ABSTRACT
Roman architects worked for the army, the civil service or were in private practice. Many were former slaves or Greeks, as Pliny the Younger notes (Letters, 10.40). We possess a good deal of background evidence about them as well as an entire treatise on the subject, written by Vitruvius in about 23 BC. Amongst other things he explains how a Roman architect drew up plans, elevations and shaded perspective drawings of his buildings. A skilled draughtsman, he says, ought to be able to produce coloured drawings 'to convey an impression of the work which he proposes'. He goes on:
Geometry, also, is a great help in architecture. It teaches us the use of the rule and compasses, and facilitates the layout and planning of buildings by the use of the set-squares, the level and the plumbline. Moreover by means of optics the light in buildings can be correctly drawn from fixed quarters of the sky. Also it is by arithmetic that the total cost of buildings is calculated and measurements are computed, and difficult questions of symmetry are solved by means of geometrical theories and methods.
