The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World

884 Pages·2008·46.909 MB·English

by  John Peter Oleson

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF
ENGINEERING
AND TECHNOLOGY
IN THE CLASSICAL
WORLD
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THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF
ENGINEERING
AND
TECHNOLOGY
IN THE
CLASSICAL
WORLD
Edited by
JOHN PETER OLESON
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2008
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oxford handbook of engineering and technology in the Classical world / edited by John Peter Oleson.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1
1. Technology-Rome-History-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Technology-Greece-History
Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Engineering-Rome-History-Handbooks, manuals, etc.
4. Engineering-Greece-History-Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Oleson, John Peter.
T16.O94 2007
609.38-dc22 2007010727
135798642
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Martha, Olaf, and Patience
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34)
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editor is deeply grateful to the scholars who agreed to take time from their
busy schedules of research and publication to contribute to this book. I believe that
our collaboration has been fruitful and that the total of our contributions far
exceeds the sum of the individual parts. I am also grateful to Professor Jamie A.
Cassels, vice president academic of the University of Victoria, and to Professor
Andrew Rippin, dean of humanities, for some teaching release and research
funding associated with the award of a Distinguished Professorship, and to my
colleagues in the department of Greek and Roman Studies for their explicit and
implicit support of my research endeavors. I am also very grateful to Derek Sou,
who provided admirably meticulous proofreading services during the preparation
of this volume, and to Milorad Nikolic, who translated chapter 12 from German
and read over some other materials. Ms. Martina Mussi assisted me in the
translation of chapter 22 from Italian, and I myself translated chapter 23 from the
French manuscript. I benefited from consultation concerning various matters with
my colleagues Dr. Gregory Rowe and Dr. Brendan Burke. I am also grateful to the
many members of the editorial staff at Oxford University Press who assisted me in
improving the manuscript and producing a useful and attractive book.
Several authors have asked that their acknowledgments be included in the
book, and I have listed these here, in order to avoid footnotes and addenda in the
individual chapters.
Dr. Kevin Greene acknowledges with gratitude that his chapters incorporate
research conducted during the tenure of a British Academy Research Readership
with support from the School of Historical Studies of Newcastle University. His
definitions of invention and innovation benefited from discussions with Professor
David Edgerton (Imperial College) and Claudia Durrwachter (Newcastle Uni
versity).
Professor Andrew I. Wilson wishes to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the
award of a Philip Leverhulme Prize, which funded a period of research leave during
which he prepared three chapters for this book.
Dr. Lynne Lancaster expresses her gratitude for the comments and insights of
Fikret Yegiil on an early draft of the manuscript of her chapter, and to Sandra
Lucore for sharing her work on the bath building at Morgantina, which is the
subject of her doctoral dissertation at Bryn Mawr.
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CONTENTS
Contributors, xiii
Abbreviations and Spelling Norms, xvii
Introduction, 3
John Peter Oleson
PART I SOURCES
1. Ancient Written Sources for Engineering and Technology, 15
Serafina Cuomo
2. Representations of Technical Processes, 35
Roger Ulrich
3. Historiography and Theoretical Approaches, 62
Kevin Greene
PART II PRIMARY, EXTRACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
4. Mining and Metallurgy, 93
Paul T. Craddock
5. Quarrying and Stoneworking, 121
J. Clayton Fant
6. Sources of Energy and Exploitation of Power, 136
6rjan Wikander
7. Greek and Roman Agriculture, 158
Evi Margaritis and Martin K. Jones
8. Animal Husbandry, Hunting, Fishing, and Fish Production, 175
Geoffrey Kron