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Classics

INTRODUCTION.

On the Greek Text of Heron’s Belopoiika¹.

July 16, 1921 - A.F. Pauli

The revision of Rudolf Schneider's text², to which an introduction and a concluding chapter have been added, could—for the philologist a scholar of historical texts and languages who currently has no way to consult the authoritative Paris manuscript of Mynas to fill certain gaps in Wescher’s edition—only consist of avoiding the shortcomings of the last two editions. The final establishment of the text must be left to the great Heron edition of the Bibliotheca Teubneriana a famous series of Greek and Latin biological/technical texts, whose second part of Volume II will also include the Belopoiika The Construction of Artillery.

Classics 15 N20 Harrassowitz 17.33 Marks

Regarding Wescher's achievement, R. Schneider expressed himself in the Reports of the Imperial Archaeological Institute, Rome 1905 (XX), p. 144 as follows: "This work entirely meets the requirements of a critical edition as demanded by modern philology; one only notices that the author lacks technical knowledge, which General de Reffye could easily have provided for him." We are not in a position to fully adopt this favorable judgment of the philological performance. While the recensio the systematic examination and stemmatic grouping of manuscripts of the manuscript and the priority given to the ancient Mynas manuscript are correct, the arrangement of the apparatus the list of textual variations and corrections at the bottom of a page is, aside from individual obscurities and gaps, as confusing as possible. The amateurish palaeographical notes are distracting, and for the emendation the process of correcting errors in the manuscript of difficult passages, he lacks not only technical expertise but also grammatical and critical training.

Thus, R. Schneider had a rewarding field of activity here, as in the other places where he updated Wescher’s Poliorketika Treatises on Siegecraft. His text represents a great step forward, yet the spirit of our late friend, who wrestled passionately with these problems, overshot the mark in several places. It was necessary not to immortalize these failures by mentioning them in the notes.

¹ The striking title Belopoiika original Greek: βελοποιϊκά; literally "the making of projectile-throwers" or artillery comes from Philo’s Mechanical Syntax, book IV, page 49, line 5. He mentions that others preferred the title Organopoiika original Greek: ὀργανοποιϊκά; "the making of instruments/engines". From the former name, H. Schöne wishes to explain the unusual definition found in Philo (ch. 5, p. 51, 12) and Heron (ch. 3, p. 8, 1 ff.).

² Artillery in Manuscript Illustrations, edited and explained by Dr. Rudolf Schneider, Metz 1907 (Supplement to the Yearbook of the Society for Lorraine History and Antiquities II).