The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World

by Peter Oleson, John

• ISBN13: 9780199734856
• ISBN10: 0199734852
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Nearly every aspect of daily life in the Mediterranean world and Europe during the florescence of the Greek and Roman cultures is relevant to the topics of engineering and technology. This volume highlights both the accomplishments of the ancient societies and the remaining research problems,and stimulates further progress in the history of ancient technology. The subject matter of the book is the technological framework of the Greek and Roman cultures from ca. 800 B.C. through ca. A.D. 500 in the circum-Mediterranean world and Northern Europe. Each chapter discusses a technology orfamily of technologies from an analytical rather than descriptive point of view, providing a critical summation of our present knowledge of the Greek and Roman accomplishments in the technology concerned and the evolution of their technical capabilities over the chronological period. Eachpresentation reviews the issues and recent contributions, and defines the capacities and accomplishments of the technology in the context of the society that used it, the available "technological shelf," and the resources consumed. These studies introduce and synthesize the results of excavation orspecialized studies. The chapters are organized in sections progressing from sources (written and representational) to primary (e.g., mining, metallurgy, agriculture) and secondary (e.g., woodworking, glass production, food preparation, textile production and leather-working) production, totechnologies of social organization and interaction (e.g., roads, bridges, ships, harbors, warfare and fortification), and finally to studies of general social issues (e.g., writing, timekeeping, measurement, scientific instruments, attitudes toward technology and innovation) and the relevance ofethnographic methods to the study of classical technology. The unrivalled breadth and depth of this volume make it the definitive reference work for students and academics across the spectrum of classical studies.

Author Biography

John Peter Oleson is Distinguished Professor of Greek and Roman Studies, University of Victoria, Canada.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. xiii
Abbreviations and Spelling Norms	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 3
Sources
Ancient Written Sources for Engineering and Technology	p. 15
Representations of Technical Processes	p. 35
Historiography and Theoretical Approaches	p. 62
Primary, Extractive Technologies
Mining and Metallurgy	p. 93
Quarrying and Stoneworking	p. 121
Sources of Energy and Exploitation of Power	p. 136
Greek and Roman Agriculture	p. 158
Animal Husbandry, Hunting, Fishing, and Fish Production	p. 175
Engineering and Complex Machines
Greek Engineering and Construction	p. 225
Roman Engineering and Construction	p. 256
Hydraulic Engineering and Water Supply	p. 285
Tunnels and Canals	p. 319
Machines in Greek and Roman Technology	p. 337
Secondary Processes and Manufacturing
Food Processing and Preparation	p. 369
Large-Scale Manufacturing, Standardization, and Trade	p. 393
Metalworking and Tools	p. 418
Woodworking	p. 439
Textile Production	p. 465
Tanning and Leather	p. 483
Ceramic Production	p. 496
Glass Production	p. 520
Technologies of Movement and Transport
Land Transport, Part 1: Roads and Bridges	p. 551
Land Transport, Part 2: Riding, Harnesses, and Vehicles	p. 580
Sea Transport, Part 1: Ships and Navigation	p. 606
Sea Transport, Part 2: Harbors	p. 638
Technologies of Death
Greek Warfare and Fortification	p. 673
Roman Warfare and Fortification	p. 691
Technologies of the Mind
Information Technologies: Writing, Book Production, and the Role of Literacy	p. 715
Timekeeping	p. 740
Technologies of Calculation	p. 759
Weights and Measures	p. 759
Coinage	p. 769
Practical Mathematics	p. 777
Gadgets and Scientific Instruments	p. 785
Inventors, Invention, and Attitudes toward Innovation	p. 800
Ethnoarchaeology and Model-Building
Expanding Ethnoarchaeology: Historical Evidence and Model-Building in the Study of Technological Change	p. 821
Index	p. 837
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