DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4263#0042
2S.
lch—Satthe
11 *<***> ;*,
■ be8in their de,.
lthinte^eetof4e
tselforthef0untaia
le in tWfc place, it
however be draifn
dia]s on this build,
e treats particularly
'ident from Varro'
:h not only provei
Lycus in Asia, Erasimis
qua; in jEsculapii fonte
redduntur. Nat. Hist
sinus in the territory of
under ground, and after.
are immersed in the fa-
wn up again in the Pha-
act spot where these »
de of jEsculapius, men-
it is clear, that not tie
ce in Hesychius, hut the
rose again in the PliaiV
in the text of Hesychius,
epsydra is carried raider
he distance from the Aero
;hirty-seven stadia. 1%
al reading was thirty*
id that these, by the inac-
.ngedinto AA, the charac-
es (Book II. Section 13.)
hirty-five stadia, and fr»
ling of the Phaleric wall,
lesychius therefore with
. With Thucydides, as le
,e grotto of Pan,is*
yed to this building h)'"1
i supports the wall of I
the details of which at*
,is work, chap. ix.*"|
nderstood by Stuart «
ch side, and what app*
icuous,arenotsoin»
, block or lintel of vf
om Hesychius quo*
spring above-meat.^
„,l furtive*"*
its supposed furm
art in inducing-^
or that that machine
,„t date of this u
&*"*$£*
m cardxnem est o &
, quod font CJ"
}. 5. ■ ;,tl*
A the axis,Ib'
ere, round the ;,
;n the horologiuih
OF THE OCTOGON TOWER OF ANDRONICUS CYRRHESTES.
41
that it then served to shew the hours, but also suggests that Varro considered this as the principal
purpose it was designed to answer : and it is here worth remarking that the word horologium is a ge-
neral name, and is used not only to signify a sun-dial, but likewise3 a water dial or clepsydra.
Tt may perhaps be said, that the hours are sufficiently marked by sun-dials on the outside ; and
that such a machine as is here supposed, would therefore have been superfluous in this place: but this
objection will appear of no weight, and those sun-dials will rather furnish an argument in favour of
the conjecture, when it is considered that they could be of no use at night or in cloudy weather; and
that it was necessary to have recourse to some other contrivance, in order to measure the hours when
the sun did not shine: accordingly we find that a sun-dial and a water-dial were placed together in
those baths of Hippias, which Lucianb has described: it likewise appears probable from Plinyc that both
these species of dials were in the Roman forum; for which he gives the reason alluded to above, observ-
ing that after they had at length erected a good sun-dial there, yet in cloudy weather they were at a
loss to know the hour ; and that therefore they erected a water-dial. It may however be doubted, if
the ancients, with all their genius and diligence, could make a clepsydra which for any considerable
space of time, would measure out the hours with what we should now esteem a tolerable degree of ex-
actness : if so, a sun-dial was as necessary a regulator to the clepsydra, as that was a supplement to
the sun-dial.
This building, therefore, so highly decorated, standing in a principal part of the city, near the
Agora ; constructed purposely to shew the direction of the winds, the seasons of the year, and the
hour of the day; and serving to regulate whatever business depended on the observation of them;
would have answered its intention very imperfectly, without some such contrivance as a clepsydra. The
opinion that such an instrument has been placed in this tower, was first suggested by the channels on
the pavement; but whatever was the use of these channels, it is certain that they are only the remains
of something which has formerly been more ( considerable; and the accuracy with which they are
wrought is some indication, that great exactness in the execution was thought necessary to effect that
purpose, whatever it might be, towards which they were originally designed to contribute.
Another obstacle still remained, which it was necessary to remove, before the delineation of
this building could be completed; for the whole figure of Libs or the south west wind, and half the
figure of Notos or the south wind, were concealed in the wall of a neighbouring house; which the
owner was prevailed on to pull down, and these sculptures were then discovered perfect and unhurt.
The same person when he rebuilt the house, agreed for a small consideration to leave some space be-
tween that and the two figures; and even consented that a window should be left in the wall on that
side, through which they might be conveniently viewed by any future traveller.
