Somewhere else
November 13th, 2009, 04:02
The news has slowly filtered out, well troweled over with commentary about Nero's orgies, that the revolving dining room of the "Golden House" was discovered at the beginning of this month by archaeologists.
Here is a good report on it from the BBC , which professional archaeologists tut-tut over, but which covers the fact pretty well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8282007.stm
What is interesting about this "revolving room" is that Seutonius tells us that it "revolved night and day, like the heavens". It may not be too much of a leap in supposition to think that it revolved in time with the heavens and was, in effect, a proto clock. Given that we have extensive mechanical artifacts from the Greek and Roman eras: the Tower of the Winds in Athens, the Antikythera Device, the "Box of the Moon" from 4th or 5th Century AD Eastern Roman empire, the astrolabe and astronomical water clocks from both Alexandria and several European sites, the evidence seems to be building undeniably to point to a European origin for Su Sungs supposed astronomical proto clock in 12th Century China.
Archaeologist working on the Golden House, which was Nero's palace in the center of Rome, have found the remains of his revolving dining room, which had a four meter pillar for support, and was in turn supported by a series of arches.
What is particularly frustrating is that a number of mentions have been made that they have also found the machinery which supposedly powered it.
If this is true, then the history of the clock will have to be rewritten again. Even if they have not found any mechanism, if research can establish conclusively that this is the remains of Nero's famous room, then Chinese claims of priority for inventing water powered Orrery--of which no remains or supporting evidence have yet to be found- which can be seen as a proto clock have been conclusively disproven.
That is..until whatever the next discovery is.
Here is a good report on it from the BBC , which professional archaeologists tut-tut over, but which covers the fact pretty well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8282007.stm
What is interesting about this "revolving room" is that Seutonius tells us that it "revolved night and day, like the heavens". It may not be too much of a leap in supposition to think that it revolved in time with the heavens and was, in effect, a proto clock. Given that we have extensive mechanical artifacts from the Greek and Roman eras: the Tower of the Winds in Athens, the Antikythera Device, the "Box of the Moon" from 4th or 5th Century AD Eastern Roman empire, the astrolabe and astronomical water clocks from both Alexandria and several European sites, the evidence seems to be building undeniably to point to a European origin for Su Sungs supposed astronomical proto clock in 12th Century China.
Archaeologist working on the Golden House, which was Nero's palace in the center of Rome, have found the remains of his revolving dining room, which had a four meter pillar for support, and was in turn supported by a series of arches.
What is particularly frustrating is that a number of mentions have been made that they have also found the machinery which supposedly powered it.
If this is true, then the history of the clock will have to be rewritten again. Even if they have not found any mechanism, if research can establish conclusively that this is the remains of Nero's famous room, then Chinese claims of priority for inventing water powered Orrery--of which no remains or supporting evidence have yet to be found- which can be seen as a proto clock have been conclusively disproven.
That is..until whatever the next discovery is.