Vitruvius: Writing the Body of Architecture (review)

Having written what has become the oldest book on Roman architecture, Vitruvius remains well anchored within our collective architectural memory. De architectura outlines his version of late republican architecture during a period of rapid transformation, with topics ranging from architectural education and the development of humanity, to temple design and building typology, climate effects and acoustics, aqueducts and waterworks, astronomy and dials, and defence apparatus and other machinae. The value of De architectura in architectural history cannot be over-emphasized.

In this innovative thesis, Indra Kagis McEwen underscores that Vitruvius records more than architecture per se; by making the point that Vitruvius was writing for his own time and of his own time, McEwen shifts the focus from looking at the divergences between Vitruvius's words and extant Roman architecture, to accepting the treatise as an outline of the Augustan architectural world - one reflecting the notion of imperial dominion. This is what Vitruvius called, McEwen contends, 'the whole body of architecture.'

In the first chapter, temporal context is established as McEwen links De architectura with Stoic language theory. The argument here is solid, with the chapter discussing what Vitruvius may have been thinking about: writing as an activity connected to Commentarius, memorial devices, Auctoritas, a notion akin to 'vouching for,' 'ten' as a perfect number, Unified Bodies, emphasizing the use of the word corpus, and Signification. The chapter is convincing and introduces the book's main underlying theme - that the imperial project of world dominion was the prime motivator for writing De architectura. In the following chapter McEwen suggests that to Vitruvius, architects should mirror Augustus, his divine persona and his architectural agenda. Vitruvius does not hint at this, but McEwen's case is plausible. In the third chapter McEwen connects proportion and geometry to beauty; here the emphasis is on beauty's role in establishing a new world order. The links between Vitruvius's precepts, myths, and beauty are worth pondering, and the discussion of what may have shaped Vitruvius's mindset is eloquently drawn and difficult to refute. The fourth chapter outlines the importance of Augustus's building campaign. The central argument is that in writing De architectura, Vitruvius was de facto writing the 'as-built body of Roman imperium.'

Together, the four chapters present an argument that is difficult to disregard. This thesis merits serious consideration. The work is original and the author shows that it is entirely possible that each of Vitruvius's precepts contains at its basis the notion of empire building. That said, this is not a readily accessible work; the book is for serious students with knowledge of Latin and some Greek and familiarity with Vitruvius-related scholium. The sources and references are accurate. One point of caution: the translations from Latin into English are provided by the author and not the specialist individuals working with the Budé and Loeb sources that the author uses. The difficulty is that in a comprehensive study of this type, relying on new translations of individual words produced by the same author who makes the argument can be seen as biased.

Finally, this book is important, offering a new vantage point from which to view republican architecture and outlining an interpretation of what Vitruvius may have intended with his words. As with any other such analysis that delves into the psyche of distant times, however, the reader should approach the commentary with care: the theory may extend well beyond what Vitruvius intended.