Geografia e ideologia imperialistica in Vitr. 6, 1, 10-11. Un contributo alla Quellenforschung

In the ethnographic excursus developed in Vitr. 6, 1, 10-11, the author asserts that both building techniques and physical and moral features of people were mostly influenced by the climate. In this sense, Romans were the only people who benefited from the geographical position where they lived: being located in the middle between North and South, Rome received the beneficial and positive influence of the climate zones against which it is equidistant. This was a position established by a divina mens, which legitimized Rome to rule over the whole world accordingly. Vitruvius’ praise of geographical balance between the extremes is not new and recalls the laudes of Greece by Aristot. Polit. 1327b 23-33. However, the substitution of Greece with Italy is the very innovative aspect, which Vitruvius may have drawn from an intermediate fons, which can be identified with a text of Aristotelian-Polybian model.