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Greek and Roman Mechanics (Classics)

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  1.  
  2. Introduction
  3. Mechanics in antiquity was a complex discipline, including both theoretical and applied components, drawing methodology and practices from mathematics as well as hands-on craft disciplines. Though the subdisciplines involved were not strictly fixed, Vitruvius On Architecture Book 10 and Pappus Synagōgē Book 8 classify the components of mechanics, while the Belopoeica of Philo of Byzantium was part of a nine-volume work called the “Mechanical Collection” (Mēchanikē Syntaxis). This work is almost all lost, but the titles of the works survive, and suggest a division into topics like artillery, pneumatics, and levers. The testimony of these ancient sources suggests that mechanics spanned a wide range of machine types (including military, astronomical, pneumatic, construction, and calculating devices), scales (from heavy machinery like catapults and olive-presses to small clockwork gadgets), and domains of application (including military, civil, and theoretical mechanics). Textual, material, and epigraphic evidence survives to provide clues to the technical details of machines, the principles according to which they were designed, and the lives and social status of the engineers and craftsmen who created them.
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  5. Introductory and General Works
  6. Brumbaugh 1966 and Chevallier 1993 provide accessible grounding in basic information, while Gille 1980 discusses this technology and its development in greater detail, without sacrificing readability. Drachmann 1963 is a thoughtful, well-illustrated introduction to the textual evidence for ancient mechanical technology, including careful commentary on the most important passages of text describing machines. Fleury 1993 provides an excellent overview of popular perceptions of the discipline of mechanics in antiquity, along with the textual tradition that propagated technical knowledge. The papers collected in Oleson 2008 cover a broad range of specialized topics; Wilson’s chapter “Machines in Greek and Roman Technology” (pp. 337–366) provides the most concentrated information on mechanics. Cotterell 1990 finds common ground in the mechanical properties (tensile strength, shear strength, etc.) of the materials used by many different cultures in a wide range of technological applications. Oleson 1986 is the best resource to point the way toward further reading on the technology of the ancient Mediterranean.
  7.  
  8. Brumbaugh, Robert S. 1966. Ancient Greek gadgets and machines. New York: Crowell.
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  11.  
  12. Designed for accessibility to a general readership rather than to appeal to specialists, this short volume introduces the reader to some of the highlights of Greek machinery, quite thoroughly illustrated with line-drawing schematics. Organization is roughly chronological but rather miscellaneous, making this work more useful as a first introduction to mechanical technology’s place in Greek society than as a guide to any specific technology. A moderate annotated bibliography points the way to more detailed resources.
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  15.  
  16. Chevallier, Raymond. 1993. Sciences et techniques à Rome. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
  17.  
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  19.  
  20. “Machines au service de l’homme,” the third chapter of this small, very readable book, collects useful basic information about mechanical devices used in Roman life. Particular attention to military, building and water-lifting machines, and aqueducts. Includes clear illustrations and a topical bibliography at the book’s end which will point the way to more detailed reading.
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  24. Cotterell, Brian. 1990. Mechanics of pre-industrial technology: An introduction to the mechanics of ancient and traditional material culture. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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  27.  
  28. Concentrates on the common ground of mechanical and material principles upon which the technologies of a wide range of ancient and nonindustrialized cultures rely. An extremely useful resource for anyone interested in understanding the mechanical properties of different structures and materials, well beyond the more common treatments of the basic laws of statics.
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  31.  
  32. Drachmann, A. G. 1963. The mechanical technology of Greek and Roman antiquity: A study of the literary sources. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
  33.  
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  35.  
  36. Provides excerpts from the Peripatetic Mechanica, Hero, Vitruvius, Oribasius, Philo, and others, along with detailed explanatory material. Drachmann makes extensive use of diagrams, wherever possible following the surviving manuscript illustrations rather than providing the misleading modernized versions found in most treatments. A very readable and thoughtful guide to the textual sources.
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  39.  
  40. Fleury, Philippe. 1993. La mécanique de Vitruve. Caen, France: Université de Caen, Centre d’études et de recherche sur l’antiquité.
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  43.  
  44. A detailed yet focused introduction to both theoretical and practical mechanics in the ancient world. Though he emphasizes machines and mechanics as described by Vitruvius, Fleury details their roots in past works like the Peripatetic Mechanica and their echoes in later authors like Ammianus Marcellinus. Provides a chronology of Greek and Roman mechanical practitioners and authors, extensive diagrams and photographs of surviving material evidence, and numerical examples that clarify mechanical principles.
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  47.  
  48. Gille, Bertrand. 1980. Les mécaniciens grecs: la naissance de la technologie. Paris: Seuil.
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  51.  
  52. This accessible work presents developments in Greek mechanical technology from archaic building techniques to Alexandrian advancements in the Hellenistic period and beyond. Careful analysis of the textual evidence is contextualized with essays on how technical knowledge was most likely propagated in the ancient world, the varying speeds at which technology seems to have developed at different times and in different places, and the factors that might have governed this variation.
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  55.  
  56. Oleson, John Peter. 1986. Bronze Age, Greek, and Roman Technology: A Select, Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland
  57.  
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  59.  
  60. A mammoth collection of over two thousand sources on the technology of the ancient Mediterranean, this is a superb resource on a host of technical topics ranging from agriculture to complex machinery. Each entry includes thoughtful commentary on its contributions, utility, and methodological problems (where appropriate), making this an easy resource to navigate and select from despite its comprehensive scope.
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  63.  
  64. Oleson, John Peter. 2008. Oxford handbook of engineering and technology in the classical world. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
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  67.  
  68. Provides a comprehensive view of technology in ancient Greece and Rome, including chapters on theoretical approaches to textual, epigraphic, and material evidence that render it more useful than the typical sourcebook. Information most relevant to the design and use of mechanical devices ranges from “gadgets and scientific instruments” to the massive machinery of construction. Each of the chapters is complemented wherever possible with illustrations and charts, and each has its own bibliography.
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  71.  
  72. Technological Background
  73. Introductory texts on the machines themselves are complemented by a much larger set of works on “technology” more broadly considered: the agricultural, transport, mining, and other technologies that supported and supplemented mechanical developments. Landels 1978 and Amouretti and Comet 1993 are the most accessible introductions; Amouretti and Comet 1993 in particular finds room for some thoughtful consideration of the relationship between science and technology. Hill 1984 takes the same accessible approach with a broader chronological perspective. White 1984 provides an excellent balance of detail and readability, including both more general information about the place of technology in the ancient world and a series of chapters on individual technology types, under headings like “building,” “land transport,” and “hydraulic engineering.” Schneider 1992 and Traina 1994 are also well-balanced, and offer particularly good reviews of the methodological problems in the study of technology in the ancient world. Blümner 1875 and Forbes 1955 tend more toward thoroughness than ease of use, but they are good reference materials for the reader seeking information on a specific subject. Cech 2012 is a particularly good source of information on the material evidence, while Cuomo 2007 offers a combination of textual and material evidence.
  74.  
  75. Amouretti, Marie-Claire, and Georges Comet. 1993. Hommes et techniques de l’Antiquité à La Renaissance. Paris: A. Colin.
  76.  
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  78.  
  79. A brisk but fairly detailed history of technologies (including basic technological techniques like metallurgy as well as more complex artifacts like ships, mills, and the printing press) from the Bronze Age through the 16th century. A suitable first introduction to the history of technology from a very broad standpoint. Not lavishly illustrated, but those illustrations that are included are clear and useful.
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  82.  
  83. Blümner, Hugo. 1875. Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Künste bei Griechen und Römern. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner.
  84.  
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  86.  
  87. Primarily an account of the techniques of producing and working the raw materials of craft and industry in the ancient world, these four volumes provide valuable background for understanding the material practicalities that shaped the design and construction of mechanical devices. Includes several illustrations, some schematics of technical details and others reproducing ancient depictions of craftsmen at work. Extensive indices of Greek and Latin technical terminology, places, and topics aid navigation.
  88.  
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  90.  
  91. Cech, Brigitte. 2012. Technik in der Antike. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
  92.  
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  94.  
  95. Well-organized and thoroughly illustrated with photographs and diagrams, this is an excellent introduction to the material evidence of ancient technology. Chapters of particular relevance to mechanics include those on building technology, agricultural technology, and military technology. Appendices include discussions of measuring and calculating technologies, as well as brief chapter-by-chapter bibliographies that suggest well-chosen sources for each topic.
  96.  
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  98.  
  99. Cuomo, Serafina. 2007. Technology and culture in Greek and Roman antiquity. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  100.  
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  102.  
  103. Each chapter of this innovative book matches a different historiographical technique to a different technology (a study of military machinery emphasizing models of technological evolution, an epigraphic approach to surveying, etc.). Cuomo is thus able to give a concise yet broad overview of a number of important questions pertaining to the cultural status of technologies and their practitioners, ranging from classical Athens to late antiquity. Includes an excellent bibliographic essay.
  104.  
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  106.  
  107. Forbes, R. 1955. Studies in ancient technology. Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill.
  108.  
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  110.  
  111. Some of the ten volumes in this series collect closely related subtopics (e.g., fiber and fabric manufacture), while others are more miscellaneous. Each section offers a thorough yet readable account of the literary and material evidence for its topic, focused on the practicalities of each technology’s use. Includes considerable supporting materials such as diagrams, maps, tables with chronological surveys (e.g., road building and repairs, aqueduct construction), and individual bibliographies for each topic.
  112.  
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  114.  
  115. Hill, Donald Routledge. 1984. A history of engineering in classical and medieval times. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
  116.  
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  118.  
  119. Organized by technology type rather than date, this book’s broad chronology and moderate length necessitate brisk transitions from one topic to another rather than deep analysis of any single technology or historical context of engineering. A well-organized and highly readable account of the work of the ancient engineer, offering thoughtful analysis of the relationship between science and technology and insight into later developments of ancient technologies.
  120.  
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  122.  
  123. Landels, John G. 1978. Engineering in the ancient world. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
  124.  
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  126.  
  127. An accessible but quite thorough account of Greek and Roman practical mechanics, including power sources, building technologies, catapults, and transportation. Landels’s concision does not prevent the inclusion of important technical details (based largely on textual information and to a lesser extent on material evidence and modern reconstruction). While the chapter titled “The Progress of Theoretical Knowledge” is now rather outdated, the remaining chapters make a good quick reference for practical information.
  128.  
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  130.  
  131. Schneider, Helmuth. 1992. Einführung in die antike Technikgeschichte. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
  132.  
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  134.  
  135. This concise work begins by considering methodological questions in the history of technology, the role history of technology plays within classical studies, and the ancient evidence. This is followed by topical chapters collected into sections: energy and craft production; transportation and building; and automata. Schneider also includes a short bibliographic essay on ancient technical literature, as well as a series of illustrations, mostly modern-style schematic diagrams of mechanical apparatus.
  136.  
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  138.  
  139. Traina, Giusto. 1994. La tecnica in Grecia e a Roma. Rome: Laterza.
  140.  
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  142.  
  143. Distinguishes itself from other short general introductions to technology in the ancient Mediterranean by its methodological sophistication, its attention to evidence about mechanical practitioners and the propagation of technical knowledge, and its extensive use of literary evidence from late antiquity. Vividly describes the place of technology in society from Hellenistic Greece to late antiquity while providing many well-chosen references to more specialized material. Minimally illustrated, largely with photographs of surviving material evidence.
  144.  
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  146.  
  147. White, K. D. 1984. Greek and Roman technology. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press.
  148.  
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  150.  
  151. The classic introduction to ancient technology in English. The practitioners and practices of Greek and Roman technology are clearly described and illustrated with diagrams and photographs. Appendices include a list of the literary sources in which each type of technology is mentioned, building materials and methods, and an extensive chart laying out assorted technical tasks, the raw materials and instruments required to perform them, and significant innovations made in their methodology.
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  154.  
  155. Scientific Background
  156. Just as the development of mechanical technology was governed in part by available craft techniques and materials, so it was influenced by prevailing scientific theories and mathematical tools. This influence was particularly marked in Hellenistic Greece; this period is thus the focus of most of the available studies, though the mechanical and other technological texts from this period did not survive so well as the scientific and mathematical texts. Rey 1930 is an accessible and detailed, if somewhat antiquated, overview of Greek science from the Presocratic philosophers to Theophrastus (also includes a brief excursion into Egyptian, Near Eastern, Chinese, and Indian mathematics, astronomy, and medicine in the first volume). Russo 2004 is a good introductory work with a later chronological focus, though a somewhat simplistic narrative of decline (in which, for example, the “end of ancient science” is marked by the death of Hypatia) occasionally mars the analysis. The most broadly useful works, though they are not traditional in form, are Irby-Massie and Keyser 2002 and Keyser and Irby-Massie 2008; the first contains primary texts with extensive explanatory material, while the second introduces a vast number of authors at a glance for quick reference with a wealth of supplementary information. For more advanced study, the papers collected in Giannantoni and Vegetti 1985 and Argoud and Guillaumin 1998 provide more detail on many topics related to the relationship between science and technology in the Hellenistic period, and at Alexandria during and after this period.
