Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "KYRROS Ancient city SYRIA" .
KYRROS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Andronicus (Astronomer, Engineer, Architect). A native of the Syrian city of Cyrrhus,
Andronicus is cited by Pausanias, Vitruvius and Varro. He constructed celestial
spheres and astronomical instruments, which were often variations and improvements
on existing devices; but he is perhaps best known for two more substantial works.
The first of these was the white marble sundial he built for the sanctuary of
Poseidon and Amphitrite on the island of Tinos, which is now on display in the
Museum of Tinos. This sundial became so famous that Andronicus was invited to
Athens, where he erected a magnificent horologium on the eastern side of the Roman
marketplace. One of the very first "town clocks", this was an octagonal structure
of Pentelic marble, 3.2 metres long on each side and 12 metres high. The tower
housed a water clock, while atop the conical roof was a bronze statue of Triton,
rod in hand, that turned to indicate the direction of the wind. On each facade
was a sundial and a winged figure carved in relief, representing one of the eight
principal winds. Each of these figures carried its own particular symbol, and
its name was engraved on the lower part of the cornice beneath it: (anti-clockwise
from the North) Boreas, Sciron, Zephyr, Lips, Notos, Euros, Apeliotes, Caecias.
Andronicus incorporated into this construction a number of inventions of earlier
clock-makers, including Archimedes, Ctesibius and Philo.
Vitruvius called the monument the "Tower of the Winds", and described
it in considerable detail; it is also mentioned by Varro. A cylindrical reservoir
on the south side held water piped in from the spring on the north side of the
Acropolis. The tower itself, with its Doric interior and its Corinthian exterior,
is still in relatively good condition.
This text is based on the Greek book "Ancient Greek Scientists", Athens, 1995 and is cited Sep 2005 from The Technology Museum of Thessaloniki URL below.
Andronicus Cyrrhestes, (so called from his native place, Cyrrha), was the builder of the octagonal tower
at Athens, vulgarly called "the tower of the winds". Vitruvius (i. 6.4), after
stating, that some make the number of the winds to be four, but that those who
have examined the subject more carefully distinguished eight, adds, "Especially
Andronicus Cyrrhestes, who also set up at Athens, as a representation thereof
(exemplum), an octagonal tower of marble, and on the several sides of the octagon
he made sculptured images of the several winds, each image looking towards the
wind it represented", (that is, the figure of the north wind was sculptured on
the north side of the building, and so with the rest), "and above this tower he
set up a marble pillar (metam), and on the top he placed a Triton in bronze, holding
out a wand in his right hand: and this figure was so contrived as to be driven
round by the wind, and always to stand opposite the blowing wind, and to hold
the wand as an index above the image of that wind". Varro calls the building "horologium"
(R. R. iii. 5.17, Schn.). It formed a measure of time in two ways. On the outer
walls were lines which with gnomons above them, formed a series of sun-dials,
and in the building was a clepsydra, supplied from the spring called Clepsydra,
on the north-west of the Acropolis. The building, which still stands, has been
described by Stuart and others. The plain walls are surmounted by an entablature,
on the frieze of which are the figures of the winds in bas-relief. The entrances,
of which there are two, on the north-east and the north-west, have distyle porticoes
of the Corinthian order. Within, the remains of the clepsydra are still visible,
as are the dial lines on the outer walls.
The date of the building is uncertain, but the style of the sculpture
and architecture is thought to belong to the period after Alexander the Great.
The clepsydra also was probably of that improved kind which was invented by Ctesibius,
about 135 B. C. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Horologium.) Muller places Andronicus at
100 B. C.
From the words of Vitruvius it seems probable that Andronicus was
an astronomer. The mechanical arrangements of his "horologium" were of course
his work, but whether he was properly the architect of the building we have nothing
to determine, except the absence of any statement to the contrary.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cassius, Avidius, one of the most able and successful among the generals of M. Aurelius, was a native of Cyrrhus in Syria, son of a certain Heliodorus, who in consequence of his eminence as a rhetorician had risen to be praefect of Egypt. While Verus was abandoning himself to all manner of profligacy at Antioch, the war against the Parthians was vigorously prosecuted by Cassius, who closed a most glorious campaign by the capture of Seleuceia and Ctesiphon. He subsequently quelled a formidable insurrection in Egypt, organized by a tribe of marauders who dwelt among the fens; and having been appointed governor of all the Eastern provinces, discharged his trust for several years with fidelity and firmness. The history of his rebellion and his miserable death are narrated under M. Aurelius. If we can believe in the authenticity of the documents produced by Gallicanus, the conduct of Cassius excited the suspicion of Verus at a very early period, but Antoninus refused to listen to the representations of his colleague, ascribing them doubtless, and with good cause, to jealousy. (In addition to the notices contained in Dion Cassius lxxi. 2, 21, &c., we have a formal biography from the pen of one of the Augustan historians, named Vulcatius Gallicanus, but the style of this production is not such as to inspire much confidence in its author.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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