Skip to main content

Secondary sourceBook1st century AD (this copy later)

Pneumatica

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Hero's treatise describing about 78 devices worked by air, steam and water, including the aeolipile steam engine and hydraulic bird automata.

Hero's own treatise, the foundation of his reputation as antiquity's great inventor of air- and water-powered devices.

Ask Hero of Alexandria about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Manuscript page with Greek text in brown ink at top and bottom, and colored line drawings in the middle showing Hero's hydraulic bird-singing apparatus: several birds perched on pipes and arches, a tall cylindrical water vessel, a horizontal tank, and a bell-shaped weight on a chain.
Hero of Alexandria, Pneumatica, demonstration 2. Byzantine manuscript copy, Biblioteca Marciana, Venice, Gr. 516, fol. 172v.

About this source

What it is

Pneumatica is a treatise written by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. It describes dozens of devices powered by air, steam and water pressure, from the famous aeolipile steam engine to fountains and coin-operated dispensers. The page shown here is from a later Byzantine copy, kept today in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, showing a diagram of a hydraulic bird-singing apparatus.

Why it matters

Pneumatica is the main source for Hero's reputation as one of antiquity's great inventors and experimenters. It shows how Greek engineers combined scientific observation with mechanical ingenuity to create working machines, long before the Industrial Revolution.

Look closer

  • What does the detailed drawing tell you about how carefully Hero explained his machines?
  • Why might singing mechanical birds have interested people in the ancient world?
  • This page is a copy made centuries after Hero died — what might have changed between his original and this version?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hero of Alexandria on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hero of Alexandria sources

Meet the AI Hero of Alexandria →
Page from a Greek manuscript showing a colored line drawing of a temple-like structure with columns, arches, and a dome-like roof, with hidden tanks and mechanisms below. Greek handwritten text fills the lower part of the page.Book

Secondary source

Automata (Bacchus diagram)

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Painted miniature from a Greek manuscript: a bearded man with long grey hair in a golden-brown cloak extends his right hand toward the left, beside a dark archway. Red Greek lettering reads 'ΗΡΩΝ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟ' beside him.Painting

Secondary source

Hero of Alexandria in the Codex of Saint Gregory Nazianzenos

Unknown author · 9th century AD

Illuminated manuscript page with colored design drawing of a large siege engine or cannon in red, blue, green and tan, with a vertical arrow-like beam at top, surrounded by Greek text in brown ink on parchment.Document

Secondary source

Belopoiika (design drawing of a siege engine)

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Title page of a 1589 Italian book, engraved in black and white with an ornate architectural border of columns, scrolls and a central medallion. Printed text reads Di Herone Alessandrino De gli automati, ouero Machine se moventi, libri due, tradotti dal greco da Bernardino Baldi, with a small shield reading In Venetia, appresso Girolamo Porro, 1589.Book

Secondary source

De gli automati, ouero Machine se mouenti

Hero : Alexandrinus · 1589

An open printed book on a display stand showing two pages: the left page is dense text, the right page has a woodcut illustration of classical columns and a decorated entablature. A column base photo stands behind it.Book

Primary source

De architectura

Vitruvius · c. 30-20 BCE

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hero of Alexandria now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions