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Technology in Greek

Wales, for instance, they built vast tanks to and Roman agriculture
hold water, which would sweep away soil and
reveal gold veins in the bedrock when
There were relatively few major innova- classical antiquity. In particular, the
released. In addition, the Romans created
tions in agriculture during classical Romans perfected the art of tree grafting,
concrete that resisted the test of time, the
antiquity. The watermill, first invented in the joining of a scion to a rootstalk, which
recipes for which are preserved by the author the Hellenistic period, became increas- is essential in propagating fruit trees that
Vitruvius (first century AD). ingly common in late antiquity, and are not productive when growing from
Focusing on epoch-making innovations archaeological remains have been found seed. Grafting methods allowed the
and inventions, however, is not always throughout the western Roman empire. Romans to transplant fruit trees from
productive in the history of technology, for it Two Roman authors, Pliny the Elder central Asia to the Mediterranean basin,
distracts from everyday technologies which (first century AD) and Palladius (fourth or and hence to northern regions. For
played a crucial role in the lives of the many fifth century AD) describe a harvesting instance, the Romans propagated the
machine, called a vallus, sometimes sweet cherry that grew in Pontus (modern
rather than the few. It is worthwhile to take a
dubbed the ‘ancestor of the combine Turkey) to Italy, and then to Roman
step back and reflect on the meaning of the
harvester’, employed on large estates in Britain. They also perfected techniques
word ‘technology’, which is Greek in origin.
Gaul. It was mounted on wheels, pulled to ‘graft’ together trees that are not
‘Technology’ is a discourse (Greek: logos) by an ox, and was equipped with metal compatible – to be compatible, trees
about a technê (plural technai) – a word that teeth to cut off the ears of corn. An must be of the same genus, preferably
can be very difficult to translate into English, exceptional representation of the of the same species. Thus, the agronomi-
although ‘art’ or ‘craft’ are often appropriate. harvester was discovered in Buzenol in cal writer Columella (first century AD)
Greek philosophers, especially those who had Belgium in 1958. Sixty years later, describes at length how he developed a
studied with Socrates, reflected at length on scholars still debate about the exact method to ‘graft’ an olive onto a fig. From
the notion of technê and its relationship with appearance and function of the vallus. the point of view of modern botany, this
While mechanical inventions were few, was not truly a graft (where scion and
epistêmê, knowledge. Thus, Plato often used
if we accept a broader definition of rootstalk end up sharing vascular tissue),
examples from technai to illustrate philo-
technology, one that includes various but rather a method in which the olive
sophical points: from farming, sculpting,
crafts and skills, there were some took root in the fig. Still, it was a great feat
weaving, pottery, horsemanship, music important agricultural advances in of horticultural skill.
playing, generalship, cookery, medicine, and
many more. The philosopher also questioned
whether certain arts, such as rhetoric, should nor the Romans invented writing, but the The Ptolemaic kings based at Alexandria
count as technê or not. Many of the technai Greeks were the first to write down vowels, refused to export the precious plant, which
listed by Plato changed relatively little over adapting the Phoenician alphabet (or to be led the kings of Pergamum to develop an
the course of antiquity, but nevertheless were more accurate abjad), which only contained alternative: prepared skins of animals. That
essential to the good functioning of society. consonants, to the needs of their language story, however, is unlikely to be true, as
Ancient technai were usually transmitted in the late ninth or early eighth century BC. parchment is attested in Anatolia several
along family lines, generally from father to Greeks and Romans used a variety of media centuries earlier.
son or from mother to daughter. They were for writing, including wax tablets and While the scroll (whether of papyrus or
a source of pride to those who possessed papyrus scrolls, both represented on Douris’s parchment) remained in common use
them. The Hippocratic Oath (a text that is School Cup. The papyrus scroll, made from throughout antiquity, it gradually lost its
very difficult to date, but may go back to the the plant of the same name, was the material prominence to the codex, which resembles
fifth century BC) illustrates this feeling of on which the books of the famous Library at the books with which we are familiar. First
pride: the new doctor who swore the oath (by Alexandria were preserved. mentioned in the first century AD, the codex
no means all doctors swore it in antiquity) Legend has it that parchment was invented started to rival the scroll in the second
promised to ‘guard my life and my technê’. If in the second century BC at Pergamum. The century AD. Initially it was favoured by mar-
he did so, he would benefit from good returns kings of Pergamum, the Hellenistic Attalids, ginal groups, such as the early Christians
and excellent reputation. wanted to create a library that would rival who used it for their devotional works, but it
that of Alexandria. To do so, however, they slowly gained popularity, and became the
Written in wax needed papyrus, which grew only in Egypt. dominant format by AD 500.
Ancient potters active at Athens at the Technology, then, should not be confused
beginning of the fifth century BC enjoyed with engineering, which is only one branch
representing other artisans’ technai. For among many. Some technologies, such as
instance, the so-called Foundry Painter precision gear tools, remained in the hands
depicted a bronze workshop in great detail on of the wealthy. Others, such as water
the ‘Foundry Cup’: the smelting oven, statues transportation technologies, benefitted a
at various stages of build, and separate bronze larger section of the ancient population,
hands and feet, ready to be attached to although by no means everyone. But perhaps
statues. The Clinic Painter, for his part, most important in shaping our perception of
represented a doctor’s surgery on an aryballos the ancient world is writing, even though
(a small flask): a physician bleeding a patient, levels of literacy remained relatively low
while others queued outside. Finally, Douris, throughout antiquity.
on his School Cup, painted a school, where
both music and reading were taught. Laurence Totelin is a senior lecturer in ancient
GETTY Writing itself is a technology, one that history at Cardiff University and the author, with
involves tools and skills. Neither the Greeks
Flask, c6 BC, depicting Gavin Hardy, of Ancient Botany (Routledge, 2015)
a doctor bleeding
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