius
Roman architect and engineer, author of De architectura
During the 1st century BC, a Roman engineer and architect named Vitruvius created the multi-volume work De architectura.[1] According to Vitruvius, every building must possess firmitas, utilitas, and venustas—which translate to "strength", "utility", and "beauty".[2] Vitruvius himself wrote that he served as an artilleryman, which was the third class of military offices in the Roman forces, though details of his life remain scarce.[3]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 80–70 BC
- Birthplace
- Roman Republic
- Died
- after 15 BC (aged 55–65)
- Occupation
- Author
- architect
- civil engineer
- military engineer
- Notable works
- De architectura
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He is the only source for the siege of Larignum in 56 BC.[4] Vitruvius is the author of De architectura, libri decem, known today as The Ten Books on Architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus.[5] The sole surviving work by Vitruvius, De Architectura, is the primary source for what scholars infer about him.[6] Scholars sometimes refer to him as "Marcus Vitruvius Pollio", but neither his praenomen nor his cognomen is firmly established.[6]
Different manuscript editions of De architectura record these names differently.[7] Augustus, acting through his sister Octavia Minor, later provided Vitruvius with support that likely took the form of a pension.[3] The basilica at Fanum Fortunae (modern Fano), finished in 19 BC, is the sole building Vitruvius is recorded as having worked on.[8]
What the cited sources add
The "Philosophy of Architecture" account notes that Vitruvius devises his normative account of the virtuous architect on the basis of his familiarity with then-contemporary practice.[9] The same source states that for Vitruvius the Ionic order connotes female sensibility.[9] The Project Gutenberg translation notes that Vitruvius was not a great literary personage, ambitious as he was to appear in that character.[10] The Vitruvius Project at Carnegie Mellon University describes him as the creator of the original engineering handbook and a first century BCE Roman architect.[11]
That project notes his writing is prescriptive and gives direct advice, and his advice was followed for centuries.[11] Venuti's account of Heraclea notes that Vitruvius, in the preamble to his first book, mentions Publius Minidius as one who assisted him in preparing catapults and scorpions.[12]
References
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Kruft, Hanno-Walter. A History of Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to the Present (New York, Princeton Architectural Press: 1994). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman art and architecture", 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: De Arch. Book 1, preface. section 2. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nichols, "Julius Caesar and the Larch: burning questions at Vitruvius' De Architectvra 2.9.15–16", The Classical Quarterly, 2024, p. 135–148; Julius Caesar, De bello Gallico 7.29 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vitruvius, Pollio (transl. Morris Hicky Morgan, 1960), The Ten Books on Architecture. Courier Dover Publications. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: John Oksanish, Vitruvian Man: Rome under Construction, Oxford UP (2019), p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 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 T (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Vitruvius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "New Scientist", New Scientist Careers Guide: The Employer Contacts Book for Scientists, November 2023, p. 552–; De Arch., Book V.i.6) but with link to English translation, accessed August 2008; Fausto Pugnaloni and Paolo Clini. "Vitruvius Basilica in Fano, Italy, journey through the virtual space of the reconstructed memory". GISdevelopment.net last ac (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Philosophy of Architecture", 2015. facts only, no text reused. plato.stanford.edu
- "Vitruvius The Ten Books On Architecture", The Project Gutenberg. facts only, no text reused. gutenberg.org
- The "Vitruvius Project". Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science Department. Retrieved 2008.. facts only, no text reused. cs.cmu.edu
- 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 T. facts only, no text reused. archive.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vitruvius (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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