I request, Caesar, both of you and of those who
may read the said books, that if anything is set forth with too little
regard for grammatical rule, it may be pardoned. For it is not as a very
great philosopher, nor as an eloquent rhetorician, nor as a grammarian
trained in the highest principles of his art, that I have striven to
write this work, but as an architect who has had only a dip into those
studies. Still, as regards the efficacy of the art and the theories of
it, I promise and expect that in these volumes I shall undoubtedly show
myself of very considerable importance not only to builders but also to
all scholars.

CHAPTER II

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

1. Architecture depends on Order (in Greek [Greek: taxis]), Arrangement
(in Greek [Greek: diathesis]), Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and
Economy (in Greek [Greek: oikonomia]).

2. Order gives due measure to the members of a work considered
separately, and symmetrical agreement to the proportions of the whole.
It is an adjustment according to quantity (in Greek [Greek: posotes]).
By this I mean the selection of modules from the members of the work
itself and, starting from these individual parts of members,
constructing the whole work to correspond. Arrangement includes the
putting of things in their proper places and the elegance of effect
which is due to adjustments appropriate to the character of the work.
Its forms of expression (Greek [Greek: ideai]) are these: groundplan,
elevation, and perspective. A groundplan is made by the proper
successive use of compasses and rule, through which we get outlines for
the plane surfaces of buildings. An elevation is a picture of the front
of a building, set upright and properly drawn in the proportions of the
contemplated work. Perspective is the method of sketching a front with
the sides withdrawing into the background, the lines all meeting in the
centre of a circle. All three come of reflexion and invention. Reflexion
is careful and laborious thought, and watchful attention directed to the
agreeable effect of one's plan. Invention, on the other hand, is the
solving of intricate problems and the discovery of new principles by
means of brilliancy and versatility. These are the departments belonging
under Arrangement.

3. Eurythmy is beauty and fitness in the adjustments of the members.
This is found when the members of a work are of a height suited to their
breadth, of a breadth suited t