SCIENTIFIC THEORY SUBORDINATED TO APPLICATION--ROME: VITRUVIUS
Vitruvius was a cultured engineer and architect. He was employed in the
service of the Roman State at the time of Augustus, shortly before the
beginning of the Christian era. He planned basilicas and aqueducts, and
designed powerful war-engines capable of hurling rocks weighing three or
four hundred pounds. He knew the arts and the sciences, held lofty
ideals of professional conduct and dignity, and was a diligent student
of Greek philosophy.
We know of him chiefly from his ten short books on Architecture (_De
Architectura, Libri Decem_), in which he touches upon much of the
learning of his time. Architecture for Vitruvius is a science arising
out of many other sciences. Practice and theory are its parents. The
merely practical man loses much by not knowing the background of his
activities; the mere theorist fails by mistaking the shadow for the
substance. Vitruvius in the theoretical and historical parts of his book
draws largely on Greek writers; but in the parts bearing on practice he
sets forth, with considerable shrewdness, the outcome of years of
thoughtful professional experience. One cannot read his pages without
feeling that he is more at home in the concrete than in the abstract and
speculative, in describing a catapult than in explaining a scientific
theory or a philosophy. He was not a Plato or an Archimedes, but an
efficient officer of State, conscious of indebtedness to the great
scientists and philosophers. With a just sense of his limitations he
undertook to write, not as a literary man, but as an architect. His
education had been mainly professional, but, the whole circle of
learning being one harmonious system, he had been drawn to many branches
of knowledge in so far as they were related to his calling.
In the judgment of Vitruvius an architect should be a good writer, able
to give a lucid explanation of his plans, a skillful draftsman, versed
in geometry and optics, expert at figures, acquainted with history,
informed in the principles of physics and of ethics, knowing something
of music (tones and acoustics), not ignorant of law, or of hygiene, or
of the motions, laws, and relations to each other of the heavenly
bodies. For, since architecture "is founded upon and adorned with so
many different sciences, I am of opinion that those who have not, from
their early youth, gradually climbed up to the summit, cannot without
presumption, call themselves masters of it."
Vitruvius was far from sharing the view of Archimedes that art which was
connected with the satisfaction of daily needs was necessarily ignoble
and vulgar. On the contrary, his interest centered in the practical; and
he was mainly concerned with scientific theory by reason of its
application in the arts. Geometry helped him plan a staircase; a
knowledge of tones was necessary in discharging catapults; law dealt
with boundary-lines, sewage-disposal, and contracts; hygiene enabled the
architect to show a Hippocratic wisdom in the choice of building-sites
with due reference to airs and waters. Vitruvius had the Roman
practical and regulative genius, not the abstract and speculative genius
of Athens.
The second book begins with an account of different philosophical views
concerning the origin of matter, and a discussion of the earliest
dwellings of man. Its real theme, however, is building-material--brick,
sand, lime, stone, concrete, marble, stucco, timber, pozzolano. In
reference to the last (volcanic ash combined with lime and rubble to
form a cement) Vitruvius writes in a way that indicates a discriminating
knowledge of geological formations. Likewise his discussion of the
influence of the Apennines on the rainfall, and, consequently, on the
timber of the firs on the east and west of the range, shows a grasp of
meteorological principles. His real power to generalize is shown in
connection with his specialty, in his treatment of the sources of
building-material, rather than in his consideration of the origin of
matter.
Similarly the fifth book begins with a discussion of the theories of
Pythagoras, but its real topic is public buildings--fora, basilicas,
theaters, baths, palæstras, harbors, and quays. In the theaters bronze
vases of various sizes, arranged according to Pythagorean musical
principles, were to be used in the auditorium to reinforce the voice of
the actor. (This recommendation was misunderstood centuries later, when
Vitruvius was considered of great authority, and led to the futile
practice of placing earthenware jars beneath the floors of church
choirs.) According to our author, "The voice arises from flowing breath,
sensible to the hearing through its percussion on the air." It is
compared to the wavelets produced by a stone dropped in water, only that
in the case of sound the waves are not confined to one plane. This
generalization concerning the nature of sound was probably not original,
however; it may have been suggested to Vitruvius by one of the
Aristotelian writings.
