Vitruvius and De Architectura

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Vitruvius' De Architectura. Written almost exactly two thousand years ago, Vitruvius' work is a ten-volume treatise on engineering and architecture, the only surviving work on the subject from the ancient world. This fascinating book offers unique insights into Roman technology and contains discussion of the general principles of architecture, the training of architects and the design of temples, houses and public buildings.

The rediscovery of this seminal treatise in the 15th century provided the impetus for the neoclassical architectural movement, and Vitruvius exerted a significant influence on the work of Renaissance architects including Palladio, Brunelleschi and Alberti. It remains a hugely important text today, two millennia after it was written.

With:

Serafina Cuomo
Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck, University of London

Robert Tavernor
Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the London School of Economics

Alice Koenig
Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews.

Producer: Thomas Morris.