  157.  
  158. Argoud, Gilbert, and Jean-Yves Guillaumin. 1998. Sciences exactes et sciences appliquées à Alexandrie. Saint- Étienne, France: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne.
  159.  
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  161.  
  162. Hero of Alexandria features most prominently in this collection of papers. Four chapters (by Argoud, Fleury, Bliquez and Oleson, and Vitrac) provide broad background and more detailed topical studies of Hero and his work, mathematical as well as mechanical. Argoud’s introductory essay is an excellent brief guide to the connections between “theoretical” and “applied” sciences, and the particular circumstances of their pursuit at Alexandria.
  163.  
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  165.  
  166. Giannantoni, Gabriele, and Mario Vegetti. 1985. La Scienza ellenistica: atti delle tre giornate di studio tenutesi a Pavia dal 14 al 16 aprile 1982. Naples, Italy: Bibliopolis.
  167.  
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  169.  
  170. This volume includes material on many aspects of scientific thought and practice in the Hellenistic period, particularly medicine and mathematics. Most relevant to mechanics is Ferrari’s “Meccanica allargata” (pp. 225–296), which categorizes Hellenistic mechanical texts, both those which have survived and those known only by reputation, by technical subject, while discursively analyzing claims of utility, the importance of royal patronage, and intersections between science and mechanical technology.
  171.  
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  173.  
  174. Irby-Massie, Georgia L., and Paul T. Keyser. 2002. Greek science of the Hellenistic era: A sourcebook. London and New York: Routledge.
  175.  
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  177.  
  178. This volume’s chronological focus on the Hellenistic period leads naturally to a greater topical focus on mathematics, mechanics, optics, pneumatics, and other intersections between science and mechanics than is found in more general treatments of ancient science. Includes translated extracts from primary sources with short guides to each author’s works and historical background, a timeline of all authors, maps, and a guide to further reading.
  179.  
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  181.  
  182. Keyser, Paul T., and Georgia L. Irby-Massie. 2008. The encyclopedia of ancient natural scientists: The Greek tradition and its many heirs. London and New York: Routledge.
  183.  
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  185.  
  186. A work of outstanding utility, this volume includes a comprehensive list of mechanical authors alongside a great number of scientific practitioners. Each entry includes dates, whatever biographical information is known, works, and bibliography. Still more useful are appendices like a gazetteer, glossary, timeline, list of authors by topic and other categorizations of authors by various attributes including language, gender, and religion.
  187.  
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  189.  
  190. Rey, Abel. 1930. La science dans l’antiquité. Paris: La Renaissance du livre.
  191.  
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  193.  
  194. This four-volume work, written in an engagingly discursive style, gives particular attention to physics, mathematics, and medicine; the applications of physics in volumes 3 and 4 are most relevant to mechanics. Much of the content is now outdated, as is the somewhat triumphalist tone, but this is a good jumping-off point to more specialized study for those looking for more connective tissue than Keyser and Irby-Massie 2008 offers.
  195.  
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  197.  
  198. Russo, Lucio. 2004. The forgotten revolution: How science was born in 300 BC and why it had to be reborn. Berlin and New York: Springer.
  199.  
  200. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-18904-3Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  201.  
  202. This wide-ranging work seeks to cover Hellenistic science, mathematics, and technology, placing them in the context of the social factors which allowed them to develop so rapidly during this period compared to earlier and later periods. Unusual for the attention it pays to both science and technology, which have traditionally been treated separately. Critically considers theories of technological stagnation in the ancient world.
  203.  
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  205.  
  206. Mechanical Texts in Antiquity
  207. Fleury 1990 and Meißner 1999 situate mechanical texts in the broader context of ancient technical knowledge, including medical, military, and agricultural practice as well as mechanics. The goal of covering “technical texts” rather than simply mechanical texts means that many of the works they describe do not pertain to mechanics, but they give a broad perspective on technical activities in the ancient world. Lefèvre 2002 is the most comprehensive study of mechanical illustrations, reviewing the ancient treatises on mechanics whose illustrations survive, at least in part, in the manuscript tradition and considering their authenticity, correlating the evidence from the surviving illustrations with textual evidence for the use of various kinds of visual materials by technical practitioners.
  208.  
  209. Fleury, Philippe. 1990. Les textes techniques de l’antiquité. Sources, études et perspectives. Euphrosyne 18:359–394.
  210.  
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  212.  
  213. Combines a bibliographic essay on technical texts in the ancient world with a useful collection of 285 primary and secondary sources, divided under headings of type of text (ancient authors, general studies, and studies specialized in a particular technical topic). Fleury provides a useful classification under broad headings like “agriculture” or “construction,” each listing the principal ancient authors in that area.
  214.  
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  216.  
  217. Lefèvre, Wolfgang. 2002. Drawings in ancient treatises on mechanics. Paper presented at a conference at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, 21–22 March 2000. In Homo Faber: Studies on nature, technology, and science at the time of Pompeii. Edited by Giuseppe Castagnetti, 109–120. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
  218.  
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  220.  
  221. Reviews the ancient treatises on mechanics whose illustrations survive, at least in part, in the manuscript tradition, and considers their authenticity; uses case studies of illustrations that survive in multiple forms in the manuscripts to make cautious assertions about the features which may have been present in the original illustrations. Correlates the evidence from the surviving illustrations with textual evidence for the use of various kinds of visual materials by technical practitioners.
  222.  
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  224.  
  225. Meißner, Burkhard. 1999. Die technologische Fachliteratur der Antike : Struktur, Uberlieferung und Wirkung technischen Wissens in der Antike (ca. 400 v. Chr.-ca. 500 n. Chr.). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
  226.  
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  228.  
  229. Covers a wide variety of technical disciplines (including mechanics, medicine, agriculture, warfare, and construction) in Greek and Roman antiquity, with an emphasis on the textual transmission of technical knowledge. Provides a broader background on practitioners and practices, and the social and political contexts of technical work.
  230.  
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  232.  
  233. Texts, Translations, and Commentaries
  234. Included in the subsections are collected the most commonly referenced texts, translations, and commentaries by ancient mechanical authors, as well as relevant texts by authors not primarily considered mechanical, such as Archimedes.
  235.  
  236. Collected Editions
  237. These works collect texts from several authors. Marsden 1971 is essential reading on military technology, while DeVoto 1996 includes a subset of Marsden’s texts in a more compact volume. The diverse texts collected in Clagett 1959 give useful perspective on the influence of ancient mechanics on the later development of the discipline.
  238.  
  239. Clagett, Marshall. 1959. The Greek and Arabic forerunners of medieval statics. In The science of mechanics in the Middle Ages. By Marshall Clagett, 3–68. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
  240.  
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  242.  
  243. Includes translations of excerpts from five important texts (On the Balance, traditionally attributed to Euclid; Archimedes, Planes in Equilibrium; Hero, Mechanica; Archimedes, Floating Bodies; al-Khāzini, Book of the Balance of Wisdom), together with detailed discussion of the mechanical principles they describe and their importance for the tradition of mechanics.
  244.  
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  246.  
  247. DeVoto, James G., ed. 1996. Philon & Heron: Artillery and siegecraft in antiquity. Chicago: Ares.
  248.  
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  250.  
  251. Includes text (based on the Griechische Kriegsschriftsteller of Köchly and Rüstow), English translation, notes, and selected diagrams of the Belopoeica texts of Philo and Hero. Diagrams are from Marsden 1971. Less comprehensive in all respects than Marsden 1971, but the brevity of the notes and shorter selection of diagrams may make it more appealing as an introduction to the material.
  252.  
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  254.  
  255. Marsden, Eric William. 1971. Greek and Roman artillery: Technical treatises. Oxford: Clarendon.
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  258.  
  259. The best available English translation of the texts on ballistic devices by Biton, Philo, and Hero, with excerpts from Vitruvius and Ammianus Marcellinus. Includes facing English translation, very extensive explanatory notes at the end, and copious diagrams, along with a few photographs of surviving material evidence. Along with its companion volume (Marsden 1969, cited under Applications: Military Machines), the single best resource on ancient ballistic machinery.
  260.  
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  262.  
  263. Anonymus Byzantinus
  264. The anonymous fourth-century De rebus bellicis proposes a number of novel schemes for improving both the economic and the military fortunes of the Roman Empire. The latter are more relevant to mechanics, and include such novelties as a ship propelled by a paddle-wheel driven by onboard oxen. Thompson 1952 was the first easily available text and includes reproductions of the manuscript illustrations, while Thompson, et al. 1979 includes Ireland’s improved text and translation. Baldwin 1978 offers additional information about the text’s style and its likely time of composition.
  265.  
  266. Baldwin, B. 1978. The De rebus bellicis. Edited by L. Varcl. Eirene: Studia graeca et latina 16. Prague: Academia.
  267.  
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  269.  
  270. A briskly written study of the circumstances of the text’s authorship and its rhetorical style. Argues tentatively, on the basis of comparisons of textual evidence with the historical circumstances of the late fourth century, for a date of composition in the 380s, after Theodosius recognized Magnus Maximus as an Augustus. Observes the rhetorical flourishes and allusions to classical literature in the text, classifying them as part of its distinctive 4th-century style. See pp. 23–39.
  271.  
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  273.  
  274. Thompson, E. A. 1952. A Roman reformer and inventor, being a new text of the treatise De rebus bellicis. Oxford: Clarendon.
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  277.  
  278. Latin text with an English translation, followed by reproductions of the manuscript illustrations. Both the Latin and the English are improved by Ireland in Thompson, et al. 1979, but this is a concise and quite reliable text and translation. Includes extensive introductory material explaining the historical, economic, military, and technical background against which the work was likely composed.
  279.  
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  281.  
  282. Thompson, E. A, M. W. C Hassall, Robert I. Ireland, and Anonymous. 1979. De rebus bellicis. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
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  285.  
  286. This group of works on the De rebus bellicis includes Ireland’s careful edition of the text with English translation, notes on the troubled manuscript tradition, and a list of previous editions with lengthy discussion of the differences between them. Includes extensive explanatory notes on both linguistic and technical details, as well as an appendix of reproductions of the manuscript illustrations, which have references at the corresponding position of the text.
  287.  
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  289.  
  290. Apollodorus
  291. Apollodorus was a military engineer and architect who worked under Trajan and Hadrian; his work On Siege Warfare (Poliorcetica) describes both offensive and defensive machinery and structures. Long available only in Schneider 1908 edition with German translation, the work is now much more easily accessible in La Regina 1999 and Whitehead 2010.
  292.  
  293. La Regina, Adriano. 1999. L’arte dell’assedio di Apollodoro di Damasco. Milan: Electa.
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  296.  
  297. Includes Apollodorus’s text with Giovanna Commare’s Italian translation, along with many full-color reproductions of the manuscript illustrations from Parisinus suppl. Gr. 607, Par. Gr. 2442, Vat. Gr. 1605, and Vat. Gr. 1164. These are followed by essays on the authorship of the text and the military machines he describes, which are contextualized within the evidence for the military machinery of the Roman imperial period and late antiquity more generally.
  298.  
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  300.  
  301. Schneider, Rudolf. 1908. Apollodoros of Damascus. In Griechische Poliorketiker, by Rudolph Schneider, 8–50. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.
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  304.  
  305. Provides a brief biographical introduction to Apollodorus and his work, the text of the Poliorcetica with facing German translation, a concordance of technical terminology, and (most importantly) reproductions of the figures from manuscripts P and M, which are referenced by number throughout the text.
  306.  
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  308.  
  309. Whitehead, David. 2010. Apollodorus Mechanicus, Siege-matters = Poliorketika. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
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  311. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  312.  
  313. Provides Greek text with facing English translation and extensive explanatory notes. Introductory material considers the authenticity of the text and the plausibility of the putative biographical information available for Apollodorus. Appendices include a short description of the apparatus depicted on Trajan’s column that appears to match devices described in the text, six line drawings of apparatus, and a carefully pruned bibliography.
  314.  
  315. Find this resource:
  316.  
  317. Archimedes
  318. Though Archimedes is better known as a mathematician than a mechanician, his surviving corpus includes works of great importance to theoretical mechanics: the most relevant works are Planes in Equilibrium, Floating Bodies, and the Method (translations in Archimedes 1897; Archimedes 1970a; Archimedes 1970b; Dijksterhuis 1987; see Roux 1992, cited under Theoretical Mechanics: The Ancient Context, for discussion). Drachmann 1963 argues for a previously unnoticed influence of Archimedes on Hero’s Mechanica. The recent completion of imaging on the “Archimedes Palimpsest” (Netz, et al. 2011) has yielded considerable new insight into his Floating Bodies and Method. Other authors suggest that he was renowned for his practical mechanical achievements as well (these claims are well discussed in Jaeger 2008, cited under Technology and Society).
