SCIENCE WRITING IN GRECO- ROMAN ANTIQUITY We access Greek and Roman scientifi c ideas mainly through those texts which happen to survive. By concentrating only on the ideas conveyed, we may limit our understanding of the meaning of those ideas in their historical context. Th rough considering the diverse ways in which scientifi c ideas were communicated, in diff erent types of texts, we can uncover otherwise hidden meanings and more fully comprehend the historical contexts in which those ideas were pro- duced and shared, the aims of the authors and the expectations of ancient readers. Professor Taub explores the rich variety of formats used to discuss scientifi c, mathematical and technical subjects, from ca . 700 BCE to the sixth century CE. Each chapter concentrates on a particular genre – poetry, letter, encyclopaedia, commentary and biography – off ering an introduction to Greek and Roman scientifi c ideas, while using a selection of ancient writings to focus on the ways in which we encounter them. Liba Taub is Director and Curator of the Whipple Museum and Head of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge; she is also a Fellow of Newnham College. She was awarded an Einstein Foundation Visiting Fellowship to work with the Topoi Excellence Cluster (Berlin), and was the recipi- ent of the Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize of the History of Science Society and a University of Cambridge Pilkington Prize for excel- lence in teaching. She is the author of P tolemy's Universe: Th e Natural Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Ptolemy's Astronomy (1993), Ancient Meteorology (2003), and A etna and the Moon: Explaining Nature in Ancient Greece and Rome (2008). KEY THEMES IN ANCIENT HISTORY EDITORS P.A. Cartledge Clare College, Cambridge P.D.A. Garnsey Jesus College, Cambridge Key Th emes in Ancient History aims to provide readable, informed and origi- nal studies of various basic topics, designed in the fi rst instance for students and teachers of classics and ancient history, but also for those engaged in related dis- ciplines. Each volume is devoted to a general theme in Greek, Roman or, where appropriate, Graeco- Roman history, or to some salient aspect or aspects of it. Besides indicating the state of current research in the relevant area, authors seek to show how the theme is signifi cant for our own as well as ancient culture and society. It is hoped that these original, thematic volumes will encourage and stim- ulate promising new developments in teaching and research in ancient history. Other books in the series Death- Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity, by Ian Morris 978 0 521 37465 1 (hardback) 978 0 521 37611 2 (paperback) Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece, by Rosalind Th omas 978 0 521 37346 3 (hardback) 978 0 521 37742 3 (paperback) Slavery and Society at Rome, by Keith Bradley 978 0 521 37287 9 (hardback) 978 0 521 37887 1 (paperback) Law, Violence, and Community in Classical Athens, by David Cohen 978 0 521 38167 3 (hardback) 978 0 521 38837 5 (paperback) Public Order in Ancient Rome, by Wilfried Nippel 978 0 521 38327 1 (hardback) 978 0 521 38749 1 (paperback) Friendship in the Classical World, by David Konstan 978 0 521 45402 5 (hardback) 978 0 521 45998 3 (paperback) Sport and Society in Ancient Greece, by Mark Golden 978 0 521 49698 8 (hard- back) 978 0 521 49790 9 (paperback) Food and Society in Classical Antiquity, by Peter Garnsey 978 0 521 64182 1 (hardback) 978 0 521 64588 1 (paperback) Banking and Business in the Roman World, by Jean Andreau 978 0 521 38031 7 (hardback) 978 0 521 38932 7 (paperback) Roman Law in Context, by David Johnston 978 0 521 63046 7 (hardback) 978 0 52163961 3 (paperback) Religions of the Ancient Greeks, by Simon Price 978 0 521 38201 4 (hardback) 978 0 521 38867 2 (paperback) Christianity and Roman Society , by Gillian Clark 978 0 521 63310 9 (hardback) 978 0 521 63386 4 (paperback) Trade in Classical Antiquity, by Neville Morley 978 0 521 63279 9 (hardback) 978 0 521 63416 8 (paperback) Technology and Culture in Greek and Roman Antiquity, by Serafi na Cuomo 978 0 521 81073 9 (hardback) 978 0 521 00903 4 (paperback) Law and Crime in the Roman World, by Jill Harries 978 0 521 82820 8 (hardback) 978 0 