Philo of Byzantium

Engineer, Inventor (c.260 BC – c.180 BC)

Philo was one of the greatest engineers of the Hellenistic period, a pioneer in mechanics and the construction of automata. He was one alongside many illustrious scholars who worked in Alexandria, the most highly advanced spiritual center in the Western World at the time.

Philo was a student of the famed engineer Ctesibius. He descended from the city of Byzantium, lived in Rhodes and eventually settled in Alexandria. He compiled numerous treatises on applied mechanics, the most important of which is Michaniki Syntaxis (Mechanical Syntax), an encyclopaedia which includes descriptions and applications of multiple inventions. Other treatises such as Mochlika described the use of levers while Pneumatica contains studies on machines oeparted by air and steam.

Having suided next to giants of engineering, Philo was able to advance the science of engineering to a remarkable degree. His treatises attest an extraordinary level of expertise in multiple different fields of engineering. He constructed pneumatics, machines which functioned with the use of compressed air, levers, tools and hourglasses. Philo invented the piston, the air pump, several toys as well as household appliances used in everyday life.

As Diades of Pella was a master craftsman of military war machines, so was Philo with the construction of ballistas, catapults and crossbows. Philo’s war machines were used in the besieging of well-fortified city-states and operated using large rocks or arrows. His ballistas operated on compressed air. Furthermore, he built walls, towers and fortifications of cities as well as harbours and ports. Philo also invented a sibilant system which was placed in lighthouses.

It should come to no surprise that as a predecessor of Hero of Alexandria, Philo was one of the pioneers in automatic machines, two of which are known and have been reconstructed today. These were the hydroautomaton horse drinking water and the maiden pouring water in a krater. These automata were used more as a means of entertainment rather than to serve practical purposes, however, they exhibit a high level of knowledge on physics and demonstrate the apogee which technology had reached during the Hellenistic period by the Greeks.

Undoubtedly Philo was a master engineer who showed that he could put theoretical knowledge into practice. His extensive studies on physics, primarily in the field of aerodynamics and thermodynamics, his works in mathematics and the doubling of the cube, as well as in cryptography are all but mere testaments of this man’s genius.

Bibliography:

1. Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos. (1998). Ancient Greek Scientists. Georgiades Publications. Athens.
2. Kotsanas, Kostas. (2013) Ancient Greek Technology The Inventions of the ancient Greeks. Kostas Kotsanas Publications. Pyrgos.
3. Rance, Philip. (2013). “Philo of Byzantium”. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Chapter: “Philo of Byzantium”, Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, Editors: R.S. BAGNALL et al, pp.5266-8
4. Φίλων ο Βυζάντιος (280 Π.Χ. 220 Π.Χ.). Δίοδος η Πύλη της Γνώσης. October 12, 2018. Available at: https://www.diodos.gr/%CE%B1%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B1/%CE%B5%CF%86%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%81%CE%AD%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%82/item/%CF%86%CE%AF%CE%BB%CF%89%CE%BD-%CE%BF-%CE%B2%CF%85%CE%B6%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82-280-%CF%80-%CF%87-220-%CF%80-%CF%87.html. Retrieved August 3^rd, 2020.