« Vitr. 6.7 | Vitr. 6.7 | Vitr. 6.8 | About This Work »
5Between the peristylium and the lodging rooms are passages, which are called Mesaulæ, from their situation between two aulæ (halls). By us these are called Andrones. But it is remarkable that this appellation seems to suit neither the Greek nor Latin terms. For the Greeks call the oeci, in which male guests are entertained, ἀνδρῶνες, because the women do not enter them. There are other discrepancies similar to this, as the xystus, prothyrum, telamones, and others of that sort: ξυστὸς, in Greek means a portico of large dimensions, in which athletæ exercise in the winter season: we, on the contrary, call by the name of xysti those open walks which the Greeks call περιδρόμιδες. The vestibule in front of a house, by the gates, is called prothyrum by the Greeks; we, however, give the name of prothyrum to that which the Greeks call διάθυρον (diathyrum).
« Vitr. 6.7 | Vitr. 6.7 | Vitr. 6.8 | About This Work »