‹‹‹ Vitr. 6.3.4 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 6.3.6 ›››
5The muniment-room (tablinum), if the width of the atrium be twenty feet, is to be two thirds thereof. If from thirty to forty feet wide, one half is assigned to the tablinum.From forty to sixty feet, the width is divided into five parts, and two given to the tablinum. The proportions of small atria cannot be the same as those of large ones; for if the proportions of the smaller be used in the greater, the tablinum, as well as the alæ, would be inconvenient: and if those of the larger be used in the smaller, their parts would be large and clumsy. I therefore thought it right to describe, with precision, their respective proportions, so that they might be both commodious and beautiful.
5The tablinum should be given two thirds of the width of the atrium when the latter is twenty feet wide. If it is from thirty to forty feet, let half the width of the atrium be devoted to the tablinum. When it is from forty to sixty feet, divide the width into five parts and let two of these be set apart for the tablinum. In the case of smaller atriums, the symmetrical proportions cannot be the same as in larger. For if, in the case of the smaller, we employ the proportion that belong to the larger, both tablina and alae must be unserviceable, while if, in the case of the larger, we employ the proportions of the smaller, the rooms mentioned will be huge monstrosities. Hence, I have thought it best to describe exactly their respective proportionate sizes, with a view both to convenience and to beauty.