The treatise De
Architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius (born c. 80–70 BC, died after
c. 15 BC), is the only book about architecture having come down to us from
Antiquity and it was widely used during the Renaissance as a guide for constructing
buildings on classical principles. It is
not much read nowadays and it was in a book about Renaissance Europe by John
Hale that I found the following text. Building on previous writers, Vitruvius narrates
how society begun: there was a time that people lived like animals (ut ferae) in the open. At some time fire
was discovered and people gathered around this fire and started to communicate
to each other. Initially they were nodding and pointing and used inarticulate
sounds, but gradually language developed. Being an architect, he tells also how
the construction of buildings developed.
The way Vitruvius describes or rather imagines how this has happened
makes us smile, but he is certainly right in postulating that fire and language
have been important constituents for the growth of culture.
Vitruvius, De
Architectura , 2, 1-2
[1] Homines
vetere more ut ferae in silvis et speluncis et nemoribus nascebantur ciboque
agresti vescendo vitam exigebant. Interea quondam in loco ab tempestatibus et
ventis densae crebritatibus arbores agitatae et inter se terentes ramos ignem excitaverunt,
et eius flamma vehementi perterriti, qui circa eum locum fuerunt, sunt fugati.
Postea re quieta propius accedentes cum animadvertissent commoditatem esse
magnam corporibus ad ignis teporem, ligna adicientes et id conservantes alios
adducebant et nutu monstrantes ostendebant, quas haberent ex eo utilitates. In
eo hominum congressu cum profundebantur aliter e spiritu voces, cotidiana
consuetudine vocabula, ut optigerant, constituerunt, deinde significando res
saepius in usu ex eventu fari fortuito coeperunt et ita sermones inter se
procreaverunt. [2] Ergo cum propter ignis inventionem conventus initio apud
homines et concilium et convictus esset natus, et in unum locum plures
convenirent habentes ab natura praemium praeter reliqua animalia, ut non proni
sed erecti ambularent mundique et astrorum magnificentiam aspicerent, item
manibus et articulis quam vellent rem faciliter tractarent, coeperunt in eo
coetu alii de fronde facere tecta, alii speluncas fodere sub montibus, nonnulli
hirundinum nidos et aedificationes earum imitantes de luto et virgulis facere
loca quae subirent. Tunc observantes aliena tecta et adicientes suis
cogitationibus res novas, efficiebant in dies meliora genera casarum.
vetere more: in
an earlier way of life (as opposed to the current)
nascor natus:
to be born
vescor (+
abl.) to feed
vitam exigo: to
spend life
densae
crebritatibus arbores: trees dense by closeness, i.e. standing close
together
tero trivi tritus:
to rub
perterritus:
very frightened
propius:
closer
animadverto:
to notice
comoditas -atis
(f.): benefit
tepor teporis:
lukewarmness, tepidity
adicio acieci
adiectum: to add
id: neuter, but
of course referring to the fire
alios (homines)
nutus nutus
(m.): nod, sign
profundebantur
aliter e spiritu voces: expressed words differently by breath, i.e. there
was not a common language but each individual made his own words.
ut optigerant:
as they (the vocabula) happened to
occur, i.e. at random
ex eventu:
eventually, finally
fari: to speak
(this word is only found in a limited number of forms and for does not occur.)
fortuito: by
chance
conventus –us (m.):
assembly
convictus –us (m.):
social intercourse
praemium:
advantage
pronus: bend
forward
articuli –orum:
the fingers
coetus –us (m.,
mostly written coitus): coming
together
frons frondis
(f.): leafy branch
fodio fodi fussum:
to dig
hirundo –inis (f.):
swallow
nidus: nest
aedificatio –onis
(f.): building structure
lutum: mud
virgula: a
little twig
sub-eo subii
subitum: to enter, inhabit
in dies: in due
course
casa: house
Translation by Joseph Gwylt (1826)
Mankind originally brought forth like the beasts of the
field, in woods, dens, and groves, passed their lives in a savage manner,
eating the simple food which nature afforded. A tempest, on a certain occasion,
having exceedingly agitated the trees in a particular spot, the friction
between some of the branches caused them to take fire; this so alarmed those in
the neighbourhood of the accident, that they betook themselves to flight.
Returning to the spot after the tempest had subsided, and finding the warmth
which had thus been created extremely comfortable, they added fuel to the fire
excited, in order to preserve the heat, and then went forth to invite others,
by signs and gestures, to come and witness the discovery. In the concourse that
thus took place, they testified their different opinions and expressions by
different inflexions of the voice. From daily association words succeeded to
these indefinite modes of speech; and these becoming by degrees the signs of
certain objects, they began to join them together, and conversation became
general.
Thus the discovery of fire gave rise to the first assembly
of mankind, to their first deliberations, and to their union in a state of
society. For association with each other they were more fitted by nature than
other animals, from their erect posture, which also gave them the advantage of
continually viewing the stars and firmament, no less than from their being able
to grasp and lift an object, and turn it about with their hands and fingers. In
the assembly, therefore, which thus brought them first together, they were led
to the consideration of sheltering themselves from the seasons, some by making
arbours with the boughs of trees, some by excavating caves in the mountains,
and others in imitation of the nests and habitations of swallows, by making
dwellings of twigs interwoven and covered with mud or clay. From observation of
and improvement on each others' expedients for sheltering themselves, they soon
began to provide a better species of huts.
