Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Time in
Antiquity
by Robert Hannah, Routledge, New York 2009
Reviewed by Tiberiu Popa
This study provides a comprehensive view of
various means of marking and measuring time in the Greco-Roman
world and succeeds in outlining the main facets of this complex and
potentially daunting topic in a generally approachable manner.
Hannah chooses to emphasize the perception of time of ordinary
people, rather than esoteric philosophical theories. In his attempt
to reconstruct what he calls "the human facet of time-keeping and
time-measurement," the author relies on archaeological evidence and
on an impressively extensive survey of literary texts. He often
illuminates ancient practices and methods by comparing them to
notions that we are better acquainted with, for instance major
holidays (Passover, the Christian Easter, the Chinese New Year)
whose positions in modern calendars are still determined by their
relationship with certain phases of the moon. In the final segment
of his book, Hannah considers aspects of the built environment in
Rome that can cast light on the Romans' marking, measuring and
perceiving time. He devotes most of his attention to the famous
Pantheon, whose dome was presumably meant to symbolize the sky and
which turns out to be an enormous sundial. Much of the book is
quite richly illustrated, the photographs, drawings and tables
further enhancing the clarity of the author's descriptions,
interpretations and reconstructions. Readers interested in
virtually everything from the history of private life and ancient
architecture to the history of science and technology will find
this synthesis very helpful and quite enjoyable. Reviewed by
Tiberiu Popa, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
- Tiberiu Popa is an assistant professor of philosophy at Butler
University.