Page:Vitruvius the Ten Books on Architecture.djvu/193

157 not only behind the "scaena" of theatres, but also at the temples of all the gods, will be capable of being of great use to cities.

As it appears that we have given an adequate account of them, next will follow descriptions of the arrangements of baths.

1. the first place, the warmest possible situation must be selected; that is, one which faces away from the north and north­east. The rooms for the hot and tepid baths should be lighted from the southwest, or, if the nature of the situation prevents this, at all events from the south, because the set time for bathing is principally from midday to evening. We must also see to it that the hot bath rooms in the women's and men's departments adjoin each other, and are situated in the same quarter; for thus it will be possible that the same furnace should serve both of them and their fittings. Three bronze cauldrons are to be set over the fur­nace, one for hot, another for tepid, and the third for cold water, placed in such positions that the amount of water which flows out of the hot water cauldron may be replaced from that for tepid water, and in the same way the cauldron for tepid water may be supplied from that for cold. The arrangement must allow the semi­cylinders for the bath basins to be heated from the same furnace.

2. The hanging floors of the hot bath rooms are to be con­structed as follows. First the surface of the ground should be laid with tiles a foot and a half square, sloping towards the furnace in such a way that, if a ball is thrown in, it cannot stop inside but must return of itself to the furnace room; thus the heat of the fire will more readily spread under the hanging flooring. Upon them, pillars made of eight-inch bricks are built, and set at such a dis­tance apart that two-foot tiles may be used to cover them. These pillars should be two feet in height, laid with clay mixed with hair, and covered on top with the two-foot tiles which support the floor.