Apollodorus of Damascus made a career in technology at a time when the terms of that career were still being set.
The record lists Apollodorus of Damascus as 2nd century Syrian Roman architect and engineer.
Apollodorus of Damascus was born at Damascus in 50. His recorded nationality is Ancient Rome.
Knowledge in this period had no institutional home; it travelled with individuals, their students and whatever texts survived copying.
He worked as architect, writer and engineer.
His name is attached above all to introducing several Eastern innovations to the Roman Imperial style, such as making the dome a standard. Technology is judged by adoption: an invention nobody uses is a curiosity.
The surviving body of work includes Trajan's Bridge and Poliorcetica.
Working from Ancient Rome shaped what was possible - the audiences within reach, the institutions that would have him, the language the work first appeared in.
Apollodorus of Damascus died in 120, aged 70. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Notable work: Trajan's Bridge
- Notable work: Poliorcetica
- Worked as architect, writer and engineer
