_Of Publick Places_, Basilica's, Theatres, Gates, Baths
_and_ Academies.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 1._]
The Third Sort of _Publick Fabricks_ are those which are Built for the
Convenience and Use of all People; and there are Six Sorts of them, viz.
_Market-Places_, _Basilica's_, _Theatres_, _Gates_, _Baths_ and
_Academies_.
The _Market-Places_ among the _Greeks_ were surrounded with Pillars
close one against another. Among the _Romans_, the Pillars which
environed the _Market-Places_, had larger Intercolumniations, for they
made _Peristyles_, under which were Shops.
The Proportion of the _Market-Places_ was so ordered, that having
divided the length into three parts, they allowed two for the breadth;
the _Basilica's_ had never less breadth than the third part of their
length, nor more than the half.
The Pillars were as high as the Isles or Wings were broad, and these
Isles or Wings had a third part of the great Vault in the middle.
There was likewise a Second rank of Pillars upon the Wings, which made
high Galleries, and these Second rank of Pillars were placed upon a
_Pedestal_ in the form of a Partition, high enough to hinder those that
were in the high Galleries from being seen by those that were below.
At the End of every _Basilica_, there was a high and great Hall called
_Chalcidiques_, which were joyned one to another by high Galleries:
they served the Spectators while Justice was distributed.
The _Theaters_ were composed of three parts, _viz._ The Steps or
Degrees, which were instead of Seats for the Spectators: they were
disposed in a Semi-circle, and they closed a void space in the middle
and at the bottom of the whole _Theater_, which was called the
_Orchestra_.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 6._]
The _Orchestra_ was made in the _Graecian Theatre_, to Dance the Ballets.
The Senators were placed in that of the _Romans_, because the Ballets
were Danced upon the Scene.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 6._]
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 6._]
Above and quite round the Steps or Degrees was a _Portico_ of Pillars,
the Steps being separated by divers _Palliers_ or Landing and Resting
places which went round, and by streight passages which went ascending
from one _Palliere_ or Landing place to another; so that the ways which
led from the second _Palliere_ to the third, parted betwixt those of the
first, and ended betwixt those of the third. The Steps or Degrees were
14 or 15 Inches high, and from 28 to 30 broad.
Under the Degrees, above every _Palliere_, there were in the great
_Theaters_ 13 _Chambers_, in which were Vessels of Brass, set to several
Tunes, or Tones; which by their Echo augmented the Voice of the Players.
The Scene or Stage, was composed of the _Pulpit_, the _Proscenium_ and
the _Parascenium_. The _Pulpit_ was the place where the Actors played:
it was raised not above five Foot at the most above the _Orchestra_, or
_Pit_.
The _Proscenium_ was the Front of the Stage, which was adorned with
Pillars of several sorts one above another. These Orders were so
proportioned, that the second was a fourth part lesser than the first.
The third diminishing according to the same Proportion.
The Front had three Gates, that in the middle which was the greatest was
called the _Royal Gate_, the two others were called the _Gates of
Strangers_.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5._]
These three Gates were closed with Machines, made in a Triangle, and
composed of three Fronts or Faces well Painted, to represent Buildings
in Perspective; they served for the changing of the Scenes, when these
Machines were turned. And the Paintings represented three sorts of
Buildings, which made three sorts of Scenes, _viz._ The _Tragick_ by
_Magnificent Pallaces_, the _Comick_ by _Private Houses_, the
_Satyrical_ (_i. e._ the _Pastoral_) by _Fields_ and _Groves_.
The _Parascenium_ or _Postscenium_ was the hinder part of the _Theater_,
and the place whither the Actors retired and dressed themselves, and had
their Rehearsals, and where the Machines were kept. Near the _Theaters_,
were Publick Walks, in length a _Stadium_, which is about 90 _Perches_.
