‹‹‹ Vitr. 3.3.8 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 3.3.10 ›››
9The pteromata, or wings, and the disposition of columns about a temple, were contrived for the purpose of increasing the effect, by the varied appearance of the returning columns, as seen through the front intercolumniations, and also for providing plenty of room for the numbers frequently detained by rain, so that they might walk about, under shelter, round the cell. I have been thus particular on the pseudodipteros, because it displays the skill and ingenuity with which Hermogenes designed those his works; which cannot but be acknowledged as the sources whence his successors have derived their best principles.
9For the idea of the pteroma and the arrangement of the columns round a temple were devised in order that the intercolumniations might give the imposing effect of high relief; and also, in case a multitude of people should be caught in a heavy shower and detained, that they might have in the temple and round the cella a wide free space in which to wait. These ideas are developed, as I have described, in the pseudodipteral arrangement of a temple. It appears, therefore, that Hermogenes produced results which exhibit much acute ingenuity, and that he left sources from which those who came after him could derive instructive principles.