Table of Contents

Contributor Biographies xi

Abbreviations xix

List of Figures and Maps xxiii

Introduction 1

Part I Physics and Cosmogony 11

1 The Creation and Destruction of the World 13
Andrew D. Gregory

2 Matter 29
Daniel W. Graham

3 Motion and Energy 43
Jean De Groot

4 Nature and the Divine 60
Svetla Slaveva-Griffin

Part II The Mathematical Sciences 77

5 Mathematics 79
Reviel Netz

6 Astronomy 96
Andrew D. Gregory

7 Astrology 114
Kocku von Stuckrad

8 Ancient Optics: Theories and Problems of Vision 130
Philip Thibodeau

9 Hydrostatics and Pneumatics in Antiquity 145
Matteo Valleriani

10 The Science of Harmonics and Music Theory in Ancient Greece 161
Sophie Gibson

Part III Earth Sciences 179

11 Hydrology: Ocean, Rivers, and Other Waterways 181
Georgia L. Irby

12 Classical Geology and the Mines of the Greeks and Romans 197
Paul T. Craddock

13 Greco-Egyptian and Byzantine Alchemy 217
Matteo Martelli

14 Meteorology 232
Liba Taub

15 Geography 247
Duane W. Roller

Part IV Life Sciences 263

16 Greek and Roman Botany 265
M. Eleanor Irwin

17 Zoology 281
Tiberiu Popa

18 “Ecology” in the ancient Mediterranean 296
Georgia L. Irby, Robin McCall, and Anita Radini

19 The Failure of Evolutionary Thinking in Antiquity 313
Devin Henry

20 Embryology 329
James Wilberding

Part V Healing and the Human Body 343

21 Anatomy and Physiology 345
Julius Rocca

22 Gynecology 360
Lauren Caldwell

23 Surgery 371
Frédéric Le Blay Translated by Todd Black

24 Physicians and “Schools” 386
Molly Jones‐Lewis

25 Pharmacy 402
Molly Jones‐Lewis

26 Magic, Curses, and Healing 418
Andrew D. Gregory

27 Healing Shrines 434
Georgia Petridou

28 Regimen and Athletic Training 450
Jason König

29 Epidemiology and Pathology 465
Efthymia Nikita, Anna Lagia, and Sevi Triantaphyllou

30 Psychology and Physiognomics 483
Arnaud Zucker

31 Anthropology: Knowledge of Man 500
Gordon Campbell

Part VI Food Sciences 517

32 Greek and Roman Agriculture 519
Philip Thibodeau

33 Animal Husbandry 533
Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr.

34 Oil and Wine Production 550
Rafael Frankel

35 Cooking and Baking Technology 570
John Paulas

36 Food Storage Technology 587
Robert I. Curtis

37 Culinary and Medicinal Uses of Wine and Olive Oil 605
John F. Donahue

38 Nutrition 618
John F. Donahue

Part VII Technology of Human Life 633

39 Greek Public and Religious Architecture 635
John R. Senseney

40 Greek Domestic Architecture 656
Bradley A. Ault

41 Greek Interior Decoration: Materials and Technology in the Art of Cosmesis and Display 672
Hariclia Brecoulaki

42 Roman Monumental and Public Architecture 693
Duane W. Roller

43 Roman Domestic Architecture 711
Nathalie de Haan

44 Roman Interior Design 730
Sarah Lepinski

45 Textile Technology 747
Ellen Harlizius‐Klück

46 Urban Infrastructure in the Roman World 768
Klaus Grewe, Translated by Johanna K. Sandrock

47 Siegeworks and Fortifications 784
Raffaele D’Amato

48 Arms and Weapons 801
Raffaele D’Amato

Part VIII Travel 817

49 Greek and Roman Cartography 819
Georgia L. Irby

50 Land Transport and Vehicles 836
Georges Raepsaet

51 Navigation and the Art of Sailing 854
Georgia L. Irby

52 Ships and Boats 870
Julian Whitewright

Part IX Telling Time 889

53 Greek Calendars 891
Laura Gawlinski

54 Roman Calendars 906
Robert Hannah

55 Time-Telling Devices 923
Robert Hannah

Part X Synthesis and Response 941

56 The Crossroads of Hellenistic and Sanskrit Science 943
Tejas S. Aralere

57 Roman Responses to Greek Science and Scholarship as a Cultural and Political Phenomenon 958
Thorsten Fögen

58 Scientific Encyclopedias 973
Katerina Oikonomopoulou

59 Translation and Transmission of Ancient Scientific Texts 988
Sonja Brentjes

60 The Reception of Greco‐Roman Science in the Renaissance: Assimilation(s), Transformation(s), Rejection, Hybridization 1009
Roberto Lo Presti

Appendix: Major Writers And Thinkers 1023

General Index 1029

Index of Authors, Thinkers, and Primary Sources 1049

Index of Toponyms 1061

About the Author

Georgia L. Irby is Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the College of William and Mary. Among her publications, she is the co-editor, with Paul T. Keyser, of the Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek Tradition and its Many Heirs (2008) and Greek Science of the Hellenistic Era: A Sourcebook (2002).