Archimedes: Genius of Antiquity

Archimedes, a name nearly as notorious as his many inventions. From his active imagination was birthed many of the greatest inventions of his time. He was a true renaissance man, developing mathematical equations, incredible engineering feats, astronomical alignments far ahead of his days, and scientific theories that are still widely regarded as fact to the present time. Recently, he has been featured in what I hope is the final Indiana Jones movie, The Dial of Destiny. While I doubt he invented time travel, I wouldn't put it past him. This man was the definition of a scholar, and today we look at the life of someone who dedicated his existence to the world of the sciences. Archimedes was born in 287 BC. Naturally, he was the son of an astronomer named Phidias. He was born on the island of Sicily, more specifically, the Greek city-state of Syracuse, which had dominated the eastern part of Sicily during the preceding centuries. Here to talk more about the rich history of Syracuse, we go to my collab partner, Ghost Countries. While Archimedes may have been the most famous citizen of Syracuse, his is not the only great tale to come from this Greek city-state. Syracuse found its origins as a Greek colony, its settlers being from the city-state of Corinth in the 8th century BC. Soon enough, this Greek colony prospered to the point where it started its own colonies around the island of Sicily. Many of Syracuse's leaders, who were called tyrants, were famous for their military prowess, a few of the most notable of these being Yelon, Hiero, Dionysus, and Agathocles. Along with these tyrants, Syracuse played host to a grand total of five democracies. And, if you would like to learn more about Syracuse's history, consider checking out our video done in collaboration with Stoic History. We also cover other countries that no longer exist, those with disputed status, and those that might exist in the future over on our channel, Ghost Countries. If you want to learn more about this interesting slice of Greek history on the island of Sicily, then I implore you to go check out Ghost Countries' two videos on the subject after watching this one. The link to both will be in the description below. Anything on Archimedes' early life has been lost to the annals of history. All we do know is that he kept in frequent contact with the premier center of learning in the Mediterranean, the lighthouse of Alexandria. Archimedes wrote to at least two other fellow scholars in Alexandria, including the chief librarian himself, Eratothenes of Cyrene. From this, we can presume that Archimedes may have spent some of his early years studying in Alexandria, alongside some of the brightest minds of his time. For most of his life, Archimedes spent his days in his hometown of Syracuse, becoming increasingly useful to his city. One particular case would see the tyrant of Syracuse, Hero II, ask Archimedes to find the purity of a golden crown. Hero had suspected that he was cheated by the goldsmith who had crafted the headpiece. The only way to find out if his suspicions were correct was to smelt the one-of-a-kind crown down to its liquid form. Hoping to circumvent this, Hero called upon Archimedes to work his scientific magic. Archimedes experimented for a time on how to figure out the density of the crown, to no avail. One day, while climbing into his bath, Archimedes noticed that when he got in, an equal amount of water compared to his own volume raised the bath. Archimedes had found it. He immediately climbed out of his bath and shouted, Eureka, trademarking the term which translates to, I have found it. Archimedes began to run towards the residence of Hero to tell him the news. In his excitement, he forgot to clothe himself and ran through the streets of Syracuse dripping wet and completely naked. After informing Hero in his nude state and conducting the experiment, he found that the silver had been mixed into the gold of the crown. Hero called upon Archimedes once more, this time to assist him with the building of a massive boat which would come to be called the Syracusea. The Syracusea was believed to be the largest boat ever made in all of antiquity. The problem with the ship is that its size meant that it would sink under its own weight. For this problem, Archimedes developed an invention that would take water out of the hull. It was called the Archimedes screw and for the first time, water can now be pumped straight up a hill and drain the hull of the Syracusea. The Archimedes screw is still used to this day in sewage treatment plants and many other waterborne technologies. Perhaps Archimedes' most impressive invention was his astronomical models. Archimedes, whose father Phidias was an astronomer, would follow in his footsteps. Using rods and spheres, Archimedes designed an accurate and heliocentric model of the sun, moon, and the five planets of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Earth. When someone moved one of these planets, the other planets would move accordingly as they would in space. With this, Archimedes became the first ancient Greek to record the rotation of the Earth and the other four planets. After Hannibal defeated the Roman Republic at his masterpiece battle of Cannae, the city-state of Syracuse decided to join the Carthaginian side of the Second Punic War. In 213 BC, the Romans came knocking at the seaport of Syracuse. The people of Syracuse called upon their local genius for assistance once again. He set forth in inventing some of the ancient world's greatest feats of military engineering. When the Romans arrived, their boats started to get pummeled by the stones of the city's catapults. This was normal for a but what was not normal was their utter pinpoint accuracy. It's unclear what exactly he did, but Archimedes had somehow improved the aim of the catapults. When the Roman ships, still being destroyed to splinters, neared closer to the walls, they suddenly raised into the air. Archimedes had developed a crane, made complete by a hand that could grip Roman boats, pick them up out of the water, and drop the boats back down just so they could be destroyed on impact. Not only were the Roman boats becoming airborne, but they were also becoming as bright and as hot as the sun itself. Archimedes had learned how to harness the power of Helios and direct its wrath on Rome. By using a set of mirrors on the city wall, he somehow directed the rays of sunlight into something that can only be described as a heat ray. Just as a child might burn ants under the light of a magnifying glass, so too did Archimedes roast the Roman armies under the sun. This invention is highly debated on its authenticity, but I see no reason why this genius couldn't have developed such a device. Despite all of Archimedes' inventions, the Romans eventually took the city of Syracuse. The general in charge, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, ordered that Archimedes be captured alive so the Romans could use his fertile brain for their own ambitions. The now 75-year-old Archimedes was still researching while Rome plundered and occupied Syracuse. Drawing and observing circles he had made in the sand of his room, a Roman soldier opened the door to Archimedes' study. The soldier approached the old man. Archimedes, without looking up at the Roman, simply said, do not disturb my circles. The soldier then grabbed Archimedes and stabbed him with his blade, leaving the ancient world's greatest mind to die among his beloved circles. Archimedes was simply a genius well beyond his years. He developed inventions that we still use over 2,300 years later. His contributions to the sciences are near unparalleled by anyone before or after him. Without a doubt, I can say that he was antiquity's greatest inventor. I want to give a huge shoutout to my collaboration partner, Ghost Countries. If this story interested you at all, then I highly recommend that you go check out their two-part series on the history of Syracuse. The link to both will be in the description below.