62 Explōrātiō Tertia Decima (XIII) Adventure Thirteen
Vitruvius, dē Architectūrā, About Architecture Neuter Nouns of the 3rd and 4th Declensions The Demonstrative Adjective is ea id
Mōns Quirīnālis, Rōma Mēnsis November
L. Viniciō C. Fonteiō Capitōne cōnsulibus
T
Quirinal Hill, Rome November, 33 BCE
he sky loomed grey and foggy the next morning as we ascended a winding dirt road in the city of Rome. Our destination was a cluster of residential compounds located on one of the Seven Hills, the Collis Quirinalis, or Quirinal Hill, in the north end of the city.
Looking back at the street below, I saw it littered with stones and burnt-out torches; one especially ugly spot, where blood had been shed, was busy with flies. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, and made me eager to get to higher ground, out of sight. I caught up to Latinitas, who was moving briskly and talking in a constant stream:
“Ever since the death of Brutus and Cassius, Caesar’s assassins – who committed suicide six years ago after being defeated in battle by Marc Antony and Octavian – there has been peace in Rome, but little justice. The triumvirs Octavian and Antony pushed out Lepidus and divided up the empire among them. Octavian now commands the western portion of the Empire, including Rome, while Antony has set himself up as the emperor of the east. Each man has his loyalists, but neither commands a loyal majority of the armies or people of Rome. There have been food shortages in the city – the riots last night started as protests over the high cost of grain – and it’s not at all clear right now who will emerge the winner.”
“This is our destination: the house of Atticus, Cicero’s friend,” Latinitas informed me as we slipped past a guard slumbering at the gate. “Octavian is staying here temporarily to avoid the riots, which tend to start further downtown. He is accompanied by his most capable general, Agrippa, and his sister, Octavia. This morning they are meeting with the usual assortment of individuals who seek audiences with powerful men – suppliants, opportunists, informants, double-agents, and the occasional new and useful ally. The man you see being led into the garden now is a job-seeker named Vitruvius.”
We slipped into an empty bedroom to watch the interview take place. Vitruvius stepped slowly into the garden and bowed his head forward to acknowledge the trio. In the center sat Octavian, a young man of 30. He was not very imposing physically, but he had a great deal of skepticism and intensity in his eyes, like an old spymaster. Agrippa had a soldier’s bearing and gave the impression of a man who had never laughed once in his entire life. Only Octavia brought some warmth to the scene, seeming mildly bemused.
“You built artillery for my father in Gaul?” Octavian asked Vitruvius.
“Yes, for Julius Caesar, a great man. I built for him catapults, rams, bridges, forts, fortifications, carriages, sundials, and waterpipes, and have also designed a new basilica for the town of Fanum Fortunae, which, however, the present troubles have made it impossible to start work on.”
“Agrippa, do we need a man who can build catapults and the like?”
“Marc Antony spends his days in Alexandria, where the talent for making such things is deep.” “I see. Now tell me, good man: you have a lazy eye, a clubfoot, and a tremor in your left arm.
The Epicureans, like the Stoics, teach that the soul is diffused throughout the body, relies on it,
and suffers along with it. If these qualities of the body hinder your motions, do they not also hamper your powers of mind?”
“Very wise are the teachers you name, imperātor, wise indeed. But I will tell you another story. When Alexander the Great was conquering the world, the architect Dinocrates, trusting in his ideas and ingenuity, set out from Macedonia for the army, desiring a royal commission. He carried letters from relatives and friends written to distinguished men of rank that were designed to ease his way; after receiving a generous welcome, he asked that he be taken to Alexander as soon as possible. Although they promised, the men were rather slow, and kept claiming that the moment was not right. So Dinocrates, who thought that he was being toyed with, looked to his own self for help. He was of very ample height, with a pleasant face, handsomeness, and the utmost dignity. Putting his trust in these natural gifts, he left his clothes at the guest-house, rubbed down his body with olive oil, crowned his head with poplar leaves, and covered his left shoulder with a lion skin. Then, taking a club in his right hand, he marched straight into the court of the king as he was announcing verdicts.”
