To be fair, I think that the author had a particular bitterness towards Rome for their killing of Archimedes. So, might not be the most unbiased - and looking into him further, he clearly had other questionable leanings.
Yeah, it feels like he’s trying to push Rome into a pre-determined box. Rome had a lot of weaknesses and flaws - but engineering? They were damn good at that. And in their defense, General Marcellus gave orders for Archimedes to be taken alive because of Marcellus’s respect for his genius, and it was only an impetuous soldier who caused Archimedes’ death.
It’s funny - the Greeks regarded the theories which enabled engineering higher than engineering itself, which was seen as only slightly above menial labor; while the Romans disdained the theorycrafting but highly respected the practical, engineering side of things. There are very few Roman contributions to mathematic theory, unlike the Greeks, but some of our best sources for the architecture and practical application of mathematical theory of the Classical world is penned by Roman hands.
To be fair, I think that the author had a particular bitterness towards Rome for their killing of Archimedes. So, might not be the most unbiased - and looking into him further, he clearly had other questionable leanings.
Yeah, it feels like he’s trying to push Rome into a pre-determined box. Rome had a lot of weaknesses and flaws - but engineering? They were damn good at that. And in their defense, General Marcellus gave orders for Archimedes to be taken alive because of Marcellus’s respect for his genius, and it was only an impetuous soldier who caused Archimedes’ death.
It’s funny - the Greeks regarded the theories which enabled engineering higher than engineering itself, which was seen as only slightly above menial labor; while the Romans disdained the theorycrafting but highly respected the practical, engineering side of things. There are very few Roman contributions to mathematic theory, unlike the Greeks, but some of our best sources for the architecture and practical application of mathematical theory of the Classical world is penned by Roman hands.