° Pliny speaking of the water-dial erected at Rome by Scipio
Nasica, says, ' idque horologium sub tccto dicavit.' Nat. Hist.
Book VII. Chap. last. See likewise Vitruvius, Book IX. Chap.
9. And Hesychius on the word Clepsydra, already cited.
b U^UIV 01 OtTTCCC avXbHTiH;, TV1V L/.VJ Ot ilOCCTOS KCCi fJ.VKnp.CX.TOS ^101'te
^^a^waro?] tJjv $e $/ rj?uou intfonwiAtiioit* See Lucian in his Hip-
pias.
' And the hours are here exhibited in two manners, one by
water and sound [jjr by water and a machine]; the other by the
sun.'
c Pliny informs us, on the authority of Varro, that the first
dial set up for public use at Rome, was brought from Catania in
Sicily, and was placed on a column near the Rostra, by the Consul
M. Valerius Messala, in the year of Rome 491: but as this dial
had been projected for a more southern latitude, it did not shew
the hours with exactness, when it was placed in the Roman Fo-
rum ; such as it was however, the Romans regulated their time
by it for the space of ninety-nine years *, when Q. Mareius Phi-
lippus, who was censor with Lucius Paulus, caused another dial,
made with greater accuracy, to be erected near the old one j this
present, Pliny observes, was very acceptable to the Romans: but
still in cloudy weather the precise time of day could not be as-
certained. Five years afterwards indeed, this defect was remedied;
for then Scijiio Nasica, the colleague of Ltenas, introduced a me-
thod of dividing the night as well as the day into hours, by
means of water ; and, having constructed a machine for that
purpose, which Pliny calls an horologium and says it was under
a roof, he dedicated it in the year of Rome 595, or one hundred
and fifty-eight years before Christ. See Pliny's Natural History,
Book. VII. Chap, the last.
1 Nothing perhaps exemplifies the comparative state of Grecian and Roman cotemporary civilization and intellect more than this singular fact, [ed.]
M
lch—Satthe
11 *<***> ;*,
■ be8in their de,.
lthinte^eetof4e
tselforthef0untaia
le in tWfc place, it
however be draifn
dia]s on this build,
e treats particularly
'ident from Varro'
:h not only provei
Lycus in Asia, Erasimis
qua; in jEsculapii fonte
redduntur. Nat. Hist
sinus in the territory of
under ground, and after.
are immersed in the fa-
wn up again in the Pha-
act spot where these »
de of jEsculapius, men-
it is clear, that not tie
ce in Hesychius, hut the
rose again in the PliaiV
in the text of Hesychius,
epsydra is carried raider
he distance from the Aero
;hirty-seven stadia. 1%
al reading was thirty*
id that these, by the inac-
.ngedinto AA, the charac-
es (Book II. Section 13.)
hirty-five stadia, and fr»
ling of the Phaleric wall,
lesychius therefore with
. With Thucydides, as le
,e grotto of Pan,is*
yed to this building h)'"1
i supports the wall of I
the details of which at*
,is work, chap. ix.*"|
nderstood by Stuart «
ch side, and what app*
icuous,arenotsoin»
, block or lintel of vf
om Hesychius quo*
spring above-meat.^
„,l furtive*"*
its supposed furm
art in inducing-^
or that that machine
,„t date of this u
&*"*$£*
m cardxnem est o &
, quod font CJ"
}. 5. ■ ;,tl*
A the axis,Ib'
ere, round the ;,
;n the horologiuih
OF THE OCTOGON TOWER OF ANDRONICUS CYRRHESTES.
41
that it then served to shew the hours, but also suggests that Varro considered this as the principal
purpose it was designed to answer : and it is here worth remarking that the word horologium is a ge-
neral name, and is used not only to signify a sun-dial, but likewise3 a water dial or clepsydra.