  319.  
  320. Archimedes. 1897. The Works of Archimedes. Edited by Thomas Little Heath. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  321.  
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323.  
  324. Contains extensive introductory material to Archimedes’ life, works, and mathematical methods suitable for an entry-level audience. English translations of Archimedes’ works are based on Heiberg’s text (not including Codex C, though a translation of the Method was later added as a supplement) with his mathematical methods rendered into modern notation. Several of these texts have now been radically updated by Netz, et al. 2011, but the English translations here still prove useful.
  325.  
  326. Find this resource:
  327.  
  328. Archimedes. 1970a. On Floating Bodies I–II. In Archimède. Vol. 3. Edited by Charles Mugler, 80–125. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
  329.  
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. Includes a brief introduction, the text of Floating Bodies I and II with facing French translation, and diagrams.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336. Archimedes. 1970b. Planes in equilibrium. In Archimède. Vol. 2. Edited by Charles Mugler, 80–125. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
  337.  
  338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339.  
  340. Includes a brief introduction to the text and its lasting importance to the study of statics, text with facing French translation, and diagrams.
  341.  
  342. Find this resource:
  343.  
  344. Dijksterhuis, E. J. 1987. Archimedes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
  345.  
  346. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  347.  
  348. Provides more detailed information on Archimedes’ methodology than Heath in Archimedes 1897, particularly on matters of textual history and extensive introductions to the mathematical problems that feature in Archimedes’ corpus (e.g., the constructions of the oxytome, amblytome, and neusis). The translation is more faithful than Heath’s to Archimedes’ own mathematical notation, which is an advantage, though beginners may find it useful to compare the two texts.
  349.  
  350. Find this resource:
  351.  
  352. Drachmann, A. G. 1963. Fragments from Archimedes in Heron’s Mechanics. Centaurus 8.1: 91–146.
  353.  
  354. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0498.1963.tb00551.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  355.  
  356. Argues that Hero’s Mechanica contains references to works by Archimedes which have not survived in Greek: one on balances (I.32–34) and one “on uprights” (peri kōlōn, I.25–28, I.30–31, and II.35–41) which is otherwise unknown. Drachmann’s detailed argument from text and diagrams engages thoroughly with scholarship on the relevant passages from Hero and other works of Archimedes.
  357.  
  358. Find this resource:
  359.  
  360. Netz, Reviel, Nigel Wilson, William Noel, and Natalie Tchernetska. 2011. The Archimedes Palimpsest. New York: Walters Art Museum.
  361.  
  362. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363.  
  364. This two-volume work includes introductory material detailing the fascinating story of the re-discovery and subsequent multispectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence imaging of the palimpsest that includes Archimedes Codex C, along with images and transcriptions of the complete codex. This project is of extraordinary value to the study of ancient theoretical mechanics, as the Palimpsest contains the only Greek text of Floating Bodies and the only text of the Method.
  365.  
  366. Find this resource:
  367.  
  368. “Aristotle”
  369. The Mechanica (sometimes referred to as Mechanics or Mechanical Problems) moves from considering the general principles of mechanics based on an analysis of circular motion, to a series of questions and answers about applied mechanics. The text was almost certainly not written by Aristotle (on its authorship see Dehò 2000), but was likely the product of the Peripatetic school. The text is included in Bekker and Gigon 1960, but Dehò 1982 provides a thoroughly amended text, while Dehò 2000 includes more details on the text’s transmission, along with Italian translation, explanatory notes, and a large number of illustrations from the early modern editions of the work. On the mechanical content of the text, see Theoretical Mechanics.
  370.  
  371. Bekker, Immanuel, and Olof Gigon, eds. 1960. Mechanica. In Aristotelis Opera ex recensione Immanuelis Bekkeri edidit Academia regia borussica, accedunt fragmenta scholia index Aristotelicus. Vol. 2. Edited by Olof Gigon and Immanuel Bekker, 847a11–858b31. Berlin: W. de Gruyter.
  372.  
  373. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  374.  
  375. Bekker’s edition (re-issued by De Gruyter in 1960) of the Mechanica is still (as with most of the Aristotelian corpus) the most commonly cited, though Dehò 1982 makes significant improvements to the text.
  376.  
  377. Find this resource:
  378.  
  379. Dehò, Maria Elisabetta Bottecchia, ed. 1982. Mechanika. Padua, Italy: Antenore.
  380.  
  381. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  382.  
  383. An extremely detailed study of the many-branched manuscript tradition of this text is followed by Dehò’s text and apparatus criticus, as well as a brief study of the scholia found in various manuscripts. A brief bibliography, again principally devoted to the manuscript tradition, follows.
  384.  
  385. Find this resource:
  386.  
  387. Dehò, Maria Elisabetta Bottecchia, ed. 2000. Problemi meccanici. Soveria Mannelli, Italy: Rubbettino.
  388.  
  389. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  390.  
  391. An excellent resource on the Mechanica, particularly for those interested in its early modern afterlife. Particularly valuable is the introduction on the transmission of the text, with a thorough discussion of the ancient and medieval texts it likely influenced, its influence on Galileo in particular, and the most thorough concise discussion of its attribution currently available.
  392.  
  393. Find this resource:
  394.  
  395. Athenaeus Mechanicus
  396. Athenaeus Mechanicus’s On Machines (Peri Mēchanēmatōn), probably written in the early imperial period, combines a lengthy preface on the virtues of practical mechanical knowledge with brief illustrated descriptions of military machinery. Long available only in the Schneider edition of 1912 (Athenaeus 1912; still useful for its concordance of technical terms and plates of reproductions of the manuscript illustrations of Athenaeus’s text), the text is now more accessible and translated into English in Athenaeus 2004.
  397.  
  398. Athenaeus. 1912. De machinis. In Griechische Poliorketiker III. Edited by Rudolf Schneider, 8–36. Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philol.-hist. Kl. N.F. 12, no. 5. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.
  399.  
  400. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  401.  
  402. Provides a brief introduction to the author, a list of passages in which Athenaeus and Vitruvius seem to describe the same machine, and a short explanation of the author’s reasons for including reproductions of the manuscript illustrations. Includes Greek text with apparatus criticus and facing German translation, followed by text and German translation of the comparable passages of Vitruvius Book 10, and explanatory notes for both texts.
  403.  
  404. Find this resource:
  405.  
  406. Athenaeus. 2004. Athenaeus Mechanicus, On Machines = Peri Mēchanēmatōn. Translated by David Whitehead and P. H. Blyth. Stuttgart: Steiner.
  407.  
  408. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  409.  
  410. This volume makes Athenaeus’s work much more accessible, including as it does the Greek text with facing English translation, followed by lengthy explanatory notes both on the text and its technical content. The introductory material includes considerable discussion of what can be conjectured about the context of Athenaeus’s work, the identity of the patron to whom the work is addressed, and his sources and influences.
  411.  
  412. Find this resource:
  413.  
  414. Biton
  415. Biton is difficult to date with precision, but his work on military machinery is addressed to one of three kings of Pergamon named Attalus. The best text, including translation, explanatory notes, and illustrations, is Marsden 1971 (cited under Collected Editions). Rehm and Schramm’s edition (Biton 1929), like Marsden presenting an emended version of the text originally established by Carl Wescher, is not as widely available, but it is useful for its photographs of manuscript illustrations and color versions of schematic illustrations.
  416.  
  417. Biton. 1929. Bitons Bau von Belagerungsmaschinen und Geschützen. In Abhandlungen der bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosoph.-hist. Abt. Edited by A. Rehm and E. Schramm, 3–28. N.F. 2. München: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  418.  
  419. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  420.  
  421. Greek text of Biton’s Construction of War-Machines and Catapults, considerably emended from Wescher’s edition. Includes German translation, apparatus criticus, brief notes on the text, and photographic reproductions of selected manuscript illustrations. Followed by six color plates of schematic diagrams illustrating the military machines described by Biton as reconstructed by Schramm. Introduced by two short forewords: one on technical matters, and the second on the manuscripts’ transmission of the text.
  422.  
  423. Find this resource:
  424.  
  425. Hero of Alexandria
  426. Hero of Alexandria is tentatively dated to the 1st century CE, and produced several works on very diverse technical subjects; the controversy over his dates and the authorship of his works are discussed by Giardina in Hero 2003. The texts of his Belopoeica and Cheiroballistra, along with the most complete available explanatory notes, are included in Marsden 1971 (cited under Collected Editions). Additional illustrations for the Belopoeica can be found in Hero 1918. The Mechanica survives only in Arabic; Carra de Vaux’s edition is most commonly cited, available in Sezgin 2001 and (with considerably more explanatory material) in Hero 1988. His complete works are available with Greek (or Arabic) text and German translation in five volumes, of which the the first two are relevant to mechanics (Hero 1976a, Hero 1976b). Woodcroft’s English translation of his Pneumatica is still commonly cited despite its age (Hero 1851), while Argoud and Guillaumin present in Hero 1997 an updated French translation with explanatory notes.
  427.  
  428. Hero. 1851. The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, from the original Greek. Translated by Bennet Woodcroft. London: Taylor, Walton and Maberly.
  429.  
  430. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  431.  
  432. Though somewhat archaic, this translation is often referenced because of its easy availability, and its illustrations are the most commonly reproduced.
  433.  
  434. Find this resource:
  435.  
  436. Hero. 1918. Herons Belopoiika (Schrift vom Geschützbau) Griechisch und Deutsch. Vol. 2. Edited by Hermann Diels and Erwin Schramm, 5–55. Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin; Philosophisch-Historische Klasse. Berlin: In Kommission bei G. Reimer.
  437.  
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439.  
  440. Includes Greek text (based on Schneider’s revision of Wescher’s edition) in side-by-side columns with German translation and apparatus criticus; illustrations (including reproductions of manuscript illustrations and line drawings closely based on them) are included inline with the text. Includes two photographs of Schramm’s reconstructed gastraphetes (cf. Marsden 1971, cited under Collected Editions).
  441.  
  442. Find this resource:
  443.  
  444. Hero. 1976a. Heronis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt omnia. Vol. 1. Edited by Wilhelm Schmidt and Hermann Schöne. Stuttgart: Teubner.
  445.  
  446. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  447.  
  448. Includes Hero’s Pneumatics and Automata, with facing German translation and modern-style diagrams. Appendices include the fragments of De horoscopiis aquariis, the Latin text of Philo’s Pneumatics, and the sections of Vitruvius relevant to pneumatics and hydraulics. Schmidt’s supplement includes a detailed history of the manuscripts, along with six line-drawing reproductions of manuscript diagrams; this is followed by a concordance of terminology.
  449.  
  450. Find this resource:
  451.  
  452. Hero. 1976b. Heronis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt omnia. Vol. 2. Edited by Wilhelm Schmidt and Ludwig Leo Michael Nix. Stuttgart: Teubner.
  453.  
  454. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455.  
  456. Includes Arabic text of Hero’s Mechanica with facing German translation along with modern-style diagrams. An extensive introduction describes the text’s manuscript tradition and afterlife in the Islamic world, the relationship between the manuscript diagrams and the ones included with the text, and the text’s language (including Greek loanwords).
  457.  
  458. Find this resource:
  459.  
  460. Hero. 1988. Les mécaniques, ou, L’élévateur des corps lourds. Translated by Qusṭā ibn Lūqā and Bernard Carra de Vaux. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
  461.  
  462. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463.  
  464. While the 9th-century Arabic translation of Hero’s Mechanica is also available in German translation in Schmidt and Nix’s 1976 edition (Hero 1976b), this edition of Carra de Vaux’s work provides much more than the same text with French translation: it includes extensive explanatory notes and diagrams by Drachmann, which are extremely useful in clarifying this often difficult text.
  465.  
  466. Find this resource:
  467.  
  468. Hero. 1995. Heron of Alexandria’s On Automaton-Making. Translated by Susan Murphy. History of Technology 17:1–44.
  469.  
  470. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  471.  
  472. English translation of Hero’s work, based primarily on the text in Hero 1976a. Extensively illustrated with modern-style schematic diagrams showing the operational mechanisms of the automata. The introduction provides considerable cultural and textual background on the devices described in the text, and quite extensive explanatory notes on technical details.
  473.  
  474. Find this resource:
  475.  
  476. Hero. 1997. Les Pneumatiques d’Héron d’Alexandrie. Edited by Gilbert Argoud and Jean-Yves Guillaumin. Saint-Étienne, France: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne.
  477.  
  478. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  479.  
  480. Greek text (largely following that of Schmidt) with facing French translation; includes the illustrations from Schmidt’s edition. Explanatory notes throughout clarify both textual and technical details without overwhelming the text. A brief introduction sketches out the context of the Pneumatica within Hero’s body of work and the pneumatic work of Ctesibius and Philo, and outlines the structure of the two books of this text.
