The Ten Books on Architecture, 3.0.4

Vitruvius  translated by Joseph Gwilt

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4In the first book, O Emperor, I laid before you an explanation of the art, its requisites, and the learning an architect should possess, and I added the reasons why he should possess them. I also divided it into different branches and defined them: then, because chiefest and most necessary, I have explained the proper method of setting out the walls of a city, and obtaining a healthy site for it, and have exhibited in diagrams, the winds, and quarters whence they blow. I have shewn the best methods of laying out the streets and lanes, and thus completed the first book. In the second book I have analysed the nature and qualities of the materials used in building, and adverted to the purposes to which they are best adapted. In this third book I shall speak of the sacred temples of the immortal gods, and explain them particularly.

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