Cuneus (Latin for "wedge"; plural, cunei), the architectural term applied to the wedge-shaped divisions of the Roman theatre separated by the scalae or stairways; see Vitruvius v. 4. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... // Scope and intentions According to the very earliest surviving work on the subject, Vitruvius De Architectura, good buildings should have Beauty (Venustas), Firmness (Firmitas) and Utility (Utilitas); architecture can be said to be a balance and coordination among these three elements, with none overpowering the others. ... Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He was the author of De Architectura, known today as The Ten Books of Architecture, a treatise in Latin on architecture, and perhaps the first work about this discipline. ...

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