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their own apses constructed together with those 25.6 outside at equal distances. And above these eight apses, because of the symmetry of the windows set above, the octagonal chamber will be increased by four cubits. And from that point it will be a cone-shaped spiral, with the vaulting of the roof closing in from a broad shape to a sharp wedge. The dimension of the width of each of the 25.7 square rooms will be eight cubits, and one and a half times more in length, and the height as much as the proportion of the width re25.8 quires. This much will also be the case for <the> semicircles; likewise, the entire space between the piers is measured at eight cubits; and as much as the compass-arc shall give, with the center fixed in the middle of the side and the leg passing to its extremity, so much width shall it have; and the height 25.9 the proportion of the width will determine in these cases also. And the depth of the wall, outside of the spaces measured on the inside, <being> three feet, will run around the whole work. 25.10 I have hastily babbled these things to your Goodness with this purpose, that you might know precisely, both from the depth of the walls and from the intervening spaces, to what measure the number of feet totals; because your wisdom is in every way skillful, being successful by the grace of God in whatever you wish, and it will be possible for you through a detailed calculation to know the sum total collected from all, so as to send us builders 25.11 neither more nor fewer than needed. And of this especially I beg you to take much thought, that there be some among them who also know unsupported vaulting; for I have learned that when it is made this way it is more durable than that which rests upon supports; for the scarcity of wood leads us to this plan, to roof the whole building with stone because 25.12 there is no roofing material available in the region. But let your unfailing soul be persuaded that some of the men here agreed with me for thirty craftsmen for a gold coin on the four-foot work, with, of course, the specified sustenance following the gold coin; but such stones are not available to us, rather baked brick will be the material of the building and whatever stones are at hand, so that they will not have the necessity of wasting time in fitting the faces of the stones harmoniously with one another. And I know that in skill and fairness concerning pay, the men from your area are better than those 25.13 here who make a trade of our need. But the work of the stone-cutters is not only in the eight columns, which they themselves must improve in elegance, but the work requires altar-shaped bases and capitals sculpted through in the 25.14 Corinthian style. and an entrance of marbles worked with fitting ornament, <and> doorways placed above these with certain such carvings, as is customary, adorned for beauty in the projection of the cornice—for all of which things the materials will clearly be provided by us, but art will give the form to the material, and besides these, also columns around the peristyle, not fewer than forty, these too are altogether the work of stone-cutters. 25.15 If, then, the account has shown the work with precision, it might be possible for your Holiness, having perceived the need through all this, to provide for us freedom from care regarding the craftsmen. But if the craftsman is to make an agreement on our side, let there be added, if possible, a clear measure of work for the day, so that, having passed the time idly, he may not afterward, having no work to show, demand the wage for them as having worked for us 25.16 for so many days. And I know that we will seem petty to many, being so precise about the contracts; but I beg you to have forbearance; for that Mammon, having often heard many evil things from us, finally moved himself as far away from us as possible, hating, I think, the constant nonsense spoken against him, and has walled himself off from us with an impassable chasm—I mean poverty—so that neither can he come to us nor we to him

