Biton of Pergamon () was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

writer and engineer, who lived in the second or third century BC. Only two of his works are known: a lost book on

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

, entitled ''Optics'', and an extant short treatise on siege machines, ''Construction of War Machines and Catapults'' (). Simon Hornblower, "Biton", in Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth (eds.), ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd rev. ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005). The Greek may be transliterated ''Kataskeuai polemikon organon kai katapaltikon''. The military treatise is dedicated to a king named Attalus (), evidently a king of

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

, either

Attalus I Attalus I ( ), surnamed ''Soter'' (, ; 269–197 BC), was the ruler of the Greek polis of Pergamon (modern-day Bergama, Turkey) and the larger Pergamene Kingdom from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the adopted son of King Eumenes I ...

(241–197) or

Attalus II Attalus II Philadelphus (Greek: Ἄτταλος ὁ Φιλάδελφος, ''Attalos II Philadelphos'', which means "Attalus the brother-loving"; 220–138 BC) was a ruler of the Attalid kingdom of Pergamon and the founder of the city of Att ...

(159–38). Some scholars have suggested, based on internal evidence, that the text should date to 156–55.Francesco Fiorucci, "Biton of Pergamon", in Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion and Andrew Erskine (eds.), ''The Encyclopedia of Ancient History'' (Wiley, 2013), pp. 1140–41. His translation of Biton's title is ''Construction of War Engines and Artillery''. Biton describes the construction of four non-torsion catapults. The two built by Charon of Magnesia and by Isidoros of Abydos he calls "stone throwers" ('' lithoboloi''), while the two attributed to Zopyrus of Tarentum are termed '' gastraphetes''. He also describes ''

helepolis Helepolis (, meaning: "Taker of Cities") is the Greek name for a movable siege tower. The most famous was that invented by Polyidus of Thessaly, and improved by Demetrius I of Macedon and Epimachus of Athens, for the Siege of Rhodes (305 BC ...

'' (siege tower) built by Poseidonios the Macedonian and the ''

sambuca Sambuca () is an Italian anise-flavoured liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as "white sambuca" to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue ("black sambuca") or bright red ("red sambuca"). Like other anise-fla ...

'' built by Damis of Kolophon, which was a kind of wheeled

scaling ladder Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders. Escalade was a prominent feature of sieges in ancient and medieval warfare. Although no longer common in modern warfare, escalade technologies are still dev ...

. One of the more difficult to understand passages involves a part of the ''sambuca'' called the ''kochlias'', which is either a roller or a screw, mounted horizontally or perhaps vertically. To historians, Biton is valuable as the only ancient witness other than

Hero of Alexandria Hero of Alexandria (; , , also known as Heron of Alexandria ; probably 1st or 2nd century AD) was a Greek mathematician and engineer who was active in Alexandria in Egypt during the Roman era. He has been described as the greatest experimental ...

to mention non-torsion catapults. The lost treatise on optics is known only from Biton's references to it in the military treatise. He says that in his optical work he describes a method for calculating the height of walls, which is necessary in order to calculate the proper dimensions for siege engines attacking those walls.

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