Lecture 2 - Telling the time

Question 1

Nature as a time measure

Answer 1

Sunrise to sunset, the shifting season, the solar year

Question 2

Natural landscape

Answer 2

sun and landscape are the seasonal clock, for exampe the Pnyx hill in Athens.

Question 3

Human landscape

Answer 3

some buildings may have deliberate orientations. For example the Parthenon.

Question 4

The Stars

Answer 4

sidereal star year is approx. one solar year. The time taken for the sun to travel the band of the stars.

Question 5

The Lunar cycle

Answer 5

a lunar month is about 29.5 days, however the lunar year does not fit in with the solar year.

Question 6

Roman civic calendar

Answer 6

superstition meant the Romans avoided even numbers, calendars can be out of sync with the solar year. Inter-calary months added but often for political motives.

Question 7

Religion and agriculture

Answer 7

keeping the months in sync was important for this.

Question 8

Instruments of measurement

Answer 8

Sun clocks and sundials came from Babylonia according to Herodotus.

Question 9

At night - Ctesibius (288-222)

Answer 9

He invented a device to produce a uniform flow.

Question 10

Smaller divisions

Answer 10

Hero of Alexandria measured rate of water flows by sundial. Romans had a greater interest in timetabling but don’t have language to specify smaller than an hour.

Question 11

Dividing the Roman day

Answer 11

Accensus announces 3rd, 6th, 9th hours. 6th hour measured by using buildings around the senate.

Question 12

Sophistication

Answer 12

Antikythera mechanism is a mass of bronze plates wielded together. It correlated movements of the sun and moon against signs of the zodiac.

Question 13

Down to earth

Answer 13

watch the stars for sowing times and other agricultural tasks.

Question 14

Canonical hours

Answer 14

Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline