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7 Facts about Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

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1) Vitruvius was a Roman architect, engineer and author.

2) Vitruvius is the author of De architectura, commonly known as the Ten Books on Architecture. It is one of the best records to this day on Roman building methods, planning and design. It served as a guide for building projects such as aqueducts, central heating, harbors, baths, machines, temples, civil buildings and measuring devices.

3) Vitruvius was a Roman artillery officer and engineer

4) Vitruvius is often referred to as the “First Architect” or the “First Roman Architect


Roman Aqueduct



5) The “Vitruvian Virtues” or “Vitruvian Triad” Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas refer to the assertions made by Vitruvius that structures must exhibit three qualities: Solid, Useful and Beautiful. 

6) Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous drawing “Vitruvian Man” is based on Vitruvius’s correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry. Stemming from the belief that the human body is the greatest work of art.

7) Vitruvius’s treatise De architectura was an inspiration for Renaissance, Neoclassical and Baroque architecture.