M. Vitruvii Pollonis de architectura libri decem ad Caesarem Augustum omnibus omnium editionibus longe emendatiores collatis veteribus exemplis

A decorative horizontal headpiece featuring scrolling foliate patterns.

A large decorative drop cap 'F' featuring intricate foliate and vine scrollwork.

There was a time, most invincible King, when men wandered scattered and dispersed in the mountains and woods in the manner of beasts, and sustained their lives with wild food. We read that they had not yet been softened by the counsels of the wise or the speech of the eloquent, nor had they been led from a wild and rustic life to this human and civilized culture, or enclosed themselves within towns and walls. And at the beginning, when their only concern was to protect themselves and their own from adverse storms, or to have safe refuges against the burning sun, some began to make roofs from leaves, others to dig caves; those who excelled in talent began to raise forked poles and weave branches together to plaster walls with mud. These were the cradles of the art of building. Those who followed next, not content with these beginnings, took care not only of things necessary for survival, but also of those things that would contribute to achieving various conveniences, according to their innate frugality.