Archimedes Texts

179
the Circumvallation, from the upper Seat to
the Top of the Entablature, must in great
Theatres be allowed never more than a Third,
and in small ones, not less than a Fourth. Up
on this continued Pedestal stand the Columns
which with their Bases and Capitals must be
equal to half the Height of the whole Circum
vallation. Over these Columns lies their En
tablature, and over all a Plain Wall, such as we
described in Basiliques, which Wall must be
allowed the sixth remaining Part of the Height
of the Circumvallation. The Columns in this
Circumvallation shall be insulate, raised aster
the same Proportions as those in the Basiliques,
and in Number just answering to those of the
three quarter Columns set against the Pilasters
of the outward Portico, and they shall be
placed exactly in the same Rays, by which
Name I understand Lines drawn from the Cen
ter of the Theatre to the outward Columns.
In the low Wall, or continued Pedestal, set
under the Columns of the inner Portico, must
be certain Openings, just over the Passages be
low into the Theatre, which Openings must
be in the Nature of Niches, wherein, if you
think fit, you may place a Sort of Vases of
Brass, hung with their Mouths downwards,
that the Voice reverberating in them, may be
returned more sonorous. I shall not here waste
Time in considering those Instructions in Vi
truvius, which he borrows from the Precepts
of Composition in Musick, according to the
Rules of which he is for placing the just men
tioned Vases in Theatres, so as to correspond
with the differerent Pitches of the several
Voices: A Curiosity easily talked of, but how
it is to be executed, let those inform us, who
know. Thus much I must readily assent to,
and Aristotle himself is of the Opinion, that
hollow Vessels of any Sort, and Wells too, are
of Service in strengthening the Sound of the
Voice. But to return to the Portico on the
Inside of the Theatre. The back Wall of this
Portico must be quite close and entire, and so
shut in the whole Circumvallation, that the
Voice arriving there, may not be lost. On the
Outside of the Wall to the Street, we may ap
ply Columns as Ornaments, in Number,
Height, Proportions and Members, exactly an
swering to those in the Porticoes under them,
in the outward Front of the Theatre. From
what has been said, it is easy to collect in what
Particulars the greater Theatres differ from the
smaller. In the greater, the outward Portico
below is double, in the smaller single: In the
former, there may be three Orders of Columns,
one over the other; in the latter, not more
than two. They also differ in this, that some
small Theatres have no Portico at all on the
Inside, but for their Circumvallation, have on
ly a plain Wall and a Cornice, which is in
tended for the same Purpose of returning the
Voice, as the Portico in great Theatres, and
in some of the largest Theatres, even this in
ward Portico is double. Lastly, the outward
Covering of the Theatre must be well plaister
ed or coated, and made so sloping that the
Water may run into Pipes placed in the Angles
of the Building, which must carry it off private
ly into proper Drains. Upon the upper Cor
nice on the Outside of the Theatre, Mutules
and Stays must be contrived to support Poles,
like the Masts of Ships to which to fasten the
Ropes for spreading the Vela or Covering of
the Theatre upon any extraordinary Represen
tation. And as we are to raise so great a Pile
of Building to a just Height, the Wall ought to
be allowed a due Thickness for the supporting
such a Weight. Let the Thickness therefore
of the outward Wall of the first Colonade be a
fifteenth Part of the Height of the whole Struc
ture. The middle Wall between the two Por
ticoes, when these are double, must want one
fourth Part of the Thickness of the outward
one. The next Story raised above this may be
a twelfth Part thinner than the lower one.

Of the Ornaments of the Amphitheatre, Circus, publick Walks, and Halls,
and Courts for petty Judges.

Having said thus much of Theatres,
it is necessary to give some Account
of the Circus and Amphitheatre which all owe
their Original to the Theatre, for the Circus is
indeed nothing else but a Theatre with its
Horns stretched further on in Lines equi-dis
tant one from the other, only that the Nature
of this Building does not require Portices; and