521 53532 8 (paperback) Th e Social History of Roman Art, by Peter Stewart 978 0 521 81632 8 (hardback) 978 0 521 01659 9 (paperback) Ancient Greek Political Th ought in Practice, by Paul Cartledge 978 0 521 45455 1 (hardback) 978 0 521 45595 4 (paperback) Asceticism in the Graeco- Roman World, by Richard Finn OP 978 0 521 86281 3 (hardback) 978 0 521 68154 4 (paperback) Domestic Space and Social Organisation in Classical Antiquity, by Lisa C. Nevett 978 0 521 78336 1 (hardback) 978 0 521 78945 5 (paperback) Money in Classical Antiquity, by Sitta von Reden 978 0 521 45337 0 (hardback) 978 0 521 45952 5 (paperback) Geography in Classical Antiquity, by Daniela Dueck and Kai Brodersen 978 0 521 19788 5 (hardback) 978 0 521 12025 8 (paperback) Space and Society in the Greek and Roman Worlds, by Michael Scott 978 1 107 00915 8 (hardback) 978 1 107 40150 1 (paperback) Studying Gender in Classical Antiquity, by Lin Foxhall 978 0 521 55318 6 (hardback) 978 0 521 55739 9 (paperback) Th e Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad, by Seth Schwartz 978 1 107 04127 1 (hardback) 978 1 107 66929 1 (paperback) Language and Society in the Greek and Roman Worlds, by James Clackson 978 0 521 19235 4 (hardback) 978 0 521 14066 9 (paperback) Th e Ancient City, by Arjan Zuiderhoek 978 0 521 19835 6 (hardback) 978 0 521 16601 0 (paperback) SCIENCE WRITING IN GRECO - ROMAN ANTIQUITY LIBA TAUB University of Cambridge University Printing House, Cambridge CB 2 8 BS , United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title:  www.cambridge.org/ 9780521130639 DOI: 10.1017/ 9781139030762 © Liba Taub 2017 Th is publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2017 Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays Ltd. A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library . Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Taub, Liba Chaia, 1954– Title: Science writing in Greco- Roman antiquity / Liba Taub, University of Cambridge. Description: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. | Series: Key themes in ancient history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2016049752 | ISBN 9780521113700 (hard back) | ISBN 9780521130639 (paper back) Subjects: LCSH: Scientifi c literature – History – To 1500. | Technical writing – History – To 1500. | Science, Ancient. Classifi cation: LCC Q 225.5. T 38 2017 | DDC 509.38– dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2016049752 ISBN 978- 0- 521- 11370- 0 Hardback ISBN 978- 0- 521- 13063- 9 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of U RL s for external or third- party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain accurate or appropriate. Contents List of Illustrations page viii Preface ix Acknowledgements xiii Spelling and Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 1 Poetry 22 2 Letter 50 3 Encyclopaedia 72 4 Commentary 86 5 Biography 111 Conclusion 130 Appendix A: Arithmetical Epigrams from Book 14 of Th e Greek Anthology 135 Appendix B: Eratosthenes’ Letter to King Ptolemy 144 Bibliographical Essay 149 References 157 Index 181 vii Illustrations 4.1 Lettered diagram based on the description given by Aristotle in his Meteorology 363a34- b7. (Th e version here is an emendation of that provided by Lee 1952 : 187.) page 104 4.2 Lettered diagram depicting Philoponus’ description of ants tracking a path, following Kupreeva 2012 : fi gure 1, p. 48. 107 A.1 Diagrams based on Cohen and Drabkin 1948 : 64, to accompany Eratosthenes’ L etter to King Ptolemy . 145 viii Preface W hat we today call ‘science’ has often been described as a Greek i nvention, even though some historians of science would now argue against this, pointing instead to Mesopotamia as the birthplace of scientifi c and math- ematical practices. Nevertheless, a number of distinguished ancient Greek and Roman thinkers held the view that certain types of explanation had originated in ancient Greece. Aristotle himself (384– 322 BCE) credited Th ales of Miletus (fl . 