Hydraulic telegraph
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A hydraulic telegraph refers to two different semaphore systems involving the use of water-based mechanisms as a telegraph. The earliest one was developed in 4th-century BC Greece, while the other was
An ancient hydraulic telegraph being used by Aeneas to send a message.
Reconstruction, Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum
Reconstructed model, messages attached to rod, Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum
Aeneas Tacticus
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Aeneas Tacticus was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war and is credited as the first author to provide a complete guide to securing military communications. Polybius described his desi
Hydraulic telegraph
…additional infrastructure to heat the pipes. This contributed to its impracticality. The ancient Greek design was described in the 4th century BC by Aeneas Tacticus and the 3rd century BC by the historian Polybius. The system involved identical containers on separate hills, which are not connected to each other…
Part-title page of the first printed edition of Aeneas Tacticus, by Isaac Casaubon, an appendix to his edition of Polybius (Cologne, 1609)
A reconstruction of the hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas Tacticus in Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, Athens, Greece.