technology in athens

the appliance of science

This page aims to dispel certain preconceptions about the ancient Athenians: just because they were into Philosophy, Theatre, Sculpture and Poetry does not mean they were technologically backward.

• Silver

  Find out about their sophisticated techniques for making money - literally: every ounce of silver extracted from the mines was more money in circulation. The Athenians got rich by digging up money.

• The Trireme

  The other way of making money is to steal it: thanks to her fleet of triremes - paid for with money from the silver mines, Athens could run a highly successful "protection racket", which extorted funds from smaller states under the pretext of protecting them against the Persians.

• Pottery

  Athenian painted pottery was probably not, as was once thought, a major money-making export. But an impressive empirical knowledge of chemistry was required to produce the famous black and red figure pottery.

• Building and Engineering

  Here I shall be looking at the immense logistical and engineering problems the builders and architects of ancient Athens took in their stride. How was the marble transported? Did you think the Acropolis had a naturally flat top? How were columns grooved and fluted? [not yet implemented: sorry!]

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The Classics Pages are written and designed by Andrew Wilson
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