The seventh book treats of interior decoration--mosaic floors, gypsum
mouldings, wall painting, white lead, red lead, verdigris, mercury
(which may be used to recover gold from worn-out pieces of embroidery),
encaustic painting with hot wax, colors (black, blue, genuine and
imitation murex purple). The eighth book deals with water and with
hydraulic engineering, hot springs, mineral waters, leveling
instruments, construction of aqueducts, lead and clay piping. Vitruvius
was not ignorant of the fact that water seeks its own level, and he even
argued that air must have weight in order to account for the rise of
water in pumps. In his time it was more economical to convey the hard
water by aqueducts than by such pipes as could then be constructed. The
ninth book undertakes to rehearse the elements of geometry and
astronomy--the signs of the zodiac, the sun, moon, planets, the phases
of the moon, the mathematical divisions of the gnomon, the use of the
sundial, etc. One feels in reading Vitruvius that his purpose was to
turn to practical account what he had gained from the study of the
sciences; and, at the same time, one is convinced that his applications
tend to react on theoretical knowledge, and lead to new insights through
the suggestion of new problems.
The tenth book of the so-called _De Architectura_ is concerned with
machinery--windmills, windlasses, axles, pulleys, cranes, pumps,
fire-engines, revolving spiral tubes for raising water, wheels for
irrigation worked by water-power, wheels to register distance traveled
by land or water, scaling-ladders, battering-rams, tortoises, catapults,
scorpions, and ballistæ. On the subject of war-engines Vitruvius speaks
with special authority, as he had served, probably as military engineer,
under Julius Cæsar in 46 B.C., and had been appointed superintendent of
ballistæ and other military engines in the time of Augustus. It was to
the divine Emperor that his book was dedicated as a protest against the
administration of Roman public works. In its pages we see reflected the
life of a nation employed in conquering and ruling the world, with a
genius more distinguished for practical achievement than for theory and
speculation. Its author is truly representative of Roman culture, for
nearly everything that Rome had of a scientific and intellectual sort it
drew from Greece, and it selected that part of Greek wisdom that
ministered to the daily needs of the times. In his work on architecture,
Vitruvius shows himself a diligent and devoted student of the sciences
in order that he may turn them to account in his own department of
technology.
If you glance at the study of mathematics, astronomy, and medicine among
the Romans prior to the time of Greek influence, you find that next to
nothing had been accomplished. Their method of field measurement was far
less developed than the ancient Egyptian geometry, and even for it (as
well as for their system of numerals) they were indebted to the
Etruscans. The history of astronomy has nothing to record of scientific
accomplishment on the part of the Romans. They reckoned time by months,
and in the earlier period kept a rude tally of the years by driving
nails into a statue of Janus, the ancient sun-god. As we shall see, they
were unable to regulate the calendar. Again, so far were they from
contributing to the development of medicine that they had no physicians
for the six hundred years preceding the coming of Greek science. A
medical slave acted as overseer of the family health, and disease was
combated in primitive fashion by prayers and offerings to various gods,
who were supposed to furnish general health or to influence the
functions of the different parts of the body. So rude was the native
culture of the Romans that it is doubtful whether they had any schools
before the advent of Greek learning. The girls were trained by their
mothers, the boys either by their fathers or by some master to whom they
were apprenticed.
The Greeks were conquered by the Romans in 146 B.C., but before that
time Roman life and institutions had been touched by Hellenic culture.
Cato the Censor (who died in 149 B.C.) and other conservatives tried in
vain to resist the invasion of Greek science, philosophy, and
refinement. After the conquest of Greece the master became pupil, and
the conqueror was taken captive. The Romans, however, never rose to
preëminence in science or the fine arts. A further development in
technology corresponded more closely to their national needs, and in
this field they came undoubtedly to surpass the Greeks. Bridges, ships,
military roads, war-engines, aqueducts, public buildings, organization
of the State and the army, the formulation of legal procedure, the
enactment and codification of laws, were necessary to secure and
maintain the Empire. The use in building construction of a knowledge of
the right-angled triangle as well as other matters known to the
Egyptians and Babylonians, and Archimedes' method of determining
specific gravity were of peculiar interest to the practical Romans.
Julius Cæsar, 102-44 B.C., instituted a reform of the calendar. This was
very much needed, as the Romans were eighty-five days out of their
reckoning, and the date for the spring equinox, instead of coming at the
proper time, was falling in the middle of winter. An Alexandrian
astronomer (Sosigenes) assisted in establishing the new (Julian)
calendar. The principle followed was based on ancient Egyptian practice.
Among the 365 days of the year was to be inserted, or intercalated,
every fourth year an extra day. This the Romans did by giving to two
days in leap-year the same name; thus the sixth day before the first of
March was repeated, and leap-year was known as a bissextile year. Cæsar,
trained himself in the Greek learning and known to his contemporaries as
a writer on mathematics and astronomy, also planned a survey of the
Empire, which was finally carried into execution by Augustus.
There is evidence that the need of technically trained men became more
and more pressing as the Empire developed. At first there were no
special teachers or schools. Later we find mention of teachers of
architecture and mechanics. Then the State came to provide classrooms
for technical instruction and to pay the salaries of the teachers.
Finally, in the fourth century A.D., further measures were adopted by
the State. The Emperor Constantine writes to one of his officials: "We
need as many engineers as possible. Since the supply is small, induce to
begin this study youths of about eighteen years of age who are already
acquainted with the sciences required in a general education. Relieve
their parents from the payment of taxes, and furnish the students with
ample means."
Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.), in the encyclopedic work which he compiled
under the title _Natural History_, drew freely on hundreds of Greek and
Latin authors for his facts and fables. In the selection that he made
from his sources can be traced, as in the work of Vitruvius and other
Latin writers, the tendency to make the sciences subservient to the
arts. For example, the one thousand species of plants of which he makes
mention are considered from the medicinal or from the economic point of
view. It was largely in the interest of their practical uses that the
Roman regarded both plants and animals; his chief motive was not a
disinterested love of truth. Pliny thought that each plant had its
special virtue, and much of his botany is applied botany. So
comprehensive a work as the _Natural History_ was sure to contain
interesting anticipations of modern science. Pliny held that the earth
hovers in the heavens upheld by the air, that its sphericity is proved
by the fact that the mast of a ship approaching the land is visible
before the hull comes in sight. He also taught that there are
inhabitants on the other side of the earth (antipodes), that at the time
of the winter solstice the polar night must last for twenty-four hours,
and that the moon plays a part in the production of the tides.
Nevertheless, the whole book is permeated by the idea that the purpose
of nature is to minister to the needs of man.
It further marks the practical spirit among the Romans that a work on
agriculture by a Carthaginian (Mago) was translated by order of the
Senate. Cato (234-149 B.C.), so characteristically Roman in his genius,
wrote (_De Re Rustica_) concerning grains and the cultivation of fruits.
Columella wrote treatises on agriculture and forestry. Among the
technical writings of Varro besides the book on agriculture, which is
extant, are numbered works on law, mensuration, and naval tactics.
It was but natural that at the time of the Roman Empire there should be
great advances in medical science. A Roman's interest in a science was
keen when it could be proved to have immediate bearing on practical
life. The greatest physician of the time, however, was a Greek. Galen
(131-201 A.D.), who counted himself a disciple of Hippocrates, began to
practice at Rome at the age of thirty-three. He was the only
experimental physiologist before the time of Harvey. He studied the
vocal apparatus in the larynx, and understood the contraction and
relaxation of the muscles, and, to a considerable extent, the motion of
the blood through the heart, lungs, and other parts of the body. He was
a vivisector, made sections of the brain in order to determine the
functions of its parts, and severed the gustatory, optic, and auditory
nerves with a similar end in view. His dissections were confined to the
lower animals. Yet his works on human anatomy and physiology were
authoritative for the subsequent thirteen centuries. It is difficult to
say how much of the work and credit of this practical scientist is to be
given to the race from which he sprang and how much to the social
environment of his professional career. (In the ruins of Pompeii,
destroyed in 79 A.D., have been recovered some two hundred kinds of
surgical instrument, and in the later Empire certain departments of
surgery developed to a degree not surpassed till the sixteenth century.)
