This work of Pierre-Louis Viollet on the history of hydraulics in the ancient civilizations, more generally in the civilizations of the classical era and the Middle Ages, is important for several reasons.
First of all, the author is the first scholar who has attempted, with success, a complete synthesis of techniques in hydraulics, from the birth of agriculture in Syria — Palestine up to the beginning of the modern period. He gives due consideration to the role of the Mediterranean world and the Near and Far East, as well as the Indian and Chinese worlds, as precursors to this development of techniques. There has been no comparable effort of this scale to present, and to explain in a concrete manner, the diversity and evolution of hydraulic knowledge and techniques over such a vast geographical space and over the long expanse of several millennia, taking into account the historical context.
The second reason, one that is fundamental to the importance of this marvelous book, is that the author is neither a historian nor an archaeologist. He is, rather, an engineer whose background gives him a unique ability to understand the operation of and interest in hydraulic works, installations that had been previously known only through vague descriptions, imprecise representations, or physical remains in an extreme state of deterioration. The author’s contribution would be fundamental for this reason alone. Despite the originality and quality of previous works on archaeological hydraulics, their impact has often been compromised by a weak knowledge of the physical principles that are indispensable to an understanding of the workings, importance, and innovation of hydraulic projects. The present work is rich in such technical analyses of ancient innovations, providing thoughtful explanations and commentary on both the nature of these discoveries and their technical pertinence. Therefore this is much more than an ordered compilation of facts — which would be of great interest in its own right — it is a true synthesis that is focused on the importance of ancient discoveries, giving them texture and richness through the author’s scientific and technical perspective.
This book is important for yet another reason. It always presents hydraulic developments and innovation in their historical and intellectual context. Even though his primary objective is the historical development of hydraulics, Pierre-Louis Viollet has endowed his book with an overview of world history in general. His work is aligned with traditional notions of historical periods, but he gives these periods fresh significance in highlighting the number and importance of technical innovations associated with them. In this respect, the decisive changes are those that occur after the conquests of Alexander, in particular at Alexandria but also in the rest of the Hellenistic world. The originality of Chapter 5 is not only in its presentation of a broad panorama of these innovations and inventions; but it is also in its demonstration that these developments not only represent a natural continuation of the classical age’s tradition of technical thought, but also reflect the application of analytical methods elaborated by philosophers from the empirical developments of Oriental civilizations. This demonstration deflates the importance of works that see these inventions as simple inspirations of thought, unconnected to any context of reality, and that expect to find “cultural obstacles” to the exploitation of these inventions. The lack of any practical application or development of “Heron’s steam ball” invention, which demonstrates the principle of a steam engine, has undoubtedly led to erroneous conclusions in this regard. The consequences of techniques invented by the Alexandrians resulted in numerous and very important applications during the Roman period. From all perspectives imperial Rome is a civilization of water, as seen in its technology for the transport and distribution of water, as well as in its thermal installations.
This example is but one of many showing the richness of a book that succeeds in not only presenting an inventory of the state of knowledge in hydraulic techniques, but also in enrichening this knowledge in many respects, some of which are of considerable significance. Study of this book is indispensable for specialists in the history of technology, economy, and thought.
Georges Tate
Professor of Ancient History at the University of Versailles — Saint-Quentin Former Deputy Scientific Director of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of CNRS Former Director of IFAPO at Damascus
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I would like to thank the archaeologists, specialists in the ancient civilizations, and engineers interested in the history of hydraulics who so generously shared their unpublished work with me. In particular, I would like to thank Gilbert Argoud, Frank Braemer, Corinne Debaine-Francfort, Bernard Geyer, and Philippe Leveau. I would especially like to thank Gtinther Garbrecht, with whom I have had a continuing correspondence, and who provided me with abundant documentation of his own work in Egypt, Palestine and Anadolu. I would also like especially to thank Jean-Claude Margueron who opened his personal library on Mesopotamia to me, and with whom I had lively discussions. Felipe Martinez and Cristobal Mateos graciously shared several works and articles on ancient hydraulic works in Spain, for which I thank them. I would also like to thank the staff of the Center of Contemporary and Historic Documentation of l’Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, who helped me in my searches of the ancient archives. This work is a synthesis, and therefore I must recognize all those who, by their field work and study of ancient texts, have put together the body of knowledge without which this book would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to thank Forrest and Joyce Holly for their teamwork in bringing this English translation to fruition.
Pierre-Louis Viollet