Tt may perhaps be said, that the hours are sufficiently marked by sun-dials on the outside ; and
that such a machine as is here supposed, would therefore have been superfluous in this place: but this
objection will appear of no weight, and those sun-dials will rather furnish an argument in favour of
the conjecture, when it is considered that they could be of no use at night or in cloudy weather; and
that it was necessary to have recourse to some other contrivance, in order to measure the hours when
the sun did not shine: accordingly we find that a sun-dial and a water-dial were placed together in
those baths of Hippias, which Lucianb has described: it likewise appears probable from Plinyc that both
these species of dials were in the Roman forum; for which he gives the reason alluded to above, observ-
ing that after they had at length erected a good sun-dial there, yet in cloudy weather they were at a
loss to know the hour ; and that therefore they erected a water-dial. It may however be doubted, if
the ancients, with all their genius and diligence, could make a clepsydra which for any considerable
space of time, would measure out the hours with what we should now esteem a tolerable degree of ex-
actness : if so, a sun-dial was as necessary a regulator to the clepsydra, as that was a supplement to
the sun-dial.
This building, therefore, so highly decorated, standing in a principal part of the city, near the
Agora ; constructed purposely to shew the direction of the winds, the seasons of the year, and the
hour of the day; and serving to regulate whatever business depended on the observation of them;
would have answered its intention very imperfectly, without some such contrivance as a clepsydra. The
opinion that such an instrument has been placed in this tower, was first suggested by the channels on
the pavement; but whatever was the use of these channels, it is certain that they are only the remains
of something which has formerly been more ( considerable; and the accuracy with which they are
wrought is some indication, that great exactness in the execution was thought necessary to effect that
purpose, whatever it might be, towards which they were originally designed to contribute.
Another obstacle still remained, which it was necessary to remove, before the delineation of
this building could be completed; for the whole figure of Libs or the south west wind, and half the
figure of Notos or the south wind, were concealed in the wall of a neighbouring house; which the
owner was prevailed on to pull down, and these sculptures were then discovered perfect and unhurt.
The same person when he rebuilt the house, agreed for a small consideration to leave some space be-
tween that and the two figures; and even consented that a window should be left in the wall on that
side, through which they might be conveniently viewed by any future traveller.
° Pliny speaking of the water-dial erected at Rome by Scipio
Nasica, says, ' idque horologium sub tccto dicavit.' Nat. Hist.
Book VII. Chap. last. See likewise Vitruvius, Book IX. Chap.
9. And Hesychius on the word Clepsydra, already cited.
b U^UIV 01 OtTTCCC avXbHTiH;, TV1V L/.VJ Ot ilOCCTOS KCCi fJ.VKnp.CX.TOS ^101'te
^^a^waro?] tJjv $e $/ rj?uou intfonwiAtiioit* See Lucian in his Hip-
pias.
' And the hours are here exhibited in two manners, one by
water and sound [jjr by water and a machine]; the other by the
sun.'
c Pliny informs us, on the authority of Varro, that the first
dial set up for public use at Rome, was brought from Catania in
Sicily, and was placed on a column near the Rostra, by the Consul
M. Valerius Messala, in the year of Rome 491: but as this dial
had been projected for a more southern latitude, it did not shew
the hours with exactness, when it was placed in the Roman Fo-
rum ; such as it was however, the Romans regulated their time
by it for the space of ninety-nine years *, when Q. Mareius Phi-
lippus, who was censor with Lucius Paulus, caused another dial,
made with greater accuracy, to be erected near the old one j this
present, Pliny observes, was very acceptable to the Romans: but
still in cloudy weather the precise time of day could not be as-
certained. Five years afterwards indeed, this defect was remedied;
for then Scijiio Nasica, the colleague of Ltenas, introduced a me-
thod of dividing the night as well as the day into hours, by
means of water ; and, having constructed a machine for that
purpose, which Pliny calls an horologium and says it was under
a roof, he dedicated it in the year of Rome 595, or one hundred
and fifty-eight years before Christ. See Pliny's Natural History,
Book. VII. Chap, the last.
1 Nothing perhaps exemplifies the comparative state of Grecian and Roman cotemporary civilization and intellect more than this singular fact, [ed.]
M