There were Trees planted, and round about it were double _Porticos_,
which were every one as broad as the Pillars on the out-side were high;
for those within were higher by a fifth part, than those without, and
they were likewise of a different _Order_; for those without were of the
_Dorick Order_, and those within of the _Ionick_ or _Corinthian_.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 13._]
The Ancients built their _Ports_ in two manners; at those which were
_Natural_, they only made _Portico's_ round about with _Magazines_ and
_Towers_ at the Ends, for to shut the _Port_ with a Chain.
Those which were _Artificial_, were built three several ways: The first
was to make Partitions of Wood only, without emptying the Water which
was within the Partitions, and they cast into the Partitions, Stone and
Mortar made with _Pozzolana_, thrown in hand over head; for they were
certain that this Mortar wou'd grow dry in the bottom of the Water. The
second Way was by making Partitions with ordinary Clay, or fat Earth at
the bottom of the Sea, after the Water had been emptied out by Pumps.
The third Way was to build a Mole upon the Sea-Coast, and to cast it in
when the _Mason's_ Work was sufficiently dry, which only required two
Months time. That they might the better throw these Moles into the Sea,
they built them half upon the Sea-Coast, and half upon an heap of Sand
which they made close to the Sea-Coast; to the end, that this Sand which
was stopped by nothing but by the Walls, built only to support it during
the time that the Mole was a drying, might let it fall when the Sea came
to carry away the Sand after that the Walls were beaten down.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 5. Chap. 10._]
The _Bathes_ of the Ancients consisted of many Chambers; some for Men,
and some for Women.
Some of the Chambers had a moderate Heat, to warm their Bodies
insensibly, and prepare them for a stronger Heat to make them Sweat.
The Chamber they were to Sweat in, was called _Laconicum_, and was
round, and Vaulted like the ends of an Oven, pierced at the top with a
round Opening, which was opened and shut with a Buckler of Brass, which
hung at a Chain, by which means they augmented or diminished the Heat
according to the Proportion that they pull'd up, or let down the
Buckler.
One and the same Furnace heated both the Air and the Water, according to
the Disposition of the places which were nearer or further from the
Furnace, whose heat was communicated to the Chambers from under the
Flooring, which was made full of little holes.
The Water was likewise diversly tempered by the different situation of
three great Vessels of Brass, whose Water went from one into another,
and there were Pipes that conveyed these three sorts of Water into the
_Bath_.
The _Academies_ of the Ancients, which they called _Palaestra_, was a
place where the Youth learned Letters and their Exercises. They were
composed of three parts, _viz._ Of a _Peristyle_, a _Xyste_, and a
_Stadium_; the _Peristyle_ was a Court surrounded with _Portico's_,
which were of two sorts; three of them were Simple, and one Double.
The Simple stood in a row against three Bodies of Lodgings, composed of
many great Halls, where the Philosophers had their Disputes and
Conferences.
The Bodies of the Lodgings, which was the length of the double
_Portico_, and one part of the Bodies of Lodgings which turned in, were
distributed into several parts, for the Studies and Exercises of Youth;
for there they had their _Classes_, their _Baths_, their _Stoves_, and
their _Tenis-Court_.
The _Xyste_ was a place planted with Trees, and surrounded with
_Portico's_ on every side: These _Portico's_ were of two sorts.
There was one double which was set against the Bodies of the Lodgings,
to which the double _Portico_ of the _Peristyle_ was joyned.
The _Simple Portico's_ had two Wings, under these _Simple Portico's_
there were hollow Ways, where they performed their Exercises; the rest
of the _Portico_ was raised to the right and the left, for those that
had a mind to Walk while the rest performed their Exercises, in the
hollow ways.
The Place which was compassed with these three _Portico's_, was planted
with Trees, which made Allies, where the Wrestlers exercised in Winter,
when it was fair Weather.
The _Stadium_ was on the Side of the _Peristyle_ and the _Xyste_. It was
an Alley of 90 Perches; on each Side it had many Steps or Degrees, which
made a sort of a long _Theater_ bending in at both ends; these Steps or
Degrees were made for the convenience of seeing them that Run.