On Automata, or Self-Moving Machines

consideration, which is unknown to us, he did not make use of them. In our times such marvels in this genre are seen, which perhaps do not yield at all to those of the ancients; for, whether one speaks of wheel-driven clocks, or of small figures that move by themselves, or of birds that sing, or of small fountains that cast water on high, stupendous examples are to be seen. And as for spheres similar to those of Archimedes, writes of having seen two in Paris: one in the house of , brought from the spoils of Sicily; and the other belonging to , the royal mathematician, gained in the wars of Germany. When the clocks we now have were invented—that is, those that operate without the help of water—I have not (that I recall) seen anyone who has written of it. From this, however, it may be argued that the invention is quite ancient; since one was sent by the King of Persia to , made with marvelous art, which distinguished the hours with a hand and signaled them with sound. Wondrous among others in our times is that which was fashioned by , our compatriot, and given to . Very ingenious also are those today manufactured by , a man singular in the art of motions and of marvelous genius. Nevertheless, I do not cease to admire the diligence of him who enclosed them within the bezel of a ring, and brought it to pass that they divided time not only with a hand, but with a strike as well. My wonder increases nonetheless upon hearing (and perhaps it is a thing very well known in those countries) that a craftsman of , at the entry of the Emperor into that city, fashioned an Eagle, which, flying, went out to meet the Emperor, and returning back in like manner accompanied him as far as the gates of the city; and that another fashioned an iron Fly, which, having left his hands, flew about in—