d the choice is free, the temple and the statue placed in the
cella should face the western quarter of the sky. This will enable those
who approach the altar with offerings or sacrifices to face the
direction of the sunrise in facing the statue in the temple, and thus
those who are undertaking vows look toward the quarter from which the
sun comes forth, and likewise the statues themselves appear to be coming
forth out of the east to look upon them as they pray and sacrifice.

2. But if the nature of the site is such as to forbid this, then the
principle of determining the quarter should be changed, so that the
widest possible view of the city may be had from the sanctuaries of the
gods. Furthermore, temples that are to be built beside rivers, as in
Egypt on both sides of the Nile, ought, as it seems, to face the river
banks. Similarly, houses of the gods on the sides of public roads should
be arranged so that the passers-by can have a view of them and pay their
devotions face to face.

CHAPTER VI

THE DOORWAYS OF TEMPLES

1. For the doorways of temples and their casings the rules are as
follows, first determining of what style they are to be. The styles of
portals are Doric, Ionic, and Attic.

In the Doric, the symmetrical proportions are distinguished by the
following rules. Let the top of the corona, which is laid above the
casing, be on a level with the tops of the capitals of the columns in
the pronaos. The aperture of the doorway should be determined by
dividing the height of the temple, from floor to coffered ceiling, into
three and one half parts and letting two and one half[4] thereof
constitute the height of the aperture of the folding doors. Let this in
turn be divided into twelve parts, and let five and a half of these form
the width of the bottom of the aperture. At the top, this width should
be diminished, if the aperture is sixteen feet in height, by one third
the width of the door-jamb; if the aperture is from sixteen to
twenty-five feet, let the upper part of it be diminished by one quarter
of the jamb; if from twenty-five to thirty feet, let the top be
diminished by one eighth of the jamb. Other and higher apertures should,
as it seems, have their sides perpendicular.

[Note 4: Codd. _duae._]

2. Further, the jambs themselves should be diminished at the top by one
fourteenth of their width. The height of the lintel should be equivalent
to the width of the jambs at the top. Its cymatium o