List of Persons∗

List of Persons∗ Ramses II, (ca. 1290 – 1214 BC), Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom who established one of the first libraries in his memorial temple, the “Ramesseum,“ as reported by historian Diodorus Siculus. Under his reign, Egypt reached an economic and cultural prosperity that no other pharaoh afterwards could achieve. Assurbanipal, (669 – 627 BC), Assyrian king who founded the first large-scale library in world history with over 20,000 inscribed clay tablets. Thales of Miletus, (640 BC – 546 BC), Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (also merchant, statesman and engineer), he is generally considered to be the founder and progenitor of Greek philosophy and science. Among his many contributions was an important work on geometry (Thales Theorem). He calculated the height of the pyramids from the length of their shadows and is said to have pre- dicted the solar eclipse of 585 BC (in all probability relying on Babylonian knowledge of the so-called Saros Cycle, which states that an eclipse can occur every 233 lunar month). He was the first to describe the magnetic effect of static electricity produced by rubbing amber with a cloth (frictional electricity). Cyrus II, (601 – 535 BC), founder of the ancient empire of Persia who established one of the first fixed postal services in his kingdom, including stations for mounted messengers to change horses at intervals of a day’s journey. Aeschylus, (525 – 456 BC), Greek poet who described the first torch telegraphy in his tragedy “Agamemnon.“ This method of communication was purportedly used to report the Fall of Troy in Greece, in approx. 1184 BC. Cratinus, (520 – 423 BC), Greek comedy writer in whose work the term “library,“ to mean a collection of books, was found for the first time. He also introduced the rule that in a comedy three actors should always share the stage . Panini, (5th c. BC), Indian scholar who wrote the oldest surviving textbook on the grammar of Sanskirt, which is therefore recognized as the oldest grammar book ever written. In the 19th century his work on grammar, containing nearly 4,000 rules, was also known in European countries as a result of the British colonization of India and inspired grammar studies in other languages. Socrates, (approx. 470 – 399 BC), Greek philosopher who was concerned with the study of humankind and the possibilities of self-knowledge. None of his own writings ∗ in chronological order C. Meinel and H. Sack, Digital Communication, X.media.publishing, 347 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-54331-9, Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 348 List of Persons have survived. His pupils Plato and Xenophon reported on Socrates’ life and philosophy as well as his criticism on the invention of writing. Convicted on the charges of impiety and corrupting the minds of the youth, he was sentenced to death. Lysander,(†395 BC), Spartan statesman and general in the Peloponnesian and Co- rinthian Wars. The ancient historian Plutarch describes in his Lysander biography the use of a scytale to encrypt messages during the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides, (ca. 460 – 399 BC), Greek general and historian, who founded with his manuscript “The Peloponnesian War“ the scientific historiography in which he reported on communication via smoke signal from the Peloponnesian War (431 – 404 BC). Plato, (427 – 348 BC), Greek philosopher and Socrates’ pupil who, with his own pupil Aristotle, is considered as the most influential Greek philosopher. Between 387 and 367 BC he founded the “Academy,“ an educational institution in Athens that existed until 529 AD when it was abolished by Byzantine emperor Justinian. Above the entrance to his school was the epithet he had commissioned reading: “Let no one ignorant of mathematics enter here“. (actually geometry is meant). Plato considered mathematics to be the foundation of all eduction and training. He founded the school of thought known as Platonism, in which mathematical objects and structures have an existence independent of human thought. Beside making important contributions to the areas of philosophy, logic and the ideal state, Plato outline his criticism on the development of writing in his dialogue “Phaedrus.“ Aristotle, (384 – 322 BC), Greek mathematician, zoologist and philosopher. He is considered the founder of modern scientific work and was the first to describe, among other things, the principle of the pinhole camera. In 343 BC King Phillip of Mace- donia entrusted him with the education of his thirteen-year-old son who was later to become Alexander the Great. In 334 BC he founded his own school of philosophy at the Lyceum, a group of buildings and gardens dedicated to the god Apollo. It was known as the Peripatetic school, a name that was derived from the colonnades ([Gk.] peripatoi) where lessons were held. The canonical view of Aristotle’s zoological, ana- tomical and physiological writings held in the Middle Ages has affected advancement in these areas until modern times. Polybius, (208 – 120 BC), Greek historian who described using torch telegraphy as a means to transmit freely formulated messages. After achieving a leading political position, Polybios was deported to Rome. There he advanced in his station and eventually became advisor to the general Scipio the Younger, whom he accompanied on his campaigns. His most important work is the 40-volume history of Greece and Rome. Five volumes of this history exist today. Gaius Julius Caesar, (100 – 44 BC), Roman statesman and autocrat, he led Rome out of the age of revolutions and paved the way for the Roman Empire. The reforms he introduced include the Julian calender in 45 BC. Modified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 (with the support of the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria), it retained its validity within the Gregorian calender. He introduced the first daily newspaper in the western world, the “Acta Diurna.“The Roman historian Suetonius reported in his imperial biographies about Caesar’s implementation of a simple substitution encryp- tion method that was named after him. It was used to transport military messages. Each letter of the alphabet was substituted for another letter three positions away in the sequence. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, (1st c. BC), Roman architect and writer. He is perhaps best known for his 10-volume work on the foundation of the Greek and Roman List of Persons 349 architecture, which had a considerable influence on the great architecture of the European Renaissance. In addition, Vitruvius was the first to compare the propagation of sound to the propagation of waves in water. Augustus, (31 BC – 14 AD), born Gaius Octavius, great-nephew and principal heir to Gaius Julius Caesar. Since 31 BC sole ruler of the Roman Empire and first Roman emperor, he institutionalized the “cursus publicus“ as the first regular postal service throughout the entire Mediterranean region. Plutarch, (45 – 125 AD), Greek writer and historian. In his biography of the Spartan commander Lysander he described the use of the scytale for transporting encrypted messages in the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century AD. Plutarch became famous for his imperial biographies, dual biographies – in which he juxtaposed a Greek biography with a Roman biography – and his moral writings. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, (45 – 125 AD), Roman writer and civil servant. In his imperial biography “De Vita Caesarum“ he describes how Julius Caesar used the simple substitution cipher, named after him, for the transmission of secret military messages. Ptolemy of Alexandria, (85 – