‹‹‹ Vitr. 6.3.7 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 6.3.9 ›››
8The length of a triclinium is to be double its breadth. The height of all oblong rooms is thus regulated: add their length and breadth together, of which take one half, and it will give the dimension of the height. If, however, exedræ or oeci are square, their height is equal to once and a half their width. Pinacothecæ (picture rooms), as well as exedræ, should be of large dimensions. The Corinthian tetrastyle and Egyptian oeci (halls) are to be proportioned similarly to the triclinia, as above described; but inasmuch as columns are used in them, they are built of larger dimensions.
8Dining rooms ought to be twice as long as they are wide. The height of all oblong rooms should be calculated by adding together their measured length and width, taking one half of this total, and using the result for the height. But in the case of exedrae or square oeci, let the height be brought up to one and one half times the width. Picture galleries, like exedrae, should be constructed of generous dimensions. Corinthian and tetrastyle oeci, as well as those termed Egyptian, should have the same symmetrical proportions in width and length as the dining rooms described above, but, since they have columns in them, their dimensions should be ampler.