  481.  
  482. Find this resource:
  483.  
  484. Hero. 2003. Erone di Alessandria: le radici filosofico-matematiche della tecnologia applicata: Definitiones: testo, traduzione e commento. Edited by Giovanna R. Giardina. Catania, Italy: CUECM.
  485.  
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487.  
  488. Though primarily a text and translation of Hero’s Definitiones rather than one of his mechanical works, this volume will be useful to those with a more general interest in Hero as it includes a lengthy introduction to Hero’s works, evidence on the authorship of the disputed texts, and the philosophical background upon which his work appears to draw.
  489.  
  490. Find this resource:
  491.  
  492. Sezgin, Fuat. 2001. Hero of Alexandria in the Arabic tradition: Texts and studies. Frankfurt: Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Univ.
  493.  
  494. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  495.  
  496. Primarily useful for Carra de Vaux’s edition and French translation of Hero’s Mechanica (also available in Hero 1988) with assorted diagrams (some done in modern style, while most resemble the manuscript tradition more closely), along with his introduction to Hero’s life and work, and the study of theoretical mechanics in the ancient world.
  497.  
  498. Find this resource:
  499.  
  500. Philo
  501. Almost certainly the earliest of the surviving authors on mechanics, Philo wrote a “Mechanical Collection” (Mēchanikē Syntaxis) in nine books, of which only three survive in Greek (the Belopoeica, Parasceuastica, and Poliorcetica). The Belopoeica was edited with German translation in Diels and Schramm 1919, but is far more easily available, with English translation and more explanatory information, in Marsden 1971, cited under Collected Editions. The Parasceuastica and Poliorcetica are edited with German translation in Diels and Schramm 1919, but are more readily available with French translation and considerably more explanatory material in Garlan 1974, cited under Military Machines. A fourth, the Pneumatica, survives in Arabic and Latin; both are available in Prager 1974, and the Arabic in Sezgin 2001. The collection originally seems to have comprised works on levers, harbor-making, artillery-making, pneumatics, automaton-making, siege preparation, siegecraft, and stratagems (see Marsden 1971, cited under Collected Editions, for discussion of the Syntaxis and translation with extensive commentary of the Belopoeica).
  502.  
  503. Diels, Hermann, and Erwin Adelbert Schramm, eds. 1919. Philons Belopoiika (viertes buch der Mechanik): Griechisch und deutsch. Berlin: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften, in Kommission bei G. Reimer.
  504.  
  505. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  506.  
  507. Includes Greek text and German translation of Philo’s Belopoeica, with apparatus criticus. A brief introduction outlines Philo’s authorial style and the principles of translation. Here the editors also include a few notes on the highlight of this edition, the magnificently detailed color plates of schematic diagrams that follow the text as an appendix. The text also includes some line-drawing illustrations of components and geometrical constructions inline with the text.
  508.  
  509. Find this resource:
  510.  
  511. Prager, Frank D., ed. 1974. Pneumatica: The 1. Treatise on Experimental Physics, Western Version and Eastern Version. Wiesbaden, Germany: Reichert.
  512.  
  513. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  514.  
  515. An invaluable reference for Philo’s Pneumatica, as it makes available in English a text which is all but lost in Greek, surviving partially in Arabic and partially in Latin. Includes English translation of the Arabic and Latin versions, as well as information on the manuscript traditions themselves. Particularly valuable here are the extensive list of diagrams Prager includes, both as drawn reproductions and (in some cases) photographs of the manuscripts.
  516.  
  517. Find this resource:
  518.  
  519. Sezgin, Fuat. 2001. Archimedes and Philon in the Arabic tradition: Texts and studies. Frankfurt: Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Univ.
  520.  
  521. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  522.  
  523. Includes Carra de Vaux’s edition (based on Hagia Sophia MSS 2755 and 3713, and Bodleian MS 954) and French translation of the Arabic text of Philo’s Pneumatica with modern-style schematic illustrations, along with an introduction to the textual tradition, possible interpolations, and Philo’s corpus.
  524.  
  525. Find this resource:
  526.  
  527. Vitruvius
  528. Better known as an architect of the late Republic and early Empire, Vitruvius wrote the text On Architecture (De architectura) in ten books, the last of which (in Vitruvius 1969) is devoted to many different types of machines. See also Fleury 1993, cited under Introductory and General Works, for much further discussion of Vitruvius’s mechanics in context.
  529.  
  530. Vitruvius. 1969. De l’architecture. Vol. 10. Edited by Philippe Fleury and Louis Callebat. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
  531.  
  532. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  533.  
  534. The tenth volume of Vitruvius’s text contains most of the material of mechanical interest, including his definitions and classifications of machines. Here the text is presented with facing French translation and extensive explanatory notes by Callebat and Fleury, as well as assorted diagrams of the machines Vitruvius describes.
  535.  
  536. Find this resource:
  537.  
  538. Technology and Society
  539. The pace and mechanisms of technological innovation in the ancient world have been hotly debated, particularly since Finley’s influential article argued that key technologies from the ancient world stagnated because of economic and intellectual values that did not prompt practitioners to seek out technological innovation for its own sake, and that they were not forced to do so because of the ready supply of dependent labor (Finley 1965). Kiechle 1969, Pleket 1973, Hall 1983, and Greene 2000 critically reconsider the evidence for this claim, appealing to material as well as textual evidence for technological progress and reexamining the effects of slaves and machinery in the Roman economy. The chapters of Lo Cascio 2005 examine the economic effects of individual technologies, from agriculture to construction, so avoiding unreliable generalizations. Even prior to Finley there was a strong current of thought, exemplified in Forbes 1949, that a philosophical opposition to “banausic” craft work impeded technological progress; Pleket 1973 offers a thoughtful response to this line of thinking as well. Wilson 2002 analyzes the evidence for patronage of certain mechanical projects and their impact on the economy. Particular cultural specificity is found in Lavan, et al. 2007, a collection focused on technological development in the Byzantine world; and Jaeger 2008, a thoughtful analysis of Roman cultural responses to the technical achievements of Archimedes.
  540.  
  541. Finley, M. I. 1965. Technical innovation and economic progress in the ancient world. The Economic History Review 18.1: 29–45.
  542.  
  543. DOI: 10.2307/2591872Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  544.  
  545. Argues for a low degree of technological innovation in the ancient world, claiming it was perceived as unnecessary because of abundant dependent labor. This highly influential thesis is likewise at the heart of Finley’s 1973 book The Ancient Economy, but the focus on mechanical technologies is most concentrated here. More constructively, suggests that gradual developments, and not only radical innovations, should be considered as technological innovation.
  546.  
  547. Find this resource:
  548.  
  549. Forbes, Robert James. 1949. The ancients and the machine. Archives Internationales D’histoire Des Sciences 919–933.
  550.  
  551. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  552.  
  553. Argues that machines represented only a small component of technology in the ancient Mediterranean compared to human and animal power. Attributes what technological innovation is allowed to have occurred in the ancient world to Hellenistic Alexandria, arguing that the Romans did not seek to improve on the technology they inherited. Makes broad claims that antagonism between philosophers and craftsmen stymied technological innovation.
  554.  
  555. Find this resource:
  556.  
  557. Greene, Kevin. 2000. Technological innovation and economic progress in the ancient world: M. I. Finley re-considered. The Economic History Review 53.1: 29–59.
  558.  
  559. DOI: 10.1111/1468-0289.00151Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  560.  
  561. Greene returns to the scene of Finley’s influential article to question its methodological basis, not least because Finley devoted relatively little consideration to material evidence. Agrees with Finley’s claim that technology ought to be considered in light of its use and not just its initial development, but concludes that there was in fact significant agricultural and technological change within Greek and Roman societies.
  562.  
  563. Find this resource:
  564.  
  565. Hall, J. J. 1983. Was rapid scientific and technical progress possible in antiquity? Apeiron 17:1–13.
  566.  
  567. DOI: 10.1515/APEIRON.1983.17.1.1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  568.  
  569. Considers the factors that shaped the development of ancient technology, in particular Lee’s assertion (“Science, Philosophy, and Technology in the Greco-Roman World: I.” Greece & Rome 20, no. 1 (1973): 65–78) that technological progress was impeded by the absence of technologies like windmills, advanced metallurgy, and nailed horseshoes. Argues that the constraining factor was instead the absence of efficient means of mass communication.
  570.  
  571. Find this resource:
  572.  
  573. Kiechle, Franz. 1969. Sklavenarbeit und technischer Fortschritt im Römischen Reich. Wiesbaden, Germany: F. Steiner.
  574.  
  575. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  576.  
  577. Reviews the literature on the problematic claim that technological progress in antiquity was slowed because of an abundance of slave labor, before proceeding to a detailed study of the textual and material evidence for technological developments between the first century BCE and the second century CE. Argues, linking mechanics to crafts and other types of technology, that technological progress did not in fact stagnate until the second century CE.
  578.  
  579. Find this resource:
  580.  
  581. Jaeger, Mary. 2008. Archimedes and the Roman Imagination. Ann Arbor, MI: Univ. of Michigan Press.
  582.  
  583. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  584.  
  585. While focused on the Roman reception of Archimedes’ work and legend, this work provides a thoughtful reconsideration of the cultural importance of both astronomical and military machinery in Rome.
  586.  
  587. Find this resource:
  588.  
  589. Lavan, Luke, Enrico Zanini, and Alexander Constantine Sarantis. 2007. Technology in transition: A.D. 300–650. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
  590.  
  591. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  592.  
  593. The papers collected here present a robust and expansive view of the changes in the development, production, and use of technology (broadly defined) through late antiquity and the early Byzantine period. Includes several insightful critical perspectives on the claim that technology stagnated during late antiquity and afterward, along with three bibliographic essays and a series of topically grouped papers on agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and building.
  594.  
  595. Find this resource:
  596.  
  597. Lo Cascio, Elio. 2005. Innovazione tecnica e progresso economico nel mondo romano: atti degli incontri capresi di storia dell’economia antica (Capri 13–16 aprile 2003). Bari, Italy: Edipuglia.
  598.  
  599. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  600.  
  601. This collection is an excellent resource on the economic impact of technical activities in the ancient world, which avoid the generalizations of some other treatments. Of particular interest for mechanics are Bresson’s chapter on the economics of fuels, which uses Hero’s “steam engine” as a jumping-off point to compare ancient and modern cases, and the economic analyses of the Roman construction industry by Wilson and DeLaine.
  602.  
  603. Find this resource:
  604.  
  605. Pleket, H. W. 1973. Technology in the Greco-Roman world: A general report. Talanta 5:6–47.
  606.  
  607. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  608.  
  609. Considers attitudes toward technē expressed in ancient literature, as well as the literary and (to a lesser extent) material evidence for craft products in antiquity. Concludes that while there was widespread and constant gradual improvement in craft-work, there was no systematic technological progress. A good guide to the debate over technological progress in the ancient world, which uses detailed evidence to sidestep sweeping generalizations.
  610.  
  611. Find this resource:
  612.  
  613. Wilson, Andrew. 2002. Machines, power and the ancient economy. The Journal of Roman Studies 92:1–32.
  614.  
  615. DOI: 10.1017/S0075435800032135Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  616.  
  617. Uses water-powered devices as case studies to examine the influence of patronage on technological development in the ancient world. Suggests that in the middle to late Republic and the early Empire water-powered devices had a strong economic impact, particularly on the mining industry. Includes a lengthy review of prior scholarship on attitudes toward technological development in antiquity, as well as photographs of mines and mill complexes.
  618.  
  619. Find this resource:
  620.  
  621. Theoretical Mechanics
  622. The theoretical aspects of the study of mechanics in antiquity included the principles of linear and rotational motion, applied force, centers of gravity, and the five simple machines. The works included here address the concepts and principles of theoretical mechanics used in the ancient world, as well as the propagation of those concepts through later periods.
  623.  
  624. The Ancient Context
  625. Micheli 1995 is the best overview of theoretical mechanics in the ancient world, discussing the Peripatetic Mechanica and Hero’s Mechanica, with excursions to other authors like Pappus and Proclus (and to authors in other genres like Homer and Herodotus) where appropriate. Schiefsky 2008 provides detailed analysis of the interaction between theoretical and practical mechanics, while Damerow, et al. 2002 uses the surviving material evidence of balances from Pompeii to understand the admixture of theory and practice in Roman mechanics, and Cuomo 2000 considers the connection Pappus of Alexandria draws between the mathematical and practical aspects of mechanics. Roux 1992 uses Archimedes’ Planes in Equilibrium to situate his contributions to theoretical mechanics in their historical context. De Gandt 1982 critiques Duhem’s identification (Les origines de la statique I.8) of Aristotle as “the father of mechanics.” Sorabji 1988 is an excellent analysis of the philosophical problems of motion, matter, and void which underlay theoretical mechanics.
  626.  
  627. Cuomo, Serafina. 2000. Inclined planes and architects. In Pappus of Alexandria and the mathematics of late Antiquity, by Serafina Cuomo, 91–126. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  628.  
  629. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  630.  
  631. Argues that Pappus’s treatment of mechanics in Book 8 of his Collection should be read as a call to integrate mathematics and practical mechanics; contrasts Pappus’s treatment of problems involving the five simple machines to Hero’s, observing that the latter includes more material detail, while Pappus brings the problem into a mathematical frame of reference.
  632.  
  633. Find this resource:
  634.  
  635. Damerow, P., Jürgen Renn, Simone Rieger, and Paul Weinig. 2002. Mechanical knowledge and Pompeian balances. Paper presented at a conference at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, 21–22 March 2000. In Homo Faber: Studies on nature, technology, and science at the time of Pompeii. Edited by Giuseppe Castagnetti, 93–108. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
  636.  
  637. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  638.  
  639. A brief introduction contextualizes the material remains of ancient balances in light of the Peripatetic Mechanica, Euclid’s treatise on the balance, and Archimedes’ mathematical applications of the law of the lever. A catalog of basalt weights and balances from Pompeii and Naples, accompanied by detailed descriptions of how the law of the lever would have applied to them, make this a uniquely useful combination of the concrete and the theoretical.
  640.  
  641. Find this resource:
  642.  
  643. De Gandt, François. 1982. Force et science des machines. In Science and speculation: Studies in Hellenistic theory and practice. Edited by Jonathan Barnes, 96–127. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  644.  
  645. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  646.  
  647. Questions whether Aristotle’s characterization of force in the Physics and other texts can be considered the basis of a robust mechanical system. Considers passages from Aristotle along with Archimedes’ Planes in Equilibrium, the Peripatetic Mechanica, and Hero’s Mechanica, discussing their different degrees of quantitative and analytical rigor, arguing that the transmission of mechanical concepts in antiquity was more complicated than Duhem suggests.
  648.  
  649. Find this resource:
  650.  
  651. Micheli, Gianni. 1995. Le origini del concetto di macchina. Florence: L. S. Olschki.
  652.  
  653. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  654.  
  655. Thoughtful, detailed, and clear, this is perhaps the best single resource on theoretical mechanics in antiquity. Considers the changing significance of “mechanical” thinking, the relationship between mechanics and machines, and the development of thinking about statics and dynamics in antiquity. Though appendices discuss Galileo and Guidobaldo del Monte, the focus in the main text remains squarely on ancient authors, particularly Aristotle and the Peripatetic Mechanica, Archimedes, and Hero.
  656.  
  657. Find this resource:
  658.  
  659. Roux, Sophie. 1992. Le premier livre des Equilibres plans: Réflexions sur la mécanique archimédienne. In Mathématiques dans l’Antiquité. Edited by Jean-Yves Guillaumin, 95–160. Saint-Étienne, France: Université de Saint-Étienne.
  660.  
  661. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  662.  
  663. Provides a brief review of the mechanical achievements credited to Archimedes, and of the structure and position of theoretical mechanics as a discipline in his time, based on evidence from Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics and the Peripatetic Mechanica. Uses inquiry into the Planes in Equilibrium, including a summary of its manuscript tradition, to determine where Archimedes’ “mechanical” works fit into the developing discipline of mechanics.
  664.  
  665. Find this resource:
  666.  
  667. Schiefsky, Mark. 2008. Theory and practice in Heron’s Mechanics. In Mechanics and natural philosophy before the scientific revolution. Papers presented at a workshop, entitled “Mechanics and Natural Philosophy: Accommodation and Conflict,” held in La Orotava, Tenerife, 30 January–1 February 2004. Edited by Walter Roy Laird and Sophie Roux, 15–49. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, and London: Springer.
  668.  
  669. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  670.  
  671. Considers the productive interplay in antiquity between theoretical knowledge of mechanics and the knowledge obtained by practitioners at work. Uses Hero’s Mechanica, in particular its account of the five simple machines, as a case study, arguing that the work combines theoretical approaches derived from Archimedes and the Peripatetic Mechanica with developments from practical mechanics that had occurred in between the composition of these works and Hero’s own.
  672.  
  673. Find this resource:
  674.  
  675. Sorabji, Richard. 1988. Matter, space and motion: Theories in antiquity and their sequel. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press.
  676.  
  677. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  678.  
  679. Provides useful background on the questions of extension, continuity, motion in a vacuum, and impressed force which are often taken for granted in discussions of theoretical mechanics elsewhere. While it is not the only work to do so, it is arguably the one that most successfully balances clarity with detailed analysis of the relevant texts and concepts, creating a coherent history of these ideas.
  680.  
  681. Find this resource:
  682.  
  683. Later Developments
  684. The influence of the theoretical mechanics of the ancient world on later study of the subject, from the medieval era to the “classical mechanics” of the early modern era, is addressed in the following works. The development of separate traditions based respectively on the Peripatetic Mechanica and Hero’s Mechanica are particular concerns in Dijksterhuis 1959, which connects them respectively to the development of dynamics and statics, and Krafft 1970. Dijksterhuis 1969 and Sarnowsky 2008 are particularly good resources on the influence of Aristotle’s own work on the later development of the discipline of mechanics. The papers collected in Veneziani 2005 provide thorough background on the evolution of the concept of the “machine” and the “mechanical” through the 18th century.
  685.  
  686. Dijksterhuis, E. J. 1959. The origins of classical mechanics from Aristotle to Newton. In Critical problems in the history of science. Edited by Institute for the History of Science and Marshall Clagett, 163–196. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
  687.  
  688. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  689.  
  690. Distinguishes two varieties of theoretical mechanics: an “Aristotelian” approach that would inform the development of dynamics, and the “Archimedean” view that would serve as the basis for the development of statics. Argues that while statics may be considered to have existed in antiquity, the same cannot be said for dynamics and kinematics. Follows the development of dynamic concepts of force through Scholastic commentators on Aristotle up to the early modern period.
  691.  
  692. Find this resource:
  693.  
  694. Dijksterhuis, E. J. 1969. The mechanization of the world picture. London and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
  695.  
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697.  
  698. (Translation of E. J. Dijksterhuis, Die Mechanisierung des Weltbildes. Berlin: Springer, 1956.) Provides a concise review of Aristotelian and earlier Greek ideas about matter and motion, and the Greek theoretical mechanics, celestial dynamics, and physics that developed from these roots, treating them as the foundations for the development of classical mechanics which occupies the bulk of the work.
  699.  
  700. Find this resource:
  701.  
  702. Krafft, Fritz. 1970. Dynamische und statische Betrachtungsweise in der antiken Mechanik. Wiesbaden, Germany: F. Steiner.
  703.  
  704. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  705.  
  706. Analyzes the mechanical systems underlying the Peripatetic Mechanica (focused on motion of concentric circles and addressing the question of authorship), the work of Archimedes and Hero of Alexandria (focused on the model of the balance), and the development of mechanics from antiquity to the early modern period (focused on the question of whether mechanical activities were perceived as “unnatural”).
  707.  
  708. Find this resource:
  709.  
  710. Sarnowsky, Jürgen. 2008. Concepts of impetus and the history of mechanics. In Mechanics and natural philosophy before the scientific revolution. Edited by Walter Roy Laird and Sophie Roux, 121–145. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, and London: Springer.
  711.  
  712. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  713.  
  714. A clear and concise exploration of the principles of motion and applied force expressed in the seventh book of Aristotle’s Physics. Sarnowsky addresses ancient objections based on apparent self-moving objects, late-ancient Greek and medieval Arabic arguments about impressed forces, and the reception of these ideas in the later medieval West, eventually reaching the development of ideas about impetus through the early modern period.
  715.  
  716. Find this resource:
  717.  
  718. Veneziani, Marco. 2005. Machina: XI colloquio internazionale: Roma, 8–10 gennaio 2004: atti. Florence: L. S. Olschki.
  719.  
  720. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721.  
  722. The papers in this multifaceted volume range from antiquity to the 18th century, and from concrete to metaphorical definitions of “machines.” Of those focused on antiquity, several describe the range of application of words cognate with machina/mēchanē (Belardi, “Origine e sviluppi della nozione linguistica di ‘macchina’” (pp. 19–60); Canfora, “Mēchanē” (pp. 61–68); Krömer, “Die Griechen und ihre Schüler: mēchanē und machina” (pp. 69–80); Simeoni, “Machine e machinatio in Vitruvio” (pp. 141–158)), and so establish the scope of mechanics against a broad conceptual background.
  723.  
  724. Find this resource:
  725.  
  726. Mechanics and Philosophy
  727. Certain types of mechanical devices provoke questions about the laws of motion, the structure of the cosmos, and the growth and behavior of living organisms which were addressed in antiquity from a philosophical as well as a technical perspective. Berryman 2009 is the most complete treatment of the subject, encompassing both automata and astronomical models in a thorough study of the place of “mechanical” thinking in ancient natural philosophy, continuing and expanding on the work of Berryman 2003. Von Staden and J. Paul Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities 1996 and Berryman 2002 consider interactions between mechanical and biological thought. Tybjerg 2003 uses Hero’s “wonders” as the basis for a particularly detailed case study of the relative positions of mechanical and philosophical knowledge. De Solla Price 1980 describes the connection between astronomical and meteorological devices and scientific instrumentation more generally, suggesting that the mechanical devices drove developments in philosophical thinking rather than vice versa.
  728.  
  729. Berryman, Sylvia. 2002. Galen and the Mechanical Philosophy. Apeiron 35:235–254.
  730.  
  731. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  732.  
  733. Argues against the common bifurcation of late-ancient natural philosophy into “teleological” and “mechanistic” approaches. Berryman suggests a third view, that nature can be understood via the methods used in the practice of mechanics, and invokes evidence from Galen’s On the natural faculties to support the use of mechanical artifacts as evidence that material structures can perform complex tasks predictably.
  734.  
  735. Find this resource:
  736.  
  737. Berryman, Sylvia. 2003. Ancient Automata and Mechanical Explanation. Phronesis 48.4: 344–369.
  738.  
  739. DOI: 10.1163/156852803772456083Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  740.  
  741. First defines “mechanistic” explanation as referring to a heuristic method that makes use of principles from the discipline of mechanics, and then applies this definition to explore the influence of that discipline on natural-philosophical thinking in the ancient world. Differentiates “materialist” from properly “mechanistic” natural-philosophical views. A good introduction to ideas developed at more length in Berryman 2009.
  742.  
  743. Find this resource:
  744.  
  745. Berryman, Sylvia. 2009. The Mechanical Hypothesis in Ancient Greek Natural Philosophy. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  746.  
  747. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511605284Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  748.  
  749. A thoughtful and readable treatment of the impact of mechanical practice on natural philosophy from the fourth century BCE to late antiquity. Includes extensive discussion of the meanings of the term “mechanistic” in antiquity and later, as well as of whether mechanical activity was perceived in antiquity as working against nature, arguing that this perception is an artifact of later interpretations.
  750.  
  751. Find this resource:
  752.  
  753. De Solla Price, Derek. 1980. Philosophical Mechanism and Mechanical Philosophy: Some Notes Toward a Philosophy of Scientific Instruments. Annali Dell’istituto e Museo Di Storia Della Scienza de Firenze 75–85.
  754.  
  755. DOI: 10.1163/221058780X00061Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  756.  
  757. Critiques the idea that inventions of scientific instruments were prompted by a previously developed mechanistic philosophy. Argues that these devices were developed first as mechanical artifacts, and then came to serve as material models for natural phenomena, thus serving as a cause for developing a mechanistic philosophy rather than an effect of its prior development. Places ancient practical and theoretical mechanics into a broader historical framework.
  758.  
  759. Find this resource:
  760.  
  761. Tybjerg, Karin. 2003. Wonder-Making and Philosophical Wonder in Hero of Alexandria. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 34:443–466.
  762.  
  763. DOI: 10.1016/S0039-3681(03)00053-0Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  764.  
  765. Argues that the “wonders” described in Hero’s Pneumatics, Catoptrics, and On automaton-making should not be dismissed as “toys,” but regarded as crucial to the claim that mechanics can compete with philosophy to generate knowledge of the physical world. Analyzes Hero’s positioning of wonder in relation to utility, perception and knowledge, and the “mythology” of technical skill.
  766.  
  767. Find this resource:
  768.  
  769. Von Staden, Heinrich, and J. Paul Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities. 1996. Body and Machine: Interactions between Medicine, Mechanics, and Philosophy in Early Alexandria. Paper delivered at a symposium organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities and held at the Museum, 22–25 April 1993. In Alexandria and Alexandrianism, 85–106. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.
  770.  
  771. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  772.  
  773. A careful, fascinating analysis of the possible interactions between mechanics and medicine in Hellenistic Alexandria. Considers how the work of the anatomists Herophilus and Erasistratus might have been influenced by the mechanician Ctesibius. Contextualizes both types of work within a philosophical system which might have fostered such interdisciplinary exchanges.
