Законът за устройство на територията на Римската империя
Territorial Arrangement Legislation in the Roman Empire

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with Vitruvius’ ten books On Architecture as a law providing for the architectural and building standards as a result of Roman imperial policy. It is the first ever attempt in history to institutionalise architecture, establishing it as a policy. The idea is not a fresh one either. The paper traces down the development of this idea for a period of 80 years by two architects: the first one is an interpreter of the The Harleian Manuscript of Vitruvius, Frank Granger and the second - Mark Wilson Jones is the author of Principles of Roman Architecture. The paper answers such questions as who the target readers of Vitruvius have been; who has lent political support to Vitruvius; why the Roman Empire has been in need of the written rules in On Architecture and how these rules have been put into practice. Parallels between On Architecture and contemporary building codes and laws in Bulgaria are drawn, showing how text literary defines architecture.

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