ABSTRACT
The basic definition of architecture framed bythe ancient Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c. 90-c. 20 BCE), in about 25 BCE, has never been improved upon. However, Vitruvius noted that architecture had been the subject of critical writing long before his time. Several Greek architects compiled books on their profession during the centuries before the Common Era, leading up to the text written by Vitruvius. He listed sixtythree Greek and Roman books on architecture that he consulted, some dating back to the fourth century BCE.1 Sadly, with time and periodic upheavals, both natural and human-caused, all but the treatise by Vitruvius himself have been lost. Consequently, his sole surviving book has carried extraordinary importance for Western architecture.
