WHO AM I?

I was born in 80-79 BC as a free Roman citizen in Campania. I served in the Roman army in Spain and Gaul and began as an architect and engineer under Julius Caesar.

As an army engineer, I constructed war machines for sieges and was later employed by the emperor Augustus. After the wars, I became the author of several Roman architecture books, the most famous one being De Architectura, known today as The Ten Books of Architecture. A treatise in Latin, it was dedicated to Augustus and it is the only surviving major book on architecture from classical antiquity.

My book has become a major inspiration for Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical architecture emphasizing that all structures should exhibit qualities of durability, usefulness and beauty. I am famed for defining the Vitruvian Man, as drawn magnificently by Leonardo da Vinci.

Mainly known for my writings, I was an architect and helped construct several buildings and monuments. The most famous building I’ve worked on is the basilica at Fanum Fortunae which is now the modern town of Fano.

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