‹‹‹ Vitr. 2.8.16 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 2.8.18 ›››
17The public laws forbid a greater thickness than one foot and a half to be given to walls that abut on a public way, and the other walls, to prevent loss of room, are not built thicker. Now brick walls, unless of the thickness of two or three bricks, at all events of at least one foot and a half, are not fit to carry more than one floor, so that from the great population of the city innumerable houses would be required. Since, therefore, the area it occupies would not in such case contain the number to be accommodated, it became absolutely necessary to gain in height that which could not be obtained on the plan. Thus by means of stone piers or walls of burnt bricks or unsquared stones, which were tied together by the timbers of the several floors, they obtained in the upper story excellent dining rooms. The Roman people by thus multiplying the number of stories in their houses are commodiously lodged.
17The laws of the state forbid that walls abutting on public property should be more than a foot and a half thick. The other walls are built of the same thickness in order to save space. Now brick walls, unless two or three bricks thick, cannot support more than one story; certainly not if they are only a foot and a half in thickness. But with the present importance of the city and the unlimited numbers of its population, it is necessary to increase the number of dwelling-places indefinitely. Consequently, as the ground floors could not admit of so great a number living in the city, the nature of the case has made it necessary to find relief by making the buildings high. In these tall piles reared with piers of stone, walls of burnt brick, and partitions of rubble work, and provided with floor after floor, the upper stories can be partitioned off into rooms to very great advantage. The accommodations within the city walls being thus multiplied as a result of the many floors high in the air, the Roman people easily find excellent places in which to live.