Skip to main content

Secondary sourceBook

The Life and Works of Sextus Julius Frontinus

A scholarly introduction to Frontinus that discusses how his writings on surveying reflect the teachings of the Alexandrian school associated with Hero of Alexandria.

This scholarly essay discusses how Hero's Alexandrian teaching likely influenced Frontinus's writings on surveying.

Ask Hero of Alexandria about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Full text (Wikisource)

About this source

What it is

This is the introductory essay from a Loeb Classical Library edition on the life and works of Sextus Julius Frontinus, a Roman statesman and writer. It discusses his career, including his writings on surveying, and connects his technical knowledge to the teachings of the Alexandrian school of mathematics, especially Hero of Alexandria.

Why it matters

This is a secondary, scholarly source rather than something Hero wrote himself. It shows how later historians trace the influence of Hero's mathematical and engineering teaching on later Roman writers, suggesting Hero's ideas on surveying spread beyond Alexandria and shaped practical Roman administration.

Look closer

  • Why do historians think Frontinus might have been educated in Alexandria?
  • What evidence connects Frontinus's writing style to Hero's teachings?
  • Why is it useful to study a figure's influence through the work of people who came after them?

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 →
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.Book

Secondary source

Pneumatica

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

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

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