  774.  
  775. Find this resource:
  776.  
  777. Practitioners
  778. While little is known about most individual mechanical practitioners from antiquity, the following studies demonstrate a variety of ways of approaching what information is available. De Camp 1963 is an easy introduction to basic information about the technical practitioners of Greece and Rome, while Schürmann 1991 provides much more sophisticated analysis, with an emphasis on information drawn from the surviving material evidence. Evans 1994 likewise makes good use of material evidence in a study with more precise topical focus on Roman military architects in Britain, while Cuomo 2011 is still more tightly focused, turning the famous case of Nonius Datus into an opportunity to consider the position of the creators of monumental projects in the later Roman Empire. DeLaine 1997 is an excellent, detailed study of the building of the Baths of Caracalla with an emphasis on the manpower and types of workmen involved, while DeLaine 2000 expands outward to include information on patronage for public and private building projects. Cuomo 2004 is likewise an excellent, accessible study of patronage and the social role of engineers. Di Pasquale 2002 uses evidence from Pompeii to discuss the practices of measurement and model-making which seem to have been employed by builders of machines.
  779.  
  780. Cuomo, Serafina. 2004. The sinews of war: Ancient catapults. Science 303.5659: 771–772.
  781.  
  782. DOI: 10.1126/science.1091066Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  783.  
  784. A brief, highly readable account of the likely connections between developments in catapult design and the social position, organization, and sponsorship of the engineers who designed them. Relies primarily on textual evidence, but refers to and illustrates a washer discovered at Bath.
  785.  
  786. Find this resource:
  787.  
  788. Cuomo, Serafina. 2011. A Roman engineer’s tales. The Journal of Roman Studies 101:143–165.
  789.  
  790. DOI: 10.1017/S0075435811000098Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  791.  
  792. A multifaceted study of a 2nd century CE inscription describing Nonius Datus’s adventures in supervising the construction of an aqueduct in what is now Algeria. Includes text and translation of the inscription, as well as photographs of the cippus upon which it is inscribed. Cuomo analyzes its broader significance for the history of technology, including the role of the military engineer in completing imperial building projects and their public reception.
  793.  
  794. Find this resource:
  795.  
  796. De Camp, L. Sprague. 1963. The ancient engineers. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
  797.  
  798. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  799.  
  800. Light reading suitable for those with a casual interest in ancient mechanics, this extremely accessible book provides a brisk tour of the available information about mechanical practitioners in the Greek and Roman worlds and their products.
  801.  
  802. Find this resource:
  803.  
  804. DeLaine, Janet. 1997. The baths of Caracalla: A study in the design, construction, and economics of large-scale building projects in Imperial Rome. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
  805.  
  806. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  807.  
  808. This in-depth case study of the Baths of Caracalla is focused on material evidence, providing excellent analysis of the manpower required to construct it. Includes methodological issues in quantity surveying, calculating manpower and costs, and construction techniques. Includes several schematic plans and photographs of surviving building components.
  809.  
  810. Find this resource:
  811.  
  812. DeLaine, Janet. 2000. Building the Eternal City: The construction industry of Imperial Rome. In Ancient Rome: The archaeology of the Eternal City. Edited by J. C Coulston and Hazel Dodge, 119–141. Oxford: Oxford Univ. School of Archaeology.
  813.  
  814. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  815.  
  816. An accessible, thoughtful introduction to some of the same questions addressed at greater length in DeLaine 1997, as well as some parallel issues in private building. Particularly detailed analysis of the personnel involved in building, including clients, designers, and workmen, and the social context of building activities.
  817.  
  818. Find this resource:
  819.  
  820. Di Pasquale, Giovanni. 2002. The fabrication of Roman machines. Paper presented at a conference at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, 21–22 March 2000. In Homo Faber: Studies on nature, technology, and science at the time of Pompeii. Edited by Giuseppe Castagnetti, 75–82. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
  821.  
  822. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  823.  
  824. Considers the material evidence found in Pompeii and environs for the techniques of measurement and fabrication of machines. Supplements the scanty Roman evidence with more general considerations from Greek literature on the proportional sizing of machines, perhaps based on scale models. A good brief synthesis of textual evidence for the use of models in machine-building with the archaeological remains of measuring instruments.
  825.  
  826. Find this resource:
  827.  
  828. Evans, Edith. 1994. Military Architects and Building Design in Roman Britain. Britannia 25:143–164.
  829.  
  830. DOI: 10.2307/526994Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  831.  
  832. This study of military architects in Roman Britain also describes some of the practicalities of Roman architecture, including their measuring equipment and methods for planning and building structures. Argues that the surviving archaeological evidence for the layout of buildings in Roman military camps suggests that such a proportional system of generating building sizes, rather than absolute measurements, appears to have governed their design.
  833.  
  834. Find this resource:
  835.  
  836. Schürmann, Astrid. 1991. Griechische Mechanik und antike Gesellschaft: Studien zur staatlichen Förderung einer technischen Wissenschaft. Stuttgart: F. Steiner.
  837.  
  838. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  839.  
  840. Offers a methodically constructed, topically organized catalog of the artifacts and practitioners of mechanical technology in Greece from the Hellenistic period to late antiquity. Includes a brief guide to the theoretical and historical background of the practice of mechanics in Greece. Illustrated throughout with a fair number of modern-style schematic drawings, and less frequently with photographs of artifacts.
  841.  
  842. Find this resource:
  843.  
  844. Applications
  845. The division of mechanics into content-based subdisciplines was to some extent recognized in antiquity. Philo’s Mēchanikē Syntaxis (see Texts, Translations, and Commentaries: Philo) was divided into works on military machines, pneumatic devices, and so forth; Vitruvius Book 10 suggests that different varieties of machine have different goals and should be evaluated accordingly; and Pappus Book 8 classifies mechanical practitioners by field: those who make automata, those who build astronomical models, and so on. The classifications here reflect the major groupings of modern scholarship on particular topics in mechanics.
  846.  
  847. Military Machines
  848. Marsden 1969 remains the best general study of the development of Greek and Roman ballistic machinery. Garlan 1974 contextualizes this machinery within a broader treatment of the fortifications against which it was deployed in siege warfare; Lendle 1981 addresses this material with more emphasis on material evidence. Hacker 1968 combines technical detail with consideration of the factors that might have driven technological development of these machines, while Campbell 2011 offers a critical review of the existing literature on just what these developments were. Baatz 1994 collects papers on the artillery used by the Roman army, with a strong focus on the surviving material evidence. The military machinery of late antiquity receives particular attention in Thompson, et al. 1979, where the anonymous De rebus bellicis serves as a jumping-off point for wide-ranging studies on military operations from late antiquity to the early Byzantine period, and Tomei 1982, which provides more detailed analysis of the machinery itself, drawing on several different textual sources.
  849.  
  850. Baatz, Dietwulf. 1994. Bauten und Katapulte des römischen Heeres. Stuttgart: F. Steiner.
  851.  
  852. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  853.  
  854. A convenient collection of several of Baatz’s most influential articles (mostly in German) on the material evidence for the design and construction of catapults in the ancient Mediterranean. Spans topics from the imperial context of technological development (“Katapultbewaffnung und -produktion des römischen Heeres in der frühen und mittleren Kaiserzeit” (pp. 127–135)) to the surviving components of catapults (“Recent finds of ancient artillery” (pp. 224–245); “Katapultfunde 1887–1985” (pp. 275–283)).
  855.  
  856. Find this resource:
  857.  
  858. Campbell, D. B. 2011. Ancient catapults: Some hypotheses reexamined. Hesperia Hesperia 80.4: 677–700.
  859.  
  860. DOI: 10.2972/hesperia.80.4.0677Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  861.  
  862. Addresses controversies surrounding the original development of the catapult, the differentiation of tension-based stone-throwing catapults from torsion-based arrow-shooting catapults, the arrangement of the arms of the so-called “palintone” catapult, and most prominently the theory raised by Rihll that slingshot bullets were used as catapult missiles.
  863.  
  864. Find this resource:
  865.  
  866. Garlan, Yvon. 1974. Recherches de poliorcétique grecque. Athens, Greece: Ecole française d’Athènes.
  867.  
  868. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  869.  
  870. A very detailed treatment of the developments in offensive and defensive siege warfare from classical Athens to the early Hellenistic period. Includes the text of Philo’s Parasceuastica et poliorcetica with facing French translation and explanatory notes. Like many works on siege warfare, only a portion of this volume is relevant to ballistic machinery, but this material is a careful and detailed study of the available textual evidence, usefully positioned within the larger context of defensive fortifications and strategies of approach.
  871.  
  872. Find this resource:
  873.  
  874. Hacker, Barton C. 1968. Greek catapults and catapult technology: Science, technology, and war in the ancient world. Technology and Culture 9.1: 34–50.
  875.  
  876. DOI: 10.2307/3102042Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  877.  
  878. Reviews the extant primary and secondary literature on catapults, with additional analysis that gives particular attention to the development of their operating mechanisms. While the strictly mechanical analysis would shortly be rendered otiose by Marsden 1969 and Marsden 1971 (cited under Collected Editions), Hacker adds broader analysis of the mechanisms by which catapult technology might have evolved within their particular historical context which is worth comparing with Marsden’s.
  879.  
  880. Find this resource:
  881.  
  882. Lendle, Otto. 1981. Antike Kriegsmaschinen. Gymnasium 88:330–356.
  883.  
  884. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  885.  
  886. A detailed review of the construction and operation of ballistic devices and other siege machinery, particularly useful as it places them in the context of the practicalities of siege warfare. Contains much concrete detail about both Greek and Roman technology, drawing on both textual and material evidence.
  887.  
  888. Find this resource:
  889.  
  890. Marsden, Eric William. 1969. Greek and Roman artillery: Historical development. Oxford: Clarendon.
  891.  
  892. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  893.  
  894. The companion to Marsden 1971 (cited under Collected Editions), this volume offers more detailed historical context, while maintaining Marsden’s characteristic attention to technical detail. Describes the geographical diffusion of artillery (based on the assumption that torsion weapons emerged later than non-torsion weapons, but did not fully supplant their use), the use of artillery against fortifications and on field and naval campaigns, and the artillery of the Roman imperial period. Comprehensively illustrated with schematic diagrams.
  895.  
  896. Find this resource:
  897.  
  898. Thompson, E. A, M. W. C Hassall, Robert I. Ireland, and Anonymous. 1979. De Rebus Bellicis. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
  899.  
  900. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  901.  
  902. Along with Ireland’s text and translation (cited under Texts, Translations, and Commentaries), this collection includes a series of papers on the background of the work. Of particular relevance to mechanics are Hassall’s “The Inventions” (pp. 77–96) and Hill’s “Siege-craft from the Sixth to the Tenth Century” (pp. 111–118).
  903.  
  904. Find this resource:
  905.  
  906. Tomei, Maria Antonietta. 1982. La tecnica nel tardo Impero romano: le macchine da guerra. Dialoghi di archeologia 1:63–88.
  907.  
  908. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  909.  
  910. Examines the considerable evidence for the development of military machinery in the late-ancient Roman world. Includes literary evidence from Vegetius, Ammianus Marcellinus (relevant passages are included as an appendix), and the anonymous De rebus bellicis. Focuses on the technical details of devices discussed in these authors and compares them to earlier military machines. Includes many useful illustrations, ranging from manuscript illustrations to schematic diagrams and photographs of modern scale models.
  911.  
  912. Find this resource:
  913.  
  914. Pneumatics
  915. What is referred to in ancient texts as “pneumatic” technology encompasses both air- and water-driven devices (on the latter see also Water Power). The most thorough overview is Drachmann 1948. Smith 1976 uses the inverted water siphon as a case study to discuss the development of mechanical technology more generally. Keyser 1992 likewise addresses the larger picture of technological development, while also puncturing the persistent misunderstanding of Hero’s so-called “steam engine.” Schomberg 2008 is an excellent resource on the propagation of Greek knowledge of hydraulic technology through the Arabic tradition. The remains of a water organ with a dedicatory inscription discovered near Budapest are detailed in Hyde 1938 and Walcker-Mayer 1972; the former includes considerable detail on the material evidence and the interpretation of the inscription, while the latter has more information on the music theory behind the operation of the instrument (which the author reconstructed). The pipes for this device were made of bronze, as the texts indicate is usual for pneumatic devices, while Drachmann 1968 uses evidence from a manuscript illustration to suggest the possible use of glass tubes as well in these devices when transparency was desired. Oleson 2005 provides a comprehensive analysis of the materials used in both major types of Roman force-pumps.
  916.  
  917. Drachmann, A. G. 1948. Ktesibios, Philon and Heron: A study in ancient pneumatics. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  918.  
  919. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  920.  
