130 quotes
Thus by such victory, not by machines but in oppositions to the principle to the principles of machines, has the freedom of states been preserved by the cunning of architects.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
Basilicas should be constructed on a site adjoining the forum and in the warmest possible quarter, so that in winter business men may gather in them without being troubled by the weather.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
In the midst of all this great variety of subjects, an individual cannot attain to perfection in each, because it is scarcely in his power to take in and comprehend the general theories of them.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
Altars should face the east, and should always be placed on a lower level than are the statues in the temples, so that those who are praying and sacrificing may look upwards towards the divinity.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
From astronomy we find the east, west, south, and north, as well as the theory of the heavens, the equinox, solstice, and courses of the stars. If one has no knowledge of these matters, he will not be able to have any comprehension of the theory of sundials.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
" the gravity of a substance depends not on the amount of its weight, but on its nature. "
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
The hornbeam... is not a wood that breaks easily and is very convenient to handle.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
It is no secret that the moon has no light of her own, but is, as it were, a mirror, receiving brightness from the influence of the sun.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
For we must not build temples according to the same rules to all gods alike, since the performance of the sacred rites varies with the various gods.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
If the city is on the sea, we should choose ground close to the harbor as the place where the forum is to be built; but if inland, in the middle of the town.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
Bedrooms and libraries ought to have an eastern exposure, because their purposes require the morning light, and also because books in such libraries will not decay.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
The moon makes her circuit of the heaven in twenty-eight days plus about an hour, and with her return to the sign from which she set forth, completes a lunar month.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
At Jaffa in Syria and among the Nomads in Arabia, are lakes of enormous size that yield very large masses of asphalt, which are carried off by the inhabitants thereabouts.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
There are also in some places springs which have the peculiarity of giving fine singing voices to the natives, as at Tarsus in Magnesia and in other countries of that kind.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
The third order, called Corinthian, is an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of prettier effects in the way of adornment.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
In felling a tree we should cut into the trunk of it to the very heart, and then leave it standing so that the sap may drain out drop by drop throughout the whole of it.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
As for Mars, when that divinity is enshrined outside the walls, the citizens will never take up arms against each other, and he will defend the city from its enemies and save it from danger in war.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
"For not all things are practicable on identical principles,"
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)
If then, at this great distance, our human vision can discern that sight, why, pray, are we to think that the divine splendor of the stars can be cast into darkness?
De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (-15)