Athenaeus Mechanicus: On Machines (Peri mechanematon) (eBook)

Translated with Introduction and Commentary

David Whitehead, Philip H. Blyth (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2017 | 1. Auflage
236 Seiten
Franz Steiner Verlag
978-3-515-11904-7 (ISBN)

Infos

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.

Inhalt

CONTENTS 6
Preface???????????????????????????? 8
Conventions and Abbreviations???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 10
Measures and Weights?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 12
List of Figures???????????????????????????????????????????? 13
INTRODUCTION?????????????????????????????????????? 14
(A) Basics?????????????????????????????????? 14
(i) Text(s)???????????????????????????????????? 14
(ii) Translations???????????????????????????????????????????????? 15
(iii) Commentaries?????????????????????????????????????????????????? 15
(iv) Influence?????????????????????????????????????????? 15
(B) The author?????????????????????????????????????????? 16
(i) Background?????????????????????????????????????????? 16
(ii) Issues???????????????????????????????????? 21
(iii) Rekonstruktionsvorschlag?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 29
(C) The work?????????????????????????????????????? 32
(i) Internal arrangement?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 32
(ii) Style and substance?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 34
(D) Principles and practicalities???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 40
(i) Text?????????????????????????????? 40
(ii) Translation?????????????????????????????????????????????? 41
(iii) Commentary (and Endnotes)???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 42
TEXT AND TRANSLATION?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 44
COMMENTARY?????????????????????????????????? 66
ENDNOTES?????????????????????????????? 172
1. A late-third-century-BC Athenaeus????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 172
2. Agesistratus???????????????????????????????????????????? 173
3. Rams and Drills?????????????????????????????????????????????????? 175
4. Diades’ Towers 177
5. Hegetor?????????????????????????????????? 188
6. Epimachus’ Helepolis 191
7. The Protrochos???????????????????????????????????????????????? 192
FIGURES???????????????????????????? 194
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY???????????????????????????????????????????????????? 216
INDICES???????????????????????????? 218
Index of passages cited???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 218
(i) Athenaeus???????????????????????????????????????? 218
(ii) Other literary sources???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 223
(iii) Inscriptions?????????????????????????????????????????????????? 230
(iv) Papyri???????????????????????????????????? 230
Greek Index???????????????????????????????????? 231
General Index???????????????????????????????????????? 233

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.9.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• ISBN-10: 3-515-11904-3 / 3515119043
• ISBN-13: 978-3-515-11904-7 / 9783515119047