08-21-2017, 02:18 PM
"Aristophanes doesn't count -- not a good reference and still entirely vague and open to speculation"
Now you've done it!! I'm an old theatre major. Aristophanes counts as much as any other ancient source as far as I am concerned. You don't have to discount biases the way you do for Xenophon and Thucydides. His throw-away line comes from somewhere.
We have no idea how stuff was done back then. I struggle to make sandals because I don't have the right tools (and not going to get them - I don't want to invest in a new line of work). Knowledge of everyday technology falls away quickly. Do you remember party lines (multiple household shared landlines)? I still know how to use one. Haven't had to since the early sixties... I wish someone had written all this stuff down. Maybe they did and it is lost.
Anyway, research Lysias the speechwriter of ancient Athens. His family had a shield factory in Piraeus with 120 slaves.
Now you've done it!! I'm an old theatre major. Aristophanes counts as much as any other ancient source as far as I am concerned. You don't have to discount biases the way you do for Xenophon and Thucydides. His throw-away line comes from somewhere.
We have no idea how stuff was done back then. I struggle to make sandals because I don't have the right tools (and not going to get them - I don't want to invest in a new line of work). Knowledge of everyday technology falls away quickly. Do you remember party lines (multiple household shared landlines)? I still know how to use one. Haven't had to since the early sixties... I wish someone had written all this stuff down. Maybe they did and it is lost.
Anyway, research Lysias the speechwriter of ancient Athens. His family had a shield factory in Piraeus with 120 slaves.
Cheryl Boeckmann