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Robert Sallares

Abortion was controversial in antiquity. Doctors taking the Hippocratic Oath (see hippocrates (2)) swore not to administer abortifacients, but other Hippocratic texts suggest that prostitutes (see ...
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Abortion was controversial in antiquity. Doctors taking the Hippocratic Oath (see hippocrates (2)) swore not to administer abortifacients, but other Hippocratic texts suggest that prostitutes (see prostitution, secular) often employed abortion. A *Lysias fragment suggests that abortion was a crime in Athens against the husband, if his wife was pregnant when he died, since his unborn child could have claimed the estate. Greek temple inscriptions show that abortion made a woman impure for 40 days (see pollution).The Stoics (see stoicism) believed that the foetus resembled a plant and only became an animal at birth when it started breathing. This attitude made abortion acceptable. Roman jurisprudence maintained that the foetus was not autonomous from the mother's body. There is no evidence for laws against abortion during the Roman republic. It was common during the early Roman empire (e.g. Ov. Am. 2. 14), and was practised for many reasons, e.g. for family limitation, in case of *adultery, or because of a desire to maintain physical beauty.Less

Jonathan Coulston

Evidence for Greek and Roman artillery comes from the surviving technical treatises, incidental historical and subliterary references, and, most importantly, finds of both machine-fittings and ...
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Evidence for Greek and Roman artillery comes from the surviving technical treatises, incidental historical and subliterary references, and, most importantly, finds of both machine-fittings and projectiles. The latter at present date from the 2nd cent. bce to the 4th cent. ce.In 399 bce artificers of *Dionysius (1) I apparently invented the first artillery piece (Diod. Sic. 14. 42. 1). The gastraphetēs shot arrows only, and somewhat resembled an early medieval crossbow. Propulsion force was supplied by a composite bow, which, being too powerful for a man to draw by hand, was bent by means of a slide and stock. Later gastraphetai, some of which were stone-throwers, used a winch and had a stand.Torsion catapults appeared around 340 bce, possibly invented by *Philip (1) II's engineers. Stock, winch, and base remained much the same, but two springs, bundles of rope made from animal sinew, horsehair, or human hair, and held at high tension in a metal-plated wooden frame, now provided propulsive power. Torsion machines improved continuously in efficiency through the Roman period. From c.Less

G. J. Toomer and Alexander Jones

Although the introduction of an astronomical instrument (the gnomon, an upright stick for measuring shadow-lengths) is credited to *Anaximander in the 6th cent. bce, reliable information on the form ...
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Although the introduction of an astronomical instrument (the gnomon, an upright stick for measuring shadow-lengths) is credited to *Anaximander in the 6th cent. bce, reliable information on the form of such instruments comes only from the later Hellenistic era, with extant examples (mostly sundials; see clocks) and detailed descriptions in the works of *Vitruvius, *Heron, *Ptolemy (4) and his commentators. As early as 432 bce*Meton observed the solstice at Athens with a heliotropion, but this may have been no more than an upright pillar fixed on a level platform to mark the shortest shadow. We know nothing about the instruments used by successors of Meton, such as *Callippus in the 4th cent., to determine the times of solstice and equinox, nor of those used by *Timocharis and other early Hellenistic astronomers to measure stellar declinations. Perhaps the earliest instrument, apart from sundials, of which we have a detailed description is the device constructed by *Archimedes (Sand-reckoner 11–15) for measuring the sun's apparent diameter; this was a rod along which different coloured pegs could be moved.Less

Ernst Badian and T. W. Potter

Canals (fossae, διώρυγες). Drainage and *irrigation canals were widely used in antiquity. The oldest, in Iraq, date to the sixth millennium bce, while in *Egypt they were in use from the fourth ...
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Canals (fossae, διώρυγες). Drainage and *irrigation canals were widely used in antiquity. The oldest, in Iraq, date to the sixth millennium bce, while in *Egypt they were in use from the fourth millennium. Thenceforth, in both *Mesopotamia and *Egypt, irrigation canals came increasingly to be employed, although long-distance straight-line waterways are mainly a development of the first millennium bce; Sennacherib's celebrated Jerwan aqueduct (691 bce), ran for over 80 km. (50 mi.) from the uplands to *Nineveh (1). But in Mesopotamia full state-controlled irrigation systems appeared only on Sasanian times (226–640 ce). In Greece, Lake *Copais was first reclaimed by the Mycenaeans (Strabo 9. 2. 40); Hellenistic works (by Crates of Chalcis: Strabo 9. 2. 18) and Hadrianic dykes are also attested; *Xerxes' canal through Mt. *Athos was for military ends. Projects (never realized) to pierce the Isthmus of *Corinth are intermittently attested from *Periander's time (see diolkos).Less

G. J. Toomer and Serafina Cuomo

The usual instrument for telling time in antiquity was the sundial. This employed the shadow of a pointer (γνώμων) cast on a plane, spherical, or conical surface marked with lines indicating the ...
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The usual instrument for telling time in antiquity was the sundial. This employed the shadow of a pointer (γνώμων) cast on a plane, spherical, or conical surface marked with lines indicating the seasonal hours (one seasonal hour was of the length of daylight at a given place: hours of constant length were used only by astronomers). Often, there were lines indicating the solstices and equinoxes. Although crude sundials may have been introduced into Greece in the 6th cent. bce (Hdt. 2. 109 says that the Greeks imported the γνώμων and twelve-part division of the day from the Babylonians), we find them more commonly used from the 3rd cent., when the mathematical theory necessary for correctly drawing the hour-lines had been developed. The earliest preserved Greek sundial found to date, from Oropos, dates from the 4th cent.At night the ancients used the water-clock (κλεψύδρα), which measured time by the flow of water from a vessel. A simple form was in use in Athenian courts of the 5th cent. bce.Less

J. T. Vallance

Many ancient medical authorities believed that therapeutic medicine had its origins in the gradual discovery of connections between health and the regulation of one's day-to-day life ...
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Many ancient medical authorities believed that therapeutic medicine had its origins in the gradual discovery of connections between health and the regulation of one's day-to-day life (δίαιτα). A group of treatises in the Hippocratic corpus (see hippocrates (2)) is concerned specifically with the study of the living-patterns of both sick and healthy. By the time *Celsus wrote the preface to his treatise On Medicine, dietetics had long been established as one of the three main branches of therapeutics, along with *surgery and *pharmacology. Traditionally, Herodicus of Selymbria, a gymnastic trainer, was credited with recognizing the connections between regimen and both health and illness; dietetics was originally thought to have developed in the context of the regulation of life for those training for the games (see Pl.Resp. 406a).

Hippocratic dietetic strategy involved the doctor with the healthy as much as the sick. Certain activities were known to be risky, and were thus to be discouraged—too much sex, drinking, reading, inactivity, massage, and so on. Doctors were encouraged to observe with great care all the factors, both internal and external, which might influence the body for good or ill.

Paul Cartledge and Robert Sallares

The Mediterranean is a zone of intense earthquake activity because the plates carrying Africa and Europe are slowly moving together, according to the theory of plate tectonics. Notable earthquakes in ...
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The Mediterranean is a zone of intense earthquake activity because the plates carrying Africa and Europe are slowly moving together, according to the theory of plate tectonics. Notable earthquakes in antiquity include: *Spartac.464 bce, where several thousands may have perished; Helice in *Achaea373 bce, where the city was submerged under the sea; *Rhodes227/6 bce, when the Colossus statue collapsed; *Pompeii62 ce, which suffered severe damage. Some destructions of Mycenaean and Minoan palaces are also attributed to earthquakes. Earthquakes were associated with *Poseidon in mythology: Poseidon the Homeric ‘earth-shaker’ (ennosigaios) was fervently worshipped also as ‘earth-holder’ (gaiaochos) and ‘stabilizer’ (asphalios), in Sparta and elsewhere. King Agesipolis of Sparta was as distinctly unusual in his pragmatic approach to an earthquake in the Argolis in 388 bce (XenophonHell. 4. 7. 4–5) as Herodotus (7.Less

Frederick Norman Pryce and Michael Vickers

Glass (ὕαλος (also 'rock crystal'), vitrum). The art of producing a vitreous surface on stone, powdered quartz (faience), or clay was known in pre-dynastic Egypt and passed to Crete during the second ...
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Glass (ὕαλος (also 'rock crystal'), vitrum). The art of producing a vitreous surface on stone, powdered quartz (faience), or clay was known in pre-dynastic Egypt and passed to Crete during the second millennium bce. Glazed objects are common on Greek sites of the Archaic period, some of them Egyptian imports, others probably made locally. In Hellenistic and Roman times Egypt and Asia Minor were centres of fabrication of glazed wares, which often imitated bronze.Objects composed entirely of glass paste begin to appear in Egypt about 1500 bce, when two allied processes seem to have been in use: modelling molten glass about a core of sand, and pressing it into an open mould. The chief Mycenaean glass is dark blue imitating lapis lazuli, used for beads, inlays, and architectural ornaments. In the 6th cent. small vases made by the sand-core process became known in Greece; they have opaque blue, brown, or white bodies and a marbled effect was produced on their surface by means of a comb or spike. In the Hellenistic period mould-made bowls come into fashion; these were produced mainly in Egypt. Here the tradition of opaque polychrome glass was continued into Roman times with millefiori bowls, in which marbled and other polychrome patterns were formed by fusing glass canes of various colours and pressing them into moulds.Less

Nicholas Purcell

Tall monuments which might function as navigational marks were an early feature of ancient harbour-architecture (Archaic examples are known on *Thasos). The idea became celebrated with the building ...
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Tall monuments which might function as navigational marks were an early feature of ancient harbour-architecture (Archaic examples are known on *Thasos). The idea became celebrated with the building of the 100-m. (328-ft.) tower on the Pharus island at *Alexandria (1), which gave its name to the architectural genre (c.300–280 bce, by Sostratus of *Cnidus (Strabo 17. 1. 6)), and the colossus of *Helios at *Rhodes (280 bce, by *Chares (4) of Lindus (Plin. HN 34. 41)): both so famous as to be reckoned among the *Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Beacon-fires made such monuments more visible by night as well as by day: but their function as signs of conquest and displays of prestige was as important. Claudius' lighthouse tower at *Portus, intended to rival the Pharus, became a symbol of Rome's port and its activities. The (partly preserved) lighthouse at Dover castle, and its opposite number at Boulogne (*Gesoriacum) suggested the taming of the Channel; another survives at La Coruña (*Brigantium) at the Atlantic extremity of Spain.Less

Jonathan Edmondson

Metallurgy covers all processes involving native metal or metallic ores after mining (concentration, smelting, refining) up to the production of artefacts. Understanding these depends less on ...
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Metallurgy covers all processes involving native metal or metallic ores after mining (concentration, smelting, refining) up to the production of artefacts. Understanding these depends less on literary references (mainly Roman: *Strabo, *Pliny (1)) than on archaeological and scientific research, analytical, comparative, and experimental. Only the richest ores could be smelted directly; generally, enrichment was needed to avoid wasting fuel. So, mined rock was sorted underground and above, poorer material rejected, and the richer crushed with stone mauls or iron hammers on anvil-stones; deeply worn boulders are recognizable as such in *Laurium. Washing aided concentration of ores, especially those (gold, argentiferous lead) heavier than gangue; it could be done in pans or cradles, with rough cloth or fleeces (as in *Colchis, giving rise to the golden fleece legend). Milling to a fine grain, in rotary mills or hopper-querns, and sieving preceded washing. Laurium best exemplifies the elaborate arrangements for ore treatment which local conditions necessitated. Stone-built cement-surfaced rectangular washing tables had stand-tanks with funnelled jet-holes (perhaps serving wooden sluices), level floors, sunken channels, and sedimentation basins, which separated the milled ore from gangue and recycled water. There are also four known round washeries with helicoidal stone sluices. Repeated washing ensured the desired enrichment. Smelting was done with wood or carbon fuel in ovens of various forms, with heat intensified by means of bellows. Laurium offers five furnace sites, three excavated with a row of banked oven-rooms, filling-platforms, and traces of stone and clay chimney-ovens. Furnace techniques depended on the melting-point of metals, the ores used, the need to use fluxes or cope with slag, whether reduction or oxidization took place, and whether the process produced a liquid metal (copper, bronze, gold, a silver–lead mix) to be tapped into moulds to form ingots, or a livid mass (iron bloom) requiring hot hammering. Remelting and refining generally followed; so, ‘work-lead’, remelted under blown air produced metallic silver (for minting coins) and lead-oxide, which again remelted produced lead (for sealing cramps in masonry etc. ). The Greeks used crucible and cupellation methods, developed an early knowledge of alloys (e.g. copper, then arsenical coppers, true copper–tin bronzes, and lead-bronzes for casting), and mastered various hot and cold treatments for metals, smithing, and soldering. Some vase-paintings usefully illustrate workshop activities, like smithing and casting of bronze statues. See mines and mining, Greek.Less