  921. An extremely detailed analysis of the ancient textual tradition on pneumatic devices and the technologies themselves. Includes the indirect evidence for the work of Ctesibius, the tradition of Philo’s Pneumatics in Arabic and Latin, and the devices described in Hero’s Pneumatics and On Automaton-making. Thoroughly illustrated.
  922.  
  923. Find this resource:
  924.  
  925. Drachmann, Aage Gerhardt. 1968. A physical experiment in Heron’s Dioptra? Centaurus 13:220–224.
  926.  
  927. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  928.  
  929. Argues that a figure in the Mynas Codex of Hero’s Dioptra is a defective illustration of a container of water in which siphons are submerged, such as is mentioned in Philo’s Pneumatics. Whereas that container was supposed to be made of thin horn, in this case the instrument appears to include a clear glass tube used for observation, which would make it the first known of its kind.
  930.  
  931. Find this resource:
  932.  
  933. Hyde, Walter Woodburn. 1938. The recent discovery of an Inscribed Water-Organ at Budapest. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 69:392–410.
  934.  
  935. DOI: 10.2307/283189Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  936.  
  937. Describes the remains of a Roman hydraulic organ discovered at Aquincum (now part of Budapest). The organ features a dedicatory inscription from a magistrate to a weaving guild (which may have done double-duty as firefighters). Hyde describes the surviving components of the organ, placing it within the context of the textual and other visual evidence for the design and use of these instruments.
  938.  
  939. Find this resource:
  940.  
  941. Keyser, Paul. 1992. A new look at Heron’s “steam engine.” Archive for History of Exact Sciences 44.2: 107–124.
  942.  
  943. DOI: 10.1007/BF00374742Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  944.  
  945. Critiques the persistent labeling of the device described at Hero Pneumatica 2.11 as a “steam engine.” Argues that the device was never intended to produce motive power, but rather to serve as a demonstration of the theory that motion is possible even without an external supporting medium. Thoroughly examines the scholarship in which this device is called a “steam engine,” and reviews the debate on technological progress in the ancient world.
  946.  
  947. Find this resource:
  948.  
  949. Oleson, John Peter. 2005. Design, materials, and the process of innovation for Roman force pumps. In Terra Marique: Studies in art history and marine archaeology in honor of Anna Marguerite McCann on the receipt of the gold medal of the Archaeological Institute of America. Edited by John Pollini, 211–231. Oxford and Oakville, CT: Oxbow.
  950.  
  951. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  952.  
  953. Provides a concise overview of the working principles of the force pump and its description in Vitruvius’s text. This is followed by a very detailed account of the surviving material evidence for such pumps: charts of the size and capacity of metal and wood-block pump finds. Includes further discussion of the materials used in the surviving fragments, and a catalogue of pump finds with bibliography for each.
  954.  
  955. Find this resource:
  956.  
  957. Schomberg, Anette. 2008. Ancient water technology: Between Hellenistic innovation and Arabic tradition. Syria 85:119–128.
  958.  
  959. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  960.  
  961. Combines archaeological and literary evidence (the latter from Vitruvius and Philo’s Pneumatics) to judge the likely authenticity of some disputed chapters of Philo’s text, as well as providing critical analysis of the archaeological evidence from Egypt. Several illustrations, including diagrams and photographs of surviving material evidence, along with a judicious bibliography, make this a very useful resource for an understudied aspect of the ancient hydraulic tradition.
  962.  
  963. Find this resource:
  964.  
  965. Smith, Norman Alfred Fisher. 1976. Attitudes to Roman engineering and the question of the inverted siphon. History of Technology 1:45–71.
  966.  
  967. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  968.  
  969. A thoughtful critique of approaches by classicists not versed in engineering and engineers not versed in classics to the study of Roman technology. Focuses on the degree to which inverted siphons were used in Roman water transport; Smith argues against the then-prevailing idea that these structures were little used, and offers a wide variety of textual, material, and engineering evidence that their use was widespread and reasonably efficient.
  970.  
  971. Find this resource:
  972.  
  973. Walcker-Mayer, Werner. 1972. The Roman organ of Aquincum. Ludwigsburg, Germany: Musikwissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.
  974.  
  975. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  976.  
  977. Details the author’s reconstruction of the Roman water organ discovered at Aquincum (also discussed in Hyde 1938). Includes discussion of its inscription, photographs of its components, and detailed schematics of the reconstruction. A section on Greek music theory puts the technology in cultural context. Christoph Stroux’s appendices broaden the music-theory background and present a chronological table of developments in musical technologies in Greece and Rome more generally.
  978.  
  979. Find this resource:
  980.  
  981. Automata
  982. Elaborate automata driven by pneumatic power, gears, and drums were designed in antiquity to perform activities as complex as entire plays; these are known mainly from Hero’s work on the subject (see Hero 1995, cited under Hero of Alexandria). Bedini 1964 and Hammerstein 1986 trace the technological development and cultural context of these devices from antiquity onward. Price 1964 likewise takes a broad chronological view, considering the links between automata and “mechanistic” philosophy in antiquity before discussing automata from the medieval Islamic world, the medieval West, and the Renaissance. Schürmann 2002 looks more specifically at the circumstances under which automata might have been used by elite Romans. Prou 1881 provides still more mechanical detail, along with information on the cultural significance of automata in antiquity; despite its advanced age, this is still the most complete source on ancient automata.
  983.  
  984. Bedini, Silvio A. 1964. “The role of automata in the history of technology.” Technology and Culture 5.1: 24–42.
  985.  
  986. DOI: 10.2307/3101120Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  987.  
  988. Places Hero’s automata in a broader cultural context, examining their reception in Renaissance literature and mechanical practice. Provides a useful concise review of Renaissance and early modern texts that made use of or expanded upon Hero’s automata. Includes several photographs of the elaborate later devices.
  989.  
  990. Find this resource:
  991.  
  992. Hammerstein, Reinhold. 1986. Macht und Klang: tönende Automaten als Realität und Fiktion in der alten und mittelalterlichen Welt. Bern, Switzerland: Francke.
  993.  
  994. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  995.  
  996. A detailed account of the afterlife of mechanical automata operating on essentially the same principles as those of Hero in the Byzantine, medieval Islamic, and medieval Western worlds. Describes the mechanical and artistic attributes of devices produced over a wide chronological period, as well as their reception and use in the social contexts of court and spectacle.
  997.  
  998. Find this resource:
  999.  
  1000. Price, Derek John de Solla. 1964. Automata and the origins of mechanism and mechanistic philosophy. Technology and Culture 5:9–23.
  1001.  
  1002. DOI: 10.2307/3101119Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1003.  
  1004. Argues that mechanistic philosophy engendered the development of mechanical automata rather than the other way around, and that in turn these automata lie at the root of later developments in scientific instrumentation. Reviews archaic Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian constructions, regarding early marionette-like constructions as prototypes of later biological automata, and painted star-maps as ancestors of cosmological models; then describes the development of medieval and Renaissance automata.
  1005.  
  1006. Find this resource:
  1007.  
  1008. Prou, Victor. 1881. Les théâtres d’automates en Grèce au IIe siècle avant l’ère chrétienne d’après les Automata d’Héron d’Alexandrie. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
  1009.  
  1010. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1011.  
  1012. Considers the evidence for the use of marionettes and automata in Egyptian, Greek, and Roman society generally; then moves on to focus more specifically on Hero’s On Automaton-making. Includes summaries of the text and analysis of the mechanisms Hero describes, including quite detailed discussion of their kinematics. Concludes with a text and French translation of the second part of Hero’s work.
  1013.  
  1014. Find this resource:
  1015.  
  1016. Schürmann, Astrid. 2002. Pneumatics on stage in Pompeii: Ancient automatic devices and their social context. In Homo Faber: Studies on nature, technology, and science at the time of Pompeii. Edited by Giuseppe Castagnetti, 35–56. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
  1017.  
  1018. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1019.  
  1020. Places ancient pneumatic wonders and automata in the context of Greek and Roman dining, considering textual evidence for the use of marionettes and mechanical devices as dinner entertainment, with particular emphasis on the Cena Trimalchionis and Suetonius’s account of the Domus Aurea. Summarizes the evidence from Philo and Hero on pneumatic devices and automata before suggesting that these devices might have performed in outdoor gardens for an audience of diners.
  1021.  
  1022. Find this resource:
  1023.  
  1024. Astronomical Models
  1025. The most prominent astronomical model from antiquity is the Antikythera mechanism, which seems to have combined a moving model of the planets with calendars and eclipse prediction. The remarkable story of its retrieval from the sea and subsequent reconstruction was first told in Price 1974. This is still essential reading on the subject, even as more recently developed imaging techniques have prompted reconsideration of some of Price’s arguments. Wright 2003 and 2005 clarified the instrument’s epicyclic gearing, while Wright 2007 provides an overview of the device and its interpretation. Freeth, et al. 2006 and Freeth, et al. 2008 are the most commonly referenced recent work on the Antikythera mechanism, taking advantage of high-resolution X-ray tomography to produce extremely detailed images of the fragments and inscriptions, which radically expanded understanding of the device’s form and function. Other types of astronomical model in antiquity include the anaphoric clock and several types of sundial. The anaphoric clock, described at Vitruvius Book 9, used a rotating disk showing a planispheric projection of the stars, with a hole for each day of the year in which a small disk representing the sun could be placed, upon which was superimposed a bronze framework to represent the changing length of the hours throughout the year. Consequently it is treated in Drachmann 1954 as an antecedent of the astrolabe. Most sundials are not considered to fall under the heading of mechanical artifacts, but the geared sundial described at Field and Wright 1985 is an exception.
  1026.  
  1027. Drachmann, Aage Gerhardt. 1954. The plane astrolabe and the anaphoric clock. Centaurus 3:183–189.
  1028.  
  1029. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0498.1953.tb00528.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1030.  
  1031. Provides a detailed description of the anaphoric clock as described by Vitruvius, particularly the grid that represented the projection of the stars. Drachmann then reviews the structure of the planispheric astrolabe, emphasizing the skeletal star grid. Concludes that the astrolabe was likely patterned after the anaphoric clock rather than the other way around, as is commonly suggested.
  1032.  
  1033. Find this resource:
  1034.  
  1035. Field, J. V., and M. T. Wright. 1985. Gears from the Byzantines: A portable sundial with calendrical gearing. Annals of Science 42.2 (March): 87.
  1036.  
  1037. DOI: 10.1080/00033798500200131Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1038.  
  1039. Analyzes the surviving fragments of a portable sundial with calendrical gearing, dated to the 5th or 6th century CE. Contextualizes the device between the Antikythera mechanism and later geared mechanisms from the Islamic world. Includes photographs of the fragments and a report on their chemical composition, as well as useful background information about comparison instruments, and the composition and manufacture of toothed gears in late antiquity.
  1040.  
  1041. Find this resource:
  1042.  
  1043. Freeth, T., Y. Bitsakis, X. Moussas, et al. 2006. Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera mechanism. Nature 444.7119: 587–591.
  1044.  
  1045. DOI: 10.1038/nature05357Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1046.  
  1047. Includes photographs and tomographs of the fragments, schematic diagrams of the mechanism, excellent visualizations of the gear trains for the front and back dials, and reconstructions of the missing parts of the dials. Provides background on the history of eclipse cycles known in antiquity, the inscriptions on the mechanism, and proposed counts of the gear teeth that serve as clues to the functions of the gears.
  1048.  
  1049. Find this resource:
  1050.  
  1051. Freeth, T, A. Jones, J. M. Steele, and Y. Bitsakis. 2008. Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera mechanism. Nature 454.7204: 614–617.
  1052.  
  1053. DOI: 10.1038/nature07130Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1054.  
  1055. Continues the analysis in Freeth, et al. 2006. Adds new information based particularly on the inscriptions: the month names indicate that the mechanism uses the calendar of Corinth and its colonies; several new glyphs denoting types of eclipse are identified on the eclipse prediction dial; and the subsidiary dial now appears to show the four-year Olympiad cycle. Includes visualizations of the texture-mapping results that made this new information visible in the inscriptions.
  1056.  
  1057. Find this resource:
  1058.  
  1059. Price, Derek J. de Solla. 1974. Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera mechanism: A calendar computer from ca. 80 b.c. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
  1060.  
  1061. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1062.  
  1063. The bulk of the book consists of analysis of the fragments, their reconstruction by Price and others, their likely arrangement in the original device, and the accuracy of the astronomical information they provided. Includes a history of the device’s discovery and then-current scholarship on the mechanism and related subjects. Extensively illustrated with photographs, radiographs, and schematic drawings of the device, as well as of later astrolabes used as comparison devices.
  1064.  
  1065. Find this resource:
  1066.  
  1067. Wright, M. T. 2003. Epicyclic gearing and the Antikythera mechanism Part I. Antiquarian Horology 27:270–279.
  1068.  
  1069. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1070.  
