Overview: Technology and Invention 2000 b.c. to a.d. 699

Technology in the ancient and classical worlds reached impressive levels of achievement. The use of simple tools, skilled management of large numbers of workers (many of them slaves), and the absence of time pressure allowed these societies to create both productive farms and thriving cities. Many achievements of this era reflect the ingenuity and skill of these early engineers.

Agriculture

Agriculture was the foundation of preindustrial societies from ancient Egypt to early medieval Europe. The simple scratch plow and use of domesticated animals, especially in the ancient Mediterranean world, grew the grain that allowed civilizations to emerge. In places like Egypt, where regular river flooding required the storage and control of water, irrigation ditches and canals were essential for society's survival. Water control was a central function of society, and social and political structures emerged to develop and maintain it. These "hydraulic cultures," like many preindustrial societies, valued stability and discouraged technological innovation; the pace of change in them was often very slow.

Although technical change occurred slowly, it gradually diffused throughout the known world. Many advances came from the East, including the use of natural fertilizers, such as manure and lime. In addition, the Roman empire spread techniques such as crop rotation, grafting, and mariculture to much of its empire, giving the world enough food to allow civilization to flourish. Between the fifth and eighth centuries, three key developments would revolutionize early medieval agriculture and society: the stirrup, the horseshoe, and the padded horse collar.

Urban Technology

This agricultural base allowed cities to develop, and their needs fueled still further technological developments. Water supply and sewage systems, monumental structures, bridges, roads, arenas, public buildings, central heating systems, defensive city walls, urban planning, and record keeping all stemmed from the needs of cities. As urban centers grew, so did their buildings. The brick and stone of early construction eventually gave way to hydraulic cement, which allowed the construction of bigger and stronger structures. The Romans also introduced a new motif in building architecture with the use of the semicircular arch, which they used in bridges and aqueducts.

Cities in this era were ceremonial, commercial, political, and trading centers. Each had its special technological needs, including the need to manage large labor forces. Despite their limitations, early societies produced impressive results, from Mayan temples to Roman aqueducts. Just as agrarian hydraulic societies relied on a highly ordered social system, the urban segment depended on a well managed and controlled population for the construction and maintenance of its technology. Those technological features, when well maintained, provided decades or even centuries of use, a testament to the quality and design prowess of ancient engineers.

Mechanics and Metallurgy

Not all ancient technology was purely functional; many inventions were intended for amusement and decoration as well. For instance, the ancient Greeks used their mechanical ingenuity to produce a series of technological toys or gadgets, using their sophisticated understanding of hydraulics, pneumatics, and mechanics to produce steam-powered toys, water organs, water clocks, and pumps. Unfortunately, with an army of slaves to do the heavy lifting, there was little incentive to transform these "toys" into laborsaving devices. Even so, the Greeks' ability to apply a theoretical understanding of simple machines such as the lever, screw, wedge, and pulley led to several devices like the olive press, crane, and water screw. This fundamental understanding of mechanics and the resultant engineering of such men as Archimedes and Ctesibius provided a foundation for later developments in the Roman and medieval eras.

The decorative arts were also the foundation of metallurgy in the ancient world. The desire to produce beautiful pieces for the nobility or religious hierarchy created a core of skilled artisans adept at working with gold, bronze, copper, silver, and iron. Ancient Egypt and China, for example, had sophisticated metal-working techniques in place centuries before this kind of metallurgy became a hallmark of industrialism.

The Written Record

Ancient and classical cultures learned to write and store information to record their achievements. Stone tablets, sheets of papyrus, scrolls of parchment, and pages bound in book form were among the many ways to store words and symbols. The Romans, for example, developed a set of rectangular single sheets bound together in a form that became the prototype of the printed book.

With these documents came the need for libraries. The largest and most influential of these, at Alexandria, Egypt, housed as many as 500,000 scrolls containing the work of the ancient and classical world's significant scientists and philosophers. Unfortunately, in the late third century a.d., the library was destroyed and much ancient knowledge was lost.

Empirical Technology

Throughout this era, almost all technological developments were empirical: brought about by the direct observation of a need. Invention based on theory or scientific hypothesis was rare in the ancient world. Although astronomy and mathematics, especially geometry, were used to site structures or to operate simple machines such as the screw or lever, science played a minor role in technology. This trial-and-error method, while it hindered rapid progress, did allow engineers to learn by doing. Its benefits are obvious in the era's durable and practical construction. Indeed, the Romans were renowned for their ability to organize and complete large-scale projects.

A lack of theoretical understanding in engineering efforts extracted a price as well. Often the projects created were heavier than necessary and overdesigned or overengineered. Relatively cheap labor and materials removed the need to worry about efficiency or economy, so the use of extra materials or labor was commonplace. Massive, solid projects with a high margin of safety marked the technology of the time. A greater theoretical analysis would have given engineers more efficient results using less material with the same margin of safety.

Conclusion

Early technological achievements prove that simple tools, well-managed labor forces, and practical knowledge, when used by skilled and experienced craftsmen can produce impressive results. Early innovations created a successful agriculture that eventually supported the development of larger civilizations. The pace of change was slow—because many cultures sought stability over transformation—yet their technology was well learned, durable, and skillful, features desirable for any era.

H. J. EISENMAN