Samos,  Philolaus  and  Archytas  of  Tarentum,  Apollonius
of  Perga,  Eratosthenes  of  Cyrene,  Archimedes  and  Scopinas -
  of  Syracuse:  each  of  whom  wrote  on  all  the
sciences.  Since,  therefore,  few  men  are  thus  gifted,  and
yet  it  is  required  of  the  architect  to  be  generally  well
informed,  and  it  is  manifest  he  cannot  hope  to  excel  in
each  art,  1  beseech  you,  O  Cæsar,  and  those  who  read
this  my  work,  to  pardon  and  overlook  grammatical  er
rors;  for  1  write  neither  as  an  accomplished  philosopher,

an  eloquent  rhetorician,  nor  an  expert  grammarian,  but
as  an  architect  :  in  respect,  however,  of  my  art  and  its
principles,  I  will  lay  down  rules  which  may  serve  as  an
authority  to  those  who  build,  as  well  as  to  those  who  are
already  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  science.

CHAPTER  II.
OF  THOSE  THINGS  ON  WHICH  ARCHITECTURE
DEPENDS.
ARCHITECTURE  depends  on  fitness  (ordinatio)  and  arrangement -
  (dispositio),  the  former  being  called  ráéts,  in
Greek,  and  the  latter  àtáôegts  ;  it  also  depends  on  proportion, -
  uniformity,  consistency,  and  economy,  which  the
Greeks  call  oikovouta.  Fitness  is  the  adjustment  of  size

of  the  several  parts  to  their  several  uses,  and  requires
due  regard  to  the  general  proportions  of  the  fabric:  it
arises  out  of  dimension  (quantitas),  which  the  Greeks  call
rogórys.  Dimension  regulates  the  general  scale  of  the
work,  so  that  the  parts  may  all  tell  and  be  effective.
Arrangement  is  the  disposition  in  their  just  and  proper
places  of  all  the  parts  of  the  building,  and  the  pleasing
effect  of  the  same  ;  keeping  in  view  its  appropriate  character. -
  It  is  divisible  into  three  heads,  which,  considered

B  3