eBook - PDF

Athenaeus Mechanicus: On Machines (Peri mechanematon)

Name: Athenaeus Mechanicus: On Machines (Peri mechanematon)
Author: David Whitehead,Philip H. Blyth

Translated with Introduction and Commentary

David Whitehead,

Philip H. Blyth,

238 pages
English
PDF
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - PDF

Athenaeus Mechanicus: On Machines (Peri mechanematon)

Translated with Introduction and Commentary

David Whitehead,

Philip H. Blyth,

About this book

Athenaeus 'Mechanicus' – the surname differentiates him from better-known homonyms – wrote a treatise on Greek siege-machinery. Uniquely in the genre, it combined general cultural erudition, historical survey, and

This is the work's first English translation, and the first commentary in any language. Athenaeus is argued to be a Cilician ex-statesman living in Rome in the 20s B.C. and striving, like his contemporary Vitruvius, for imperial patronage there.
As regards the treatise itself, it is here evaluated from the perspectives not only of ancient history and philology but also engineering. This highlights the skill of an early-Hellenistic practitioner like Diades, who served Alexander the Great; but it also reveals how, in a later age, workable ideas could no longer be distinguished from wishful thinking – the latter a category to which Athenaeus himself proudly made his own contributions.

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Yes, you can access Athenaeus Mechanicus: On Machines (Peri mechanematon) by David Whitehead,Philip H. Blyth in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & History Reference. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.