  1071. Describes the author’s reconstruction of the gearing of the Antikythera mechanism, arguing that the epicyclic gear groups served to move the pointers denoting the sun, moon, and planets, but not to model an epicyclic planetary system themselves. Includes a review of prior scholarship, diagrams adapted from Price, and photographs of the mechanism and its reconstruction.
  1072.  
  1073. Find this resource:
  1074.  
  1075. Wright, M. T. 2005. Epicyclic gearing and the Antikythera mechanism Part II. Antiquarian Horology 29.1: 51–63.
  1076.  
  1077. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1078.  
  1079. Continues the analysis begun in Wright 2003, concluding that the lower back dial was designed with a cycle that approximated the draconitic month, and was thus employed as an eclipse predictor. Includes photographs of the author’s reconstruction of the epicyclic gears and other components of the mechanism, along with a detailed quantitative explanation of the gearing ratios.
  1080.  
  1081. Find this resource:
  1082.  
  1083. Wright, M. T. 2007. “The Antikythera Mechanism Reconsidered.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 32.1: 27–44.
  1084.  
  1085. DOI: 10.1179/030801807X163670Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1086.  
  1087. Provides background on the history of the mechanism and prior scholarship, and contributes new photographic, radiographic, and tomographic data. Argues, critiquing Price, for a “minimal” methodology in dealing with fragmentary artifacts that completely avoids speculative supplementation of the existing evidence. Wright’s own investigation was not able to take account of the so-called fragment F, so his conclusions differ somewhat from those of Freeth, et al. 2006.
  1088.  
  1089. Find this resource:
  1090.  
  1091. Water Power
  1092. Water and power were closely connected in the ancient Mediterranean; machines like the water-screw were designed to lift water, while water-wheels powered machines of many kinds, from mills to saws. Oleson 1984 and Wikander 2000 are comprehensive guides to these technologies; the former is an extraordinarily thorough account of mechanical technologies like water-wheels, bucket-chains, water-screws, and force pumps in the ancient Mediterranean, while the latter includes them in a broader context of techniques for moving and storing water and exploiting its power. Bouet and Journée d’études 2005 provides some additional perspectives on water-lifting technologies, focused on material evidence. Simms 1983 is a good introduction to the debate over the degree to which water-wheels were used in antiquity, focusing on a poem written in late antiquity by Ausonius that appears to describe a water-driven marble saw; further evidence on this case appears in Wikander 1989. Wikander 1981 provides considerable discussion of the controversy alongside a catalog of ancient water technologies that serves as an effective counter to arguments that this technology stagnated in antiquity. A large system of water-wheels that apparently served as a grain-grinding “factory” in France is described for a general readership by Hodge 1990, and in more detail at Sellin 1983. Wilson 2002 puts water-powered devices in the context of their economic effects, while Halleux 1977 uses them to address the question of the available paths to technological development in antiquity.
  1093.  
  1094. Bouet, Alain, and Journée d’études. 2005. Aquam in altum exprimere, les machines élévatrices d’eau dans l’Antiquité: actes de la journée d’études tenue à Bordeaux le 13 mars 2003. Pessac, France: Ausonius.
  1095.  
  1096. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1097.  
  1098. This judicious collection contributes significantly to understanding the breadth of application of water-lifting technologies in the Roman world. Archaeological finds ranging from London to Salona motivate the majority of these papers, while Fleury’s “La pompe à pistons dans l’Antiquité” draws on textual and epigraphic evidence as well. Includes many photographs of surviving material evidence, as well as schematic drawings of the devices as they would have been used.
  1099.  
  1100. Find this resource:
  1101.  
  1102. Halleux, Robert. 1977. Problemes de l’énergie dans le monde ancien. Les Études classiques 45.
  1103.  
  1104. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1105.  
  1106. Seeks to supplement the prevailing discussion of the use of slave labor in antiquity with analysis of the other power sources then available. Discussion based on archaeological and literary evidence is principally of the water-wheel and Hero’s “steam engine” (on which see Keyser 1992, cited under Applications: Pneumatics), suggesting reasons why these technologies were not more widely employed as power sources. Includes extensive bibliography of ancient literature and secondary scholarship.
  1107.  
  1108. Find this resource:
  1109.  
  1110. Hodge, A. Trevor. 1990. A Roman factory. Scientific American 263.5: 106–111.
  1111.  
  1112. DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican1190-106Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1113.  
  1114. A highly accessible account of the water-powered flour mill at Barbégal in France (see also Sellin 1983), including very clear illustrations. Hodge argues that the complex should be considered an example of the large-scale manufacturing frequently asserted to have been lacking from the ancient Mediterranean. Concludes with an assessment of the efficiency of water-powered machinery compared to other forms of power more commonly used in the Roman world.
  1115.  
  1116. Find this resource:
  1117.  
  1118. Oleson, John Peter. 1984. Greek and Roman mechanical water-lifting devices: The history of a technology. Toronto and Buffalo: Univ. of Toronto Press.
  1119.  
  1120. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1121.  
  1122. The primary sources considered here include literary, papyrological, and archaeological evidence (with bibliography for each type of source), along with a wealth of photographs, diagrams, reproductions of manuscript drawings, and other illustrations. The analysis of the development of water-lifting machines in their social context is clear, thoughtful, and detailed, including careful consideration of the ongoing debate about the development of mechanical technology in the ancient world.
  1123.  
  1124. Find this resource:
  1125.  
  1126. Sellin, Robert H. J. 1983. The large Roman water mill at Barbegal, France. History of Technology 8: 91–109.
  1127.  
  1128. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1129.  
  1130. A detailed description of the water mill at Barbégal in France which is introduced for a more general audience in Hodge 1990. Sellin offers considerable information on the hydrological details of the site, the plan of the mill, and the plans of the aqueducts that served it, as well as calculating the mill’s likely level of flour production.
  1131.  
  1132. Find this resource:
  1133.  
  1134. Simms, D. L. 1983. Water-driven saws, Ausonius, and the authenticity of the Mosella. Technology and Culture 24.4: 635–643.
  1135.  
  1136. DOI: 10.2307/3104251Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1137.  
  1138. Ausonius’s poem Mosella mentions a water-mill used for sawing marble, long the subject of debate over the evidence for the use of this type of mill in antiquity. Simms provides a concise yet detailed account of the scholarly debate over this matter, which discusses the provenance of the poem but focuses more heavily on the mechanisms for sawing different materials used in antiquity.
  1139.  
  1140. Find this resource:
  1141.  
  1142. Wikander, Örjan. 1981. The use of water-power in classical antiquity. Opuscula Romana 13:91–104.
  1143.  
  1144. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1145.  
  1146. Reviews the textual and material evidence for the use of water-wheels and similar devices in antiquity for tasks from kneading dough to driving ships. These are all placed in the context of the wider debate about technological progress in antiquity, making this an excellent brief guide to that dispute as well as water-powered machines in antiquity. Includes a rich bibliography.
  1147.  
  1148. Find this resource:
  1149.  
  1150. Wikander, Örjan. 1989. Ausonius’ saw-mills––Once more. Opuscula Romana 17:185–190.
  1151.  
  1152. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1153.  
  1154. Revisits the marble-sawing mill described in Ausonius’s Mosella (cf. Simms 1983) after the argument that such technologies did not exist in antiquity had finally been refuted. Uses material and additional literary evidence to determine whether the mill described by Ausonius was likely over- or under-shot, whether the sawing motion was circular or linear, etc. Provides considerable background on the problem as well as many references for further reading.
  1155.  
  1156. Find this resource:
  1157.  
  1158. Wikander, Örjan. 2000. Handbook of ancient water technology. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
  1159.  
  1160. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1161.  
  1162. Includes three excellent analyses of mechanical aspects of Greek and Roman water technology: Lewis on automata and water-clocks, and the hydraulic principles underlying their operation (pp. 343–370); Wikander on water mills (pp. 371–400); and Wikander on the applications of water power to industry in the ancient world, which argues that industrial use of water mills in antiquity was more common than has traditionally been supposed (pp. 401–411).
  1163.  
  1164. Find this resource:
  1165.  
  1166. Wilson, Andrew. 2002. “Machines, power and the ancient economy.” The Journal of Roman Studies 92:1–32.
  1167.  
  1168. DOI: 10.1017/S0075435800032135Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1169.  
  1170. Uses water-powered devices as case studies to examine the influence of patronage on technological development in the ancient world. Suggests that in the middle to late Republic and the early Empire water-powered devices had a strong economic impact, particularly on the mining industry. Includes a lengthy review of prior scholarship on attitudes toward technological development in antiquity, as well as photographs of mines and mill complexes.
  1171.  
  1172. Find this resource:
  1173.  
  1174. Other Machines
  1175. Drachmann 1963, cited under Introductory and General Works, is a good guide to the range of machines represented in ancient mechanical texts. These include some important devices which do not fit readily into the specific categories included in Applications, such as the medical traction machines described by Oribasius (Collectiones medicae 49.23.1–15). Drachmann 1973 devotes more attention to Oribasius, as his traction machines seem to have been important instances of the use of the hand-crank, as were several devices described by Hero. The eponymous surveying device of Hero’s Dioptra is analyzed from several perspectives relevant to its mechanical function in Centre Jean Palerne 2000. Hero also describes an odometer in this text, as does Vitruvius in his On Architecture. The former is briefly analyzed in Drachmann 1963 (cited under Archimedes), while the latter is given detailed attention in Sleeswyk 1979, with particular focus on the question of whether a device with a 400-tooth gear such as Vitruvius suggests was feasible. Building operations required several types of machines; lifting and hauling machines are described in Coulton 1974, while the more delicate machinery that might have been used to shape the features of columns is proposed at Precht 1991.
  1176.  
  1177. Centre Jean Palerne. 2000. Autour de La Dioptre d’Héron d’Alexandrie: Actes Du Colloque International de Saint-Etienne, 17, 18, 19 Juin 1999. Mémoires / Centre Jean-Palern 21. Saint-Étienne, France: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne.
  1178.  
  1179. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1180.  
  1181. The chapters collected here offer a broad range of approaches to Hero’s complex instrument and the surveying problems raised in his eponymous text. The chapters most relevant to mechanics are Cocco, “Un dossier: La dioptre à travers les traités grecs de l’astrolabe plan” (pp. 45–64); Feyel, “Comment restituer la dioptre d’Héron d’Alexandrie?” (pp. 191–225); and Hairie, “Aspects pratiques de la dioptre d’Héron d’Alexandrie, étude théorique et expérimentale de la précision des mesures réalisables” (pp. 257–271).
  1182.  
  1183. Find this resource:
  1184.  
  1185. Coulton, J. J. 1974. Lifting in early Greek architecture. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 94:1–19.
  1186.  
  1187. DOI: 10.2307/630416Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1188.  
  1189. A concise but detailed review of the archaeological evidence for building technologies in archaic Greece. Discusses the mechanisms for lifting which were likely to have been available in the absence of the compound pulley. Includes a table of the weights of heavy components of a variety of Greek and Roman buildings and statues, from the seventh century BCE to the sixth century CE.
  1190.  
  1191. Find this resource:
  1192.  
  1193. Drachmann, A. G. 1973. The crank in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. In Changing perspectives in the history of science: Essays in honour of Joseph Needham. Edited by Mikuláš Teich and Robert Young, 33–51. London: Heinemann Educational.
  1194.  
  1195. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1196.  
  1197. Differentiates the hand-turned crank from the machine crank (which uses a connecting rod to change rotational to linear motion or vice versa). Argues that while there were no machine cranks in antiquity, hand-cranks were probably used for moderate-sized machines (smaller than those for which capstans were used, and larger for those that could be turned with a bow). Analysis is based largely on textual evidence from Oribasius and Hero, with further information from the manuscript diagrams.
  1198.  
  1199. Find this resource:
  1200.  
  1201. Precht, Gundolf. 1991. Maschinelle Vorfertigung von Säulen und Säulentrommeln. In Bautechnik der Antike: internationales Kolloquium in Berlin vom 15.-17. Februar 1990. Edited by Adolf Hoffmann. Mainz am Rhein, Germany: Von Zabern.
  1202.  
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  1204.  
  1205. Describes the evidence for the use of mechanical devices in creating symmetrical features like the torus, cincture, and cyma on the base and capital of columns. Includes several schematic diagrams of geared mechanisms that might have served to carve these features around the circumference of the column.
  1206.  
  1207. Find this resource:
  1208.  
  1209. Sleeswyk, André Wegener. 1979. Vitruvius’ Waywiser. Archives Internationales D’histoire Des Sciences 29.04: 11–22.
  1210.  
  1211. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1212.  
  1213. On the grounds of the similarity between a mile-marking mechanism on the odometer and one attributed to Archimedes in a 12th-century Arabic text on mechanical clocks, Wegener makes the radical suggestion that Archimedes might have been the originator of the odometer, which could then plausibly (at least from a chronological perspective) have been used to lay out the milestones of Roman roads when they were first being built.
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