Chorbates, Roman Leveling Instrument

 

The Chorbates was introduced in Roman literature by Vetruvius (viii 5 1-3). The instrument was approximately six meters in length, and 1.5 meters high. The water trough in the table top was approximately 1.5 meters long. The instrument seems to have been used for leveling platforms and was used primarily as a large builder's level. The four pegs extending from the table top horizontally are for the installation of a plumb line.

Reference:-- M.J.T. Lewis, "Surveying Instruments of Greece and Rome," Cambridge University Press, 2001, Pages 27-28. (ISBN 0 521 79297 5 (hardback)

Townhouse Villa Second Floor Front

 

The two large Green rooms and the two large Red rooms are bedrooms. The small Red, Green and Yellow rooms are storage rooms. The stairway has a Yellow strip beside it. The small Blue square is the water pool in the first floor Atrium. The White square is the top of the Atrium columns. The Yellow square is the handrail around the second floor balcony. The large Blue square is the second floor balcony.

The next project will be to design and make a roof to cover the front and back sections of the villa and a roof extension to cover the passages around the garden.

Townhouse Villa First Floor Interior Garden

 

The Green is the interior garden and the Yellow square is the top of the four colonnades around the garden.

Townhouse Villa Second Floor Back

 

The Green and Yellow Rooms are slave quarters, and the Red room is for storage. The small Blue room is a lavatory for the slaves. The access ladder to the Second Floor Back is in the kitchen.

Townhouse Villa Second Floor

 

This top view of the second floor shows the second floor front and the second floor back separated by the ground floor interior garden.

Townhouse Villa Second Floor

The two second floor sections are now finished with the exception of painting. The interior walls are now all up and the two floor openings have been completed. When the painting is finished we will have a house christening, and then we will "move in" and I shall give up my apartment nearby the river and operate my business from the townhouse villa.

The next item to be undertaken will be the design for the "Seaside" Villa. I already have a basic design on the sketch-board, and a few minor corrections, and additions should see it completed.

Townhouse Villa Second Floor

The townhouse villa second floor is in two parts separated by the garden area and open overhead. The front part is a square containing seven rooms and a balcony overlooking the atrium. This section is joined to the main floor by a stair way (ladder in the model). The after section is a second square located over the kitchen and dining rooms. This is the slave quarters and storerooms,

The front portion of the second floor is nearly finished with the exterior walls in place and all interior walls and balcony hand rail. The only things needed to complete is to cut out an area for the access to the ground floor.

The after section floor is cut and strengthened and the access hole is cut out. These two sections are now drying and when they are solid the final construction will begin.