If it is too much to say that the Roman environment is responsible for
Galen's achievements, we can at least say that it was characteristic
of the Roman people to welcome such science as his, capable of
demonstrating its utility.
Dioscorides was also a Greek who, long resident at Rome, applied his
science in practice. He knew six hundred different plants, one hundred
more than Theophrastus. The latter laid much stress, as we have seen in
the preceding chapter, on the medicinal properties of plants, but in
this respect he was outdone by Dioscorides (as well as by Pliny).
Theophrastus was the founder of the science of botany, Dioscorides the
founder of materia medica.
Quintilian, born in Spain, spent the greater part of his life as a
teacher of rhetoric in Rome. He valued the sciences, not on their own
account, but as they might subserve the purposes of the orator. Music,
astronomy, logic, and even theology, might be exploited as aids to
public speech. In the time of Quintilian (first century A.D.), as in our
own, oratory was considered one of the great factors in a young man's
success; mock debating contests were frequent, and the periods of the
future orators reverberated among the seven hills of Rome. To him our
schools are also indebted for the method of teaching foreign languages
by declensions, conjugations, vocabularies, formal rhetoric and
annotations. He considered ethics the most valuable part of philosophy.
In fact, it would not be pressing our argument unduly to say that, so
far as the minds of the Romans turned to speculation, it was the
tendency to practical philosophy--Epicureanism or Stoicism--that was
most characteristic. This was true even of Lucretius (98-55 B.C.),
author of the noble poem concerning the Nature of Things (_De Rerum
Natura_). In this work he writes under the inspiration of Greek
philosophy. His model was a poem by Empedocles on Nature, the grand
hexameters of which had fascinated the Roman poet. The distinctive
feature of the work of Lucretius is the purpose, ethical rather than
speculative, to curb the ambition, passion, luxury of those hard pagan
times, and likewise to free the souls of his countrymen from the fear of
the gods and the fear of death, and to replace superstition by peace of
mind and purity of heart.
From the work on Physical Science (_Quæstionum Naturalium, Libri
Septem_) of Seneca, the tutor of Nero, we learn that the Romans made use
of globes filled with water as magnifiers, employed hothouses in their
highly developed horticulture, and observed the refraction of colors by
the prism. At the same time the book contains interesting conjectures in
reference to the relation of earthquakes and volcanoes, and to the fact
that comets travel in fixed orbits. In the main, however, this work is
an attempt to find a basis for ethics in natural phenomena. Seneca was a
Stoic, as Lucretius was an Epicurean, moralist.
When we glance back at the culture, or cultures, of the great peoples of
antiquity, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman, that which had its
center on the banks of the Tiber offers the closest analogy to our own.
Among English-speaking peoples as among the Romans there is noticeable a
certain contempt for scientific studies strangely mingled with an
inclination to exploit all theory in the interest of immediate
application. An English author, writing in 1834, remarks that the
Romans, eminent in war, in polite literature, and civil policy, showed
at all times a remarkable indisposition to the pursuit of mathematical
and physical science. Geometry and astronomy, so highly esteemed by the
Greeks, were not merely disregarded by the Italians, but even considered
beneath the attention of a man of good birth and liberal education; they
were imagined to partake of a mechanical, and therefore servile,
character. "The results were seen to be made use of by the mechanical
artist, and the abstract principles were therefore supposed to be, as it
were, contaminated by his touch. This unfortunate peculiarity in the
taste of his countrymen is remarked by Cicero. And it may not be
irrelevant to inquire, whether similar prejudices do not prevail to some
extent even among ourselves." To Americans also must be attributed an
impatience of theory as theory, and a predominant interest in the
applications of science.
REFERENCES
Lucretius, _The Nature of Things_; translated by H. A. J. Munro.
Pliny, _Natural History_; translated by Philemon Holland.
Professor Baden Powell, _History of Natural Philosophy_.
Seneca, _Physical Science_; translated by John Clarke.
Vitruvius, _Architecture_; translated by Joseph Gwilt, 1826.
Vitruvius, _Architecture_; translated by Professor M. H. Morgan, 1914.