1 The Birth of Science - MSRI

92 4. Scientific Technology
4.3 Military Technology
One area in which the close relation between Hellenistic science and tech- page 129
nology is particularly visible is military technology. The descriptions given
by Polybius 30 and Plutarch of the siege of Syracuse (212 B.C.) bear witness
to the terror roused by “technological warfare”. Plutarch tells us that when
Archimedes
began to ply his engines, he at once shot against the land forces all
sorts of missile weapons, and immense masses of stone . . . [Some
ships were] lifted up into the air by an iron hand or beak like a
crane’s beak and . . . plunged . . . to the bottom of the sea; . . . A ship
was frequently lifted up to a great height in the air (a dreadful thing
to behold), and was rolled to and fro, and kept swinging, until the
mariners were all thrown out, when at length it was dashed against
the rocks, or let fall. 31
Plutarch presents the technology the Syracusans used as a set of inventions
contrived by Archimedes’ isolated genius. Generally speaking, this
childish version has been transmitted uncritically down to our days. But
the “machines of Archimedes” should instead be understood within the
framework of the progress achieved by military technology starting from
early Hellenistic times. This is clear from Diodorus Siculus’ report of the
siege of Rhodes by Demetrius Polyorcetes, in 305 B.C., which reads in part:
Demetrius . . . built an engine called the helepolis [destroyer of cities],
which far surpassed in size those which had been constructed before
it. . . . The whole structure was movable, mounted on eight great
solid wheels . . . [and was] nine storeys high. . . . The three exposed
sides of the machine he covered externally with iron plates. . . . On
each storey there were ports on the front, in size and in shape fitted
to the individual characteristics of the missiles that were to be
shot forth. These ports had shutters, which were lifted by a mechanical
device and which secured the safety of the men on the platforms
who were busy serving the artillery. . . 32
[On some ships intercepted by the Rhodians] were also captured
eleven famous engineers, men of outstanding skill in making mis- page 130
siles and catapults. 33
30
Polybius, Historiae, VIII, 7–9.
31
Plutarch, Vita Marcelli, xv, 1–3 (Dryden translation).
32
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, XX, xci, 1–6 (Geer translation, volume 10 of Loeb edition).
33
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, XX, xciii, 5 (Geer translation).
Revision: 1.14 Date: 2002/10/24 04:25:47