“Like Hercules,” Octavia said, and Vitruvius nodded.
“When this strange sight distracted the people, Alexander took notice of him. His gaze full of wonder, he ordered that space be given to him, to let the man through, and asked who he was.
‘The architect Dinocrates of Macedon,’ he replied; ‘I bring projects and designs worthy of your great reputation. For I have a design to make Mount Athos into a statue of a man: in his left hand I have drawn the walls of a sizeable city, and in his right a shallow bowl, which will receive water from all the streams on the mountain and pour it from there into the sea.’”
“Alexander, who was delighted by the idea of the design, asked at once if there was land nearby which could supply the city with a suitable amount of grain. When he found out that it would be impossible without using shipments from across the sea, he said, “Dinocrates, I appreciate the spectacular composition of your design and find it charming. But I also notice that anyone who established a settlement on that site would find people criticizing his judgment. For just as a
new-born infant cannot be nourished or enter its first stage of growth without a nurse’s milk, so a city without land and the fruits of that land cannot grow inside its generous walls; it will have no population without an abundance of food, and without resources it will not preserve its people.
Thus, as much I think your design should be approved, I would say that the location cannot be approved. But I want you to be with me, because I will make use of your work.”
“After that Dinocrates did not leave the king’s side and followed him to Egypt. There, when Alexander noticed that there was a naturally safe port and a wonderful trading post, that fields all over Egypt were full of grain and that the advantages of the massive Nile river were huge, he ordered Dinocrates to build a city there with his name – Alexandria.”
“Thus Dinocrates arrived at such fame after being recommended by his face and the dignity of his body. But as for me, imperātor, nature has not afforded me much height, time has deformed my face, and ill-health has diminished my strength. So, because I have been abandoned by such assistants, it is through the aid of my knowledge and writings that, I hope, I will win through to a commission.”
“You seem to be rather more learned than the ordinary craftsman,” Octavia observed.
“I am, o sister of Caesar, that I am; and I have a mind, someday, when the bite of poverty is no longer so sharp, to compose a book about such things and others.”
“To read this book would please me very much. You will write it whenever Jupiter gives you leisure.”
“Go, now, and be well,” Octavian concluded. “If you become one of our friends, the fact will not escape your notice.”
Vitruvius turned and walked away, supporting himself with the help of a servant and a straight walking stick, which, as he passed, we saw was marked with common Roman measures: the
cubitum, or cubit, 1 ½ feet long; the pēs, or foot; and the digitus, or finger, equal to 1/16 of a foot. To judge from his age and the look on his face, Vitruvius’ aged assistant had been with him a very long time.
We walked back outside and sat down next to some peacocks as streams of fog tumbled through the trees above us.
“Patronage is one of the institutions that holds Roman society together, just as it does in other communities around the Mediterranean. Every senator, knight, or man of great wealth has a small army of allies who perform various tasks for him. For their efforts they’re rewarded with gifts or grants of money – often very large gifts, delivered after a major service, and not set by any kind of contract. Patrons and clients refer to each other as ‘friends’, but you can tell who has the real power; a client, as a dependent, is always somewhat less free.”
“Ambitious men like Pompey, Caesar, Antony, and Octavian are well aware that the Romans hate the idea of be ruled by a king and pride themselves on their so-called ‘freedom’. The practice of patronage offers them another way to be in charge. Although they have king-like powers in practice, they do so outside of the regular institutions of government, by being the super-patron of the entire Roman people, including the ruling class.”
When she was done with her lecture Latinitas had me practice reading the Latin from a copy of Vitruvius’ dē Architectūra that she had brought along. It was a beautifully illustrated modern edition, with diagrams clarifying Vitruvius’ descriptions of the ideal proportions for temples and other buildings. I read it and then we turned to more grammar.