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Vitruvius
Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: , , and ("strength", "utility", and "beauty"). These principles were later widely adopted in Roman architecture. His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing of the '' Vitruvian Man'' by Leonardo da Vinci. Little is known about Vitruvius' life, but by his own descriptionDe Arch. Book 1, preface. section 2. he served as an artilleryman, the third class of arms in the Roman military offices. He probably served as a senior officer of artillery in charge of ''doctores ballistarum'' (artillery experts) and ''libratores'' who actually operated the machines. As an army engineer he specialized in the construction of '' ballista'' and '' scorpio'' artillery war machines for siege ...
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De Architectura
(''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture. It contains a variety of information on Greek and Roman buildings, as well as prescriptions for the planning and design of military camps, cities, and structures both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). Since Vitruvius published before the development of cross vaulting, domes, concrete, and other innovations associated with Imperial Roman architecture, his ten books give no information on these hallmarks of Roman building design and technolo ...
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De Architectura
(''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture. It contains a variety of information on Greek and Roman buildings, as well as prescriptions for the planning and design of military camps, cities, and structures both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). Since Vitruvius published before the development of cross vaulting, domes, concrete, and other innovations associated with Imperial Roman architecture, his ten books give no information on these hallmarks of Roman building design and technolo ...
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Vitruvian Man
The ''Vitruvian Man'' ( it, L'uomo vitruviano; ) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . Inspired by the writings by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in both a circle and square. Described by the art historian Carmen C. Bambach as "justly ranked among the all-time iconic images of Western civilization," the work is a unique synthesis of artistic and scientific ideals and often considered an archetypal representation of the High Renaissance. The drawing represents Leonardo's conception of ideal body proportions, originally derived from Vitruvius but influenced by his own measurements, the drawings of his contemporaries, and the '' De pictura'' treatise by Leon Battista Alberti. Leonardo produced the ''Vitruvian Man'' in Milan and the work was probably passed to his student Francesco Melzi. It later came into the possessi ...
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Lucius Vitruvius Cordo
Lucius Vitruvius Cerdo was an ancient Roman architect active in Verona. His only known work is the Arco dei Gavi, a 1st-century arch in Verona, Italy. The arch is inscribed "Lucius Vitruvius Cerdo, a freedman of Lucius", which has led to Verona being suggested as the birthplace of the earlier and better-known architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute .... References 1st-century Romans Ancient Roman architects History of Verona Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Architects from Verona {{AncientRome-bio-stub ...
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Roman Architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Roman architecture flourished in the Roman Republic and to even a greater extent under the Empire, when the great majority of surviving buildings were constructed. It used new materials, particularly Roman concrete, and newer technologies such as the arch and the dome to make buildings that were typically strong and well-engineered. Large numbers remain in some form across the former empire, sometimes complete and still in use to this day. Roman architecture covers the period from the establishment of the Roman Republic in 509 BC to about the 4th century AD, after which it becomes reclassified as Late Antique or Byzantine architecture. Few substantial examples survive from before about 100 BC, and m ...
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Scorpio (dart-thrower)
The ''scorpio'' or scorpion was a type of Roman torsion siege engine and field artillery piece. It was described in detail by the early-imperial Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius in the 1st century BC and by the 4th century AD officer and historian Ammianus Marcellinus.Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Roman History'', XXIII:4. Design Two versions are known: a horizontal two-armed variety like a ballista and a one-armed, vertical version otherwise referred to as an ''onager''. The fourth century army officer and historian Ammianus Marcellinus witnessed the use of ''scorpiones'' during several engagements in the Persian wars of Constantius II, and described the one-armed version as synonymous with the ''onager'', with the vertical upraised arm as the 'scorpion's sting'. The complexity of construction and in particular the torsion springs (which the Romans referred to as ''tormenta'') led to great sensitivity to any variation in temperature or moisture, which limited their use. W ...
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Roman Siege Engines
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfareGoldsworthy 2000: 144 that brought them repeated success. Up to the first century BC, the Romans utilized siege weapons only as required and relied for the most part on ladders, towers and rams to assault a fortified town. ''Ballistae'' were also employed, but held no permanent place within a legion's roster, until later in the republic, and were used sparingly. Julius Caesar took great interest in the integration of advanced siege engines, organizing their use for optimal battlefield efficiency.Keppie 1984: 99 Army engineering corps To facilitate this organization and the army's self-sufficiency, an engineering corps was developed. An officer of engineers, or ''praefectus fabrum'', is referenced in armies of the late republic, but this post is not ...
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Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. He is considered the founder of Western cryptography, a claim he shares with Johannes Trithemius. Although he often is characterized exclusively as an architect, as James Beck has observed, "to single out one of Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow functionally independent and self-sufficient is of no help at all to any effort to characterize Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts". Although Alberti is known mostly for being an artist, he was also a mathematician of many sorts and made great advances to this field during the fifteenth century. The two most important buildings he designed are the churches of San Sebastiano (1460) and Sant'Andrea (1472), both in Mantua. Alberti's life was described in Giorgio Vasari's ' ...
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Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a "long Renaissance" may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century. The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages. However, the beginnings of the period – the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300 – overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages, conventiona ...
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Military Engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics behind military tactics. Modern military engineering differs from civil engineering. In the 20th and 21st centuries, military engineering also includes other engineering disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering techniques. According to NATO, "military engineering is that engineer activity undertaken, regardless of component or service, to shape the physical operating environment. Military engineering incorporates support to maneuver and to the force as a whole, including military engineering functions such as engineer support to force protection, counter-improvised explosive devices, environmental protection, engineer intelligence and military search. Military engineering does not encompass the activities undertaken by th ...
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Marcus Cetius Faventinus
Marcus Cetius Faventinus was a Roman author on architecture active in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD. He wrote a handbook based mainly on earlier authors, especially Vitruvius. It was intended mainly for private builders. Its original title was ''Artis architectonicae privatis usibus adbreviatus liber'' ('abridged book of the art of architecture for private uses'), but is now more commonly known as ''De diversis fabricis architectonicae''. It was used by the agricultural writer Palladius and by the encyclopaedist Isidore of Seville. It was also known by Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul .... There is a modern English translation with a facing Latin edition. Notes Bibliography * * * {{refend 3rd-century Romans 4th-century Romans 3rd-cent ...
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Poggio Bracciolini
Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classical Latin manuscripts, mostly decaying and forgotten in German, Swiss, and French monastic libraries. His most celebrated finds are '' De rerum natura'', the only surviving work by Lucretius, '' De architectura'' by Vitruvius, lost orations by Cicero such as '' Pro Sexto Roscio'', Quintilian's '' Institutio Oratoria'', Statius' '' Silvae'', and Silius Italicus's '' Punica'', as well as works by several minor authors such as Frontinus' '' De aquaeductu'', Ammianus Marcellinus’ ''Res Gestae'' (''Rerum gestarum Libri XXXI''), Nonius Marcellus, Probus, Flavius Caper, and Eutyches. Birth and education Poggio di Guccio (the surname Bracciolini added during his career) was born near Arezzo in Tuscany, in the village of Terranuova, ...
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