Sebastiano Serlio · Third Book: Of Antiquities
The Baths of Antoninus
AMong other Thermes which are in Rome, I finde this of Antoniano to be• better to bee noted then the rest; and although yᵗ the Thermes of Dioclesian are greater, yet in this I find much fayrer correspondencie and knitting together in euery part, then in the others: for that in the place C. they might make all kind of Playes or sports without any hinderance. And for that yᵉ Thermes were specially made for men to bathe in, as they were vsed for diuers sports to be made in them, so was the preseruation of the water made behind yᵉ building, marked A. where, by meanes of the Pipes, they were alwayes filled to serue for such vses.
This ground is measured with the common Ell, the third part whereof is hereunder set downe by the side of the Building. The line in the middle of the place, is 100. Elles, by the which you shall almost find all the measures, whereof, for breuitie, I will not speake directly, but onely of the principal things. First, one of the places for the kéeping of the water, is thirtie Elles long: and 16. Elles broad. The part X. is 81. Elles long, and the bredth 44. Elles: the round Building D. is in Diameter 86. Elles. The place marked B. C. is 700. Elles long. The part in the middle. marked G. is in length about 105. Elles, and in bredth 60. Elles.
FOr that in the ground before set downe, by reason of the smalnesse of the figures, which could not be made greater in this Booke, a man can not so wel know the particular partes, therefore I haue in these two sides set downe some parts more plainly, as the ingenious workeman, by the letters wherewith they are marked, may sée and find them, when he compareth them with the whole ground.
AL though these Figures stand thus without order, and in many pieces; yet the wife workeman shall know, that they are members of the Thermes afore shewed, beholding the letters which stand in them (which comparing with the others) he shall find what parts they are. Also, he must know, that the parts H. and X. belong not to the part F. for the Figures hereunder are three seuerall parts; although, for necessitie sake, they are set one by another. I haue also not set downe the particular measures: for the workeman shal bester helpe himselfe with the inuention, then with the measure.
Public-domain text (London, printed for Robert Peake, 1611; STC 22235). Transcribed by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP, phase 2, no. A11922) from the Early English Books Online images of the copy reproduced there, and dedicated by the TCP to the public domain (CC0 1.0). Peake’s spelling, capitals and punctuation are kept, with u and v, i and j as printed; the long s is printed s, VV is printed W, line-end hyphens are joined, and letters or words the transcribers could not read are shown •. Serlio’s numbering of the chapters runs on from book to book, as in the original. The woodcuts are not reproduced: the labels and short captions cut in them are left out, but passages of text printed inside a woodcut are kept. The Latin inscriptions are given line by line.