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ἑαυτῶν ἁψῖδας ταῖς 25.6 ἔξωθεν δι' ἴσου συγκατεσκευασμένας. ἄνω δὲ τῶν ὀκτὼ τούτων ἁψίδων διὰ τὴν συμμετρίαν τῶν ὑπερκειμένων θυρίδων ὁ ὀκτάγωνος οἶκος ἐπὶ τέσσαρας αὐξηθήσεται πήχεις. τὸ δὲ ἀπ' ἐκείνου στρόβιλος ἔσται κωνοειδής, τῆς εἱλήσεως τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ ὀρόφου ἐκ πλατέος εἰς ὀξὺν σφῆνα κατακλειούσης. διάστημα δὲ κατὰ τὸ πλάτος ἑκάστου τῶν 25.7 τετραγώνων οἴκων ὀκτὼ πήχεις ἔσται, ἡμιολίῳ δὲ πλέον εἰς τὸ μῆκος, ὕψος δὲ ὅσον ἡ ἀναλογία τοῦ πλάτους βού25.8 λεται. τοσοῦτον ἔσται καὶ ἐπὶ <τῶν> ἡμικυκλίων· ὡσαύτως ὅλον μὲν εἰς ὀκτὼ πήχεις τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν πεσσῶν διαμε τρεῖται· ὅσον δὲ δώσει ἡ τοῦ διαβήτου περιγραφή, ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τῆς πλευρᾶς πηγνυμένου τοῦ κέντρου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον αὐτῆς διαβαίνοντος, τοσοῦτον πλάτος ἕξει· τὸ δὲ ὕψος ἡ 25.9 ἀναλογία τοῦ πλάτους καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων ποιήσει. τὸ δὲ τοῦ τοίχου βάθος ἔξωθεν τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἐντὸς μεμετρημένων διαστημάτων, <ὂν> τριῶν ποδῶν, ὅλον περιδραμεῖται τὸ ἔργον. 25.10 Ταῦτά σου τῆς ἀγαθότητος μετὰ σπουδῆς κατελήρησα τοῦτον ἔχων σκοπόν, ὥστε σε διά τε τοῦ βάθους τῶν τοίχων καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐν μέσῳ διαστημάτων ἐπιγνῶναι δι' ἀκριβείας εἰς ὅ τι κεφαλαιοῦται μέτρον ὁ τῶν ποδῶν ἀριθμός· διότι περιδέξιός ἐστί σοι πάντως ἡ φρόνησις, ὅπουπερ ἂν θέλῃς, ἐν ἐκείνῳ κατὰ θεοῦ χάριν εὐοδουμένη, καὶ δυνατὸν ἔσται σοι διὰ τῆς κατὰ λεπτὸν συναριθμήσεως ἐπιγνῶναι τὸ συναθροιζόμενον ἐκ πάντων κεφάλαιον, ὡς μήτε πλείονας μήτε ἐνδέοντας τῆς χρείας ἡμῖν τοὺς οἰκοδόμους 25.11 ἐκπέμψαι. τούτου δὲ μάλιστα παρακλήθητι πολλὴν ποιήσασθαι τὴν φροντίδα, ὡς εἶναί τινας ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἀνυπόσκευον εἵλησιν ἐπισταμένους· ἔμαθον γὰρ ὅτι τοιοῦτο γινόμενον μονιμώτερόν ἐστι τοῦ ἐπαναπαυομένου τοῖς ὑπερείδουσιν· ἡ γὰρ τῶν ξύλων σπάνις εἰς ταύτην ἄγει ἡμᾶς τὴν ἐπίνοιαν, ὥστε λίθοις ἐρέψαι τὸ οἰκοδόμημα ὅλον διὰ τὸ 25.12 μὴ παρεῖναι τοῖς τόποις ἐρέψιμον ὕλην. πεπείσθω δὲ ἡ ἀψευδής σου ψυχὴ ὅτι τῶν ἐνταῦθά τινες τριάκοντά μοι τεχνίτας συνέθεντο εἰς τὸν χρύσινον ἐπὶ τῷ τετραπεδικῷ ἔργῳ, δηλαδὴ καὶ τῆς τετυπωμένης τροφῆς τῷ χρυσίνῳ ἀκολουθούσης· ἡμῖν δὲ ἡ τοιαύτη τῶν λίθων οὐ πάρεστιν, ἀλλ' ὀστρακίνη πλίνθος ὕλη τοῦ οἰκοδομήματος ἔσται καὶ οἱ ἐπιτυχόντες λίθοι, ὡς μὴ εἶναι αὐτοῖς ἀνάγκην τρίβειν τὸν χρόνον ἐν τῷ τὰ μέτωπα τῶν λίθων συγχέειν ἐναρμονίως πρὸς ἄλληλα. ἐγὼ δὲ κατὰ τὴν τέχνην καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸν μισθὸν εὐγνωμοσύνην ἐπίσταμαι τοὺς αὐτόθεν κρείττους εἶναι τῶν 25.13 ἐνταῦθα κατεμπορευομένων τῆς χρείας ἡμῶν. τὸ δὲ τῶν λαοξόων ἔργον οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς κίοσίν ἐστι τοῖς ὀκτώ, οὓς χρὴ αὐτοὺς τῷ καλλωπισμῷ βελτιῶσαι, ἀλλὰ βωμοειδεῖς σπείρας ἀπαιτεῖ τὸ ἔργον καὶ κεφαλίδας διαγλύφους κατὰ τὸ 25.14 Κορίνθιον εἶδος. καὶ εἴσοδος ἐκ μαρμάρων τῷ καθήκοντι κόσμῳ κατειργασμένων, <καὶ> καθυπερκείμενα τούτων θυρώματα τοιαύταις γραφαῖς τισι, καθὼς ἔθος ἐστίν, εἰς κάλλος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γεισίου προβολὴν ἐξησκημέναὧν πάντων αἱ μὲν ὕλαι δῆλον ὅτι παρ' ἡμῶν πορισθήσονται, τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ὕλῃ εἶδος ἡ τέχνη δώσει, πρὸς τούτοις δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸ περίστῳον κίονες, οὐχ ἥττους ὄντες τῶν τεσσαράκοντα, λαοξικὸν ἔργον καὶ οὗτοι πάντως εἰσίν. 25.15 Εἰ τοίνυν ἐνέφηνεν ὁ λόγος δι' ἀκριβείας τὸ ἔργον, δυνατὸν ἂν γένοιτό σου τῇ ὁσιότητι κατιδούσῃ τὴν χρείαν διὰ πάντων ἡμῖν παρασχεῖν τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς τεχνίταις ἀμέριμνον. εἰ δὲ μέλλοι τὸ πρὸς ἡμῶν ὁ τεχνίτης συντίθεσθαι, προσκείσθω, εἴπερ οἷόν τε, φανερὸν μέτρον τοῦ ἔργου τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ἵνα μή, ἄπρακτος παρελθὼν τὸν χρόνον, μετὰ ταῦτα μὴ ἔχων ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸ ἔργον, ὡς τοσαύταις ἡμέραις 25.16 ἡμῖν ἐργασάμενος τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν μισθὸν ἀπαιτῇ. οἶδα δ' ὅτι μικρολόγοι τινὲς τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξομεν, οὕτω περὶ τὰς συνθήκας διακριβούμενοι· ἀλλὰ παρακλήθητι συγγνώμην ἔχειν· ὁ γὰρ Μαμωνᾶς ἐκεῖνος, πολλὰ πολλάκις παρ' ἡμῶν ἀκούσας κακῶς, τέλος ἀπῴκισεν ἑαυτὸν ἡμῶν ὡς πορρωτάτω, μισήσας οἶμαι τὴν ἀεὶ γινομένην κατ' αὐτοῦ φλυαρίαν, καί τινι χάσματι ἀδιαβάτῳ, τῇ πενίᾳ λέγω, ἑαυτὸν ἡμῶν διετείχισεν, ὡς μήτε ἐκεῖνον πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐλθεῖν μήτε ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον