Athenaeus of Seleucia
Encyclopedia
Athenaeus Mechanicus is the author of a book on siegecraft, On Machines . He is identified by modern scholars with Athenaeus of Seleucia, a member of the Peripatetic school active in the mid-to-late 1st century BC, at Rome
and elsewhere.
mentions a contemporary of his, Athenaeus of Seleucia, a Peripatetic philosopher. He was for some time the leading demagogue in his native city, but afterwards came to Rome and became acquainted with Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. On the discovery of the plot which the latter, with Fannius Caepio, had entered into against Augustus
, Athenaeus accompanied him in his flight. He was retaken, but pardoned by Augustus, as there was no evidence of his having taken a more active part in the plot. He is perhaps the same person as the writer mentioned by Diodorus
, a historian who mentioned Semiramis
.
, and thus will have been composed before Marcellus' death in 23 BC (and possibly at a time when its addressee was preparing to go out on campaign). It describes a number of siege engine
s. Among the earlier mechanicians cited as sources by Athenaeus are Agesistratus, Diades of Pella
, and Philo of Byzantium
. Whitehead and Blyth analyze the treatise into a preface, a section on "good practice," a section on "bad practice," a section on Athenaeus' own innovations, and an epilogue "emphasizing preparation for war as a deterrent, and defending Athenaeus' own record against unnamed critics." The work is technical but not without signs of Athenaeus' philosophical culture: "He comes across as a philosopher, and he expounds about time and opportunity, but also claims to be enough of a technical expert to devise new machines, and to describe old ones accurately." Much of Athenaeus' work (9.4-27.6) is closely parallel to Vitruvius
, De architectura
10.13-16, a fact probably to be explained by the two authors' shared reliance on a common source.
, Parangelmata Poliorcetica, draws on Athenaeus as a source.
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and elsewhere.
Life
StraboStrabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
mentions a contemporary of his, Athenaeus of Seleucia, a Peripatetic philosopher. He was for some time the leading demagogue in his native city, but afterwards came to Rome and became acquainted with Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. On the discovery of the plot which the latter, with Fannius Caepio, had entered into against Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, Athenaeus accompanied him in his flight. He was retaken, but pardoned by Augustus, as there was no evidence of his having taken a more active part in the plot. He is perhaps the same person as the writer mentioned by Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
, a historian who mentioned Semiramis
Semiramis
The real and historical Shammuramat , was the Assyrian queen of Shamshi-Adad V , King of Assyria and ruler of the Neo Assyrian Empire, and its regent for four years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age....
.
On Machines
The treatise is addressed to Marcus Claudius MarcellusMarcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)
Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul...
, and thus will have been composed before Marcellus' death in 23 BC (and possibly at a time when its addressee was preparing to go out on campaign). It describes a number of siege engine
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s. Among the earlier mechanicians cited as sources by Athenaeus are Agesistratus, Diades of Pella
Diades of Pella
Diades of Pella , , was a Thessalian inventor of many siege engines, student of Philip II's military engineer Polyidus of Thessaly....
, and Philo of Byzantium
Philo of Byzantium
Philo of Byzantium , also known as Philo Mechanicus, was a Greek engineer and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC...
. Whitehead and Blyth analyze the treatise into a preface, a section on "good practice," a section on "bad practice," a section on Athenaeus' own innovations, and an epilogue "emphasizing preparation for war as a deterrent, and defending Athenaeus' own record against unnamed critics." The work is technical but not without signs of Athenaeus' philosophical culture: "He comes across as a philosopher, and he expounds about time and opportunity, but also claims to be enough of a technical expert to devise new machines, and to describe old ones accurately." Much of Athenaeus' work (9.4-27.6) is closely parallel to Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
, De architectura
De architectura
' is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect Vitruvius and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects...
10.13-16, a fact probably to be explained by the two authors' shared reliance on a common source.
Influence
The tenth-century poliorketikon of Hero of ByzantiumHero of Byzantium
Hero of Byzantium is believed to be the literary pseudonym of an otherwise anonymous Byzantine author of a poliorketikon, an illustrated manual of siegecraft, dating from circa 950. He is also credited with the Geodaesia, a work in practical geometry and ballistics which makes use of locations...
, Parangelmata Poliorcetica, draws on Athenaeus as a source.
Editions
- Carl(e) Wescher, Poliorcétique des Grecs. Paris, 1867. (online: Google Books, archive.org)
- Rudolf Schneider, Griechische Poliorketiker. Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen: philologisch-historische Klasse, neue Folge, 12:5. Berlin, 1912.
- David Whitehead, P.H. Blyth, Athenaeus Mechanicus, On Machines. Historia-Einzelschrift, 182. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004. ISBN 3515085327
- Maurizio Gatto (ed.), Il Peri mechanematon di Ateneo meccanico. Edizione critica, traduzione, commento e note. Aio 567. Roma: Aracne editrice, 2010. ISBN 9788854831025