Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

List of thumbnails

< >
101
101 		102
102
103
103 		104
104
105
105 		106
106
107
107 		108
108
109
109 		110
110
< >
page |< < of 320 > >|
    <archimedes>
      <text>
        <body>
          <chap>
            <p type="main">
              <s>
                <pb xlink:href="003/01/101.jpg" pagenum="83"/>
              Cunning and Fraud to their Strength, they
                <lb/>
              would be irreſiſtible. </s>
              <s>The politick Kings of
                <lb/>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Cairo
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              in
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Ægypt,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              a City ſo populous that they
                <lb/>
              thought it was extremely healthy and flouriſh­
                <lb/>
              ing, when no more than a thouſand People died
                <lb/>
              in a Day, divided it by ſo many Cuts and Chan­
                <lb/>
              nels, that it ſeemed not to be one ſingle City,
                <lb/>
              but a great Number of ſmall Towns lying toge­
                <lb/>
              ther. </s>
              <s>This I ſuppoſe they did, not ſo much
                <lb/>
              that the Conveniencies of the River might be
                <lb/>
              equally diſtributed, as to ſecure themſelves
                <lb/>
              againſt the popular Commotions of a great
                <lb/>
              Multitude, and that if any ſuch ſhould happen,
                <lb/>
              they might the more caſily ſuppreſs them: juſt
                <lb/>
              as if a Man out of one huge Coloſſus, ſhould
                <lb/>
              make two or more Statues, that he might be better
                <lb/>
              able to manage or remove them. </s>
              <s>The
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Romans
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              never uſed to ſend a Senator into
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Ægypt,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              with
                <lb/>
              Proconſular Authority, to govern the whole
                <lb/>
              Province; but only ſome Knights, with Com­
                <lb/>
              miſſion to govern ſeparate Parts of it. </s>
              <s>And
                <lb/>
              this they did, as we are informed by
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Arrian,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              to
                <lb/>
              Intent that a Province ſo inclined to Tumults
                <lb/>
              and Innovations, might not be under the Care
                <lb/>
              of a ſingle Perſon: and they obſerved that no
                <lb/>
              City was more exempt from Diſcord, than thoſe
                <lb/>
              which were divided by Nature, either by a Ri­
                <lb/>
              ver flowing thro' the Middle of it, or by a Num­
                <lb/>
              ber of little ſeparate Hills; or by being built
                <lb/>
              one Part upon a Hill, and the other upon a
                <lb/>
              Plain, with a Wall between them. </s>
              <s>And this
                <lb/>
              Wall or Diviſion, I think, ought not to bedrawn
                <lb/>
              like a Diameter clear thro'the Area, but ought
                <lb/>
              rather to be made to encloſe one Circle within
                <lb/>
              another: for the richer Sort, deſiring a more
                <lb/>
              open Space and more Room, will eaſily conſent
                <lb/>
              to be ſhut out of the inner Circle, and will be
                <lb/>
              very willing to leave the Middle of the Town,
                <lb/>
              to Cooks, Victuallers and other ſuch Trades;
                <lb/>
              and all the ſcoundrel Rabble belonging to
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Te­
                <lb/>
              rence's
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              Paraſite, Cooks, Bakers, Butchers and
                <lb/>
              the like, will be leſs dangerous there than if
                <lb/>
              they were not to live ſeparate from the nobler
                <lb/>
              Citizens. </s>
              <s>Nor is it ſoreign to our Purpoſe
                <lb/>
              what we read in
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Feſtus,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              that
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Servius Tullius
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              commanded the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Patricians
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              to dwell in a cer­
                <lb/>
              tain Part of the Town, where if they offered
                <lb/>
              at any Diſturbance, he was immediately ready
                <lb/>
              to quell them from a ſuperior Situation. </s>
              <s>This
                <lb/>
              Wall within the City ought to run thro' every
                <lb/>
              Diſtrict of the Town; and it ſhould be built ſo
                <lb/>
              ſtrong and thick in all Reſpects, and be raiſed
                <lb/>
              ſo high (as indeed ſo ought all the other City
                <lb/>
              Walls) that it may overlook all the private
                <lb/>
              Houſes. </s>
              <s>It ſhould alſo be fortified with Bat­
                <lb/>
              tlements and Towers; and a good Ditch on
                <lb/>
              both Sides would not be amiſs; that your Men
                <lb/>
              may the more eaſily defend it on any Side.
                <lb/>
              </s>
              <s>The Towers upon this Wall ought not to be
                <lb/>
              open on the Inſide, but walled up quite round;
                <lb/>
              and they ſhould be ſo ſeated as not only to re­
                <lb/>
              pulſe the Aſſaults of a foreign Enemy, but of
                <lb/>
              Domeſtick one too upon Occaſion; and particu­
                <lb/>
              larly they ought to command the great Streets,
                <lb/>
              and the Tops of all high Temples. </s>
              <s>I would
                <lb/>
              have no Paſſage into theſe Towers but from off
                <lb/>
              the Wall itſelf; nor any Way up to the
                <lb/>
              Wall but what is entirely in the Power of the
                <lb/>
              Prince. </s>
              <s>There ſhould be no Arches nor Tow­
                <lb/>
              ers in the Streets that lead from the Fortreſs
                <lb/>
              into the City; nor Leads or Terraſſes from
                <lb/>
              whence the Soldiers may be moleſted with
                <lb/>
              Stones or Darts as they paſs to their Duty. </s>
              <s>In
                <lb/>
              a Word, the whole ſhould be ſo contrived that
                <lb/>
              every Place, which any Way commands the
                <lb/>
              Town, ſhould be in the Hands of the Prince;
                <lb/>
              and that it ſhould not be in the Power of any
                <lb/>
              Perſon whatſoever, to prevent his Men from
                <lb/>
              over-running the whole City as he pleaſes.
                <lb/>
              </s>
              <s>And herein the City of a Tyrant differs from
                <lb/>
              that of a King; and perhaps they differ too in
                <lb/>
              this, that a Town in a Plain is moſt conveni­
                <lb/>
              ent for a free People; but one upon a Hill the
                <lb/>
              ſafeſt ſor a Tyrant. </s>
              <s>The other Edifices for
                <lb/>
              the Habitation both for King and Tyrant, are
                <lb/>
              not only the ſame in moſt reſpects, but alſo
                <lb/>
              differ very little from the Houſes of private
                <lb/>
              Perſons: And in ſome Particulars they differ
                <lb/>
              both from one another, and from theſe latter
                <lb/>
              too. </s>
              <s>We ſhall ſpeak firſt of thoſe Things
                <lb/>
              wherein they agree; and of their Peculiarities
                <lb/>
              afterwards. </s>
              <s>This Sort of Buildings is ſaid to
                <lb/>
              have been invented only for Neceſſity: Yet
                <lb/>
              there are ſome Parts of them which ſerve be­
                <lb/>
              ſides to Conveniency, that by Uſe and Habit
                <lb/>
              ſeem to be grown as neceſſary as any: Such as
                <lb/>
              Porticoes, Places for taking the Air in, and the
                <lb/>
              like: Which, though Method may ſeem to re­
                <lb/>
              quire it, I ſhall not diſtinguiſh ſo nicely, as to
                <lb/>
              divide what is convenient from what is neceſ­
                <lb/>
              ſary: But ſhall only ſay, that as in the City it­
                <lb/>
              ſelf, ſo in theſe Particular Structures, ſome
                <lb/>
              Parts belong to the whole Houſhold, ſome to
                <lb/>
              the Uſes of a few, and others to that of a ſingle
                <lb/>
              Perſon.</s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
Impressum