586 BCE) with having been the fi rst to aim at under- standing the original causes of world; in Book 1 (A) of the Metaphysics , Aristotle off ered a history of explaining the origin of the world, its causes and its composition, naming particular specifi c individuals and their ideas. Th is approach to telling the history of scientifi c thinking – providing an intellectual history concentrating on great individuals and the concepts associated with them – has had a long and fruitful history. Whilst writing my book A ncient Meteorology, I became particularly interested in the ways in which ancient Greek and Roman authors writ- ing on meteorological topics chose to communicate. My study of Greco- Roman works dealing with meteorological phenomena alerted me to the diversity of genres and types of texts used by ancient authors to commu- nicate their ideas and methods for explaining and predicting weather phe- nomena, texts which include poetry, astrometeorological calendars (known as parapēgmata ), natural philosophical prose works, letters, question-a nd- answer texts and commentaries, as well as others. A wide range of styles of writing was deployed; this characteristic of ancient writing on meteorol- ogy intrigued me. As I was trained – like many other historians of ancient science – in the tradition of the history of ideas, this diversity took me by surprise, and ignited my curiosity regarding the choices made by ancient authors writing on what we moderns regard as ‘science’. O ur knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman science comes to us, largely, through those ancient writings which survive that give an account of scientifi c and mathematical ideas, methods and practices. Th is volume ix x Preface explores the rich range and variety of formats used for ancient Greek and Roman writings on scientifi c, mathematical, medical and technical (here often abbreviated as ‘scientifi c’) subjects, paying particular attention to the intellectual and broader cultural contexts in which these works were produced and used. Of course, it is not only the form of communication that is important; what is being communicated is crucial. However, in the past, a primary focus on intellectual history and the history of ideas has seemingly taken for granted that all ‘content’ can be extracted without considering the medium of communication. I argue that a consideration of the formal features of ancient Greek and Roman writings on scientifi c topics reveals layers of meaning that cannot be uncovered by concentrat- ing solely on the ideas conveyed. Our understanding of those ideas, as well as of the cultures in which they were produced, communicated, stud- ied and preserved, is enhanced by a deeper engagement with the ‘medium’ which conveys the message (cf. McLuhan  1964 ). T oday, readers of ancient scientifi c, mathematical and technical works do not always come into contact with the form of the original text. Modern readers of such texts, particularly working from translations, may miss the meanings conveyed through formal features, such as metre. A case in point is Lucretius’ D e rerum natura . Readers of the Penguin prose transla- tion of Lucretius’ O n the nature of the universe by R.E. Latham (1 994) can be excused if they do not realise that the author was a poet who believed (as he twice notes, 1.921– 50 and 4.1– 25) that his verse off ered an especially appealing version of Epicurean philosophy – in the ‘honeyed- cup’ of Latin poetry. Th at Lucretius chose to convey natural- philosophical ideas using epic hexameter is thus lost; the cultural meanings and nuances conveyed by that metre disappear, and our understanding of the ideas contained in the poem is truncated (see Sedley 1998 ). Perhaps an understanding of this signifi cant limitation of the prose translation explains the publication by Penguin in 2007 of a verse translation by A.E. Stallings, Th e Nature of Th ings . A text-b ased approach to ancient works on scientifi c and mathematical topics is used here. In drawing attention to the choice of medium used to convey the message, I hope to spark further consideration of the interac- tion between the two, including the eff ect of literary conventions associ- ated with particular genres on the presentation of material, as well as its reception by readers. A question springs to mind: Were particular formats or genres used within particular fi elds of scientifi c inquiry and, if so, why? Th is is an intriguing question to which the answer is not as simple and straightforward as might be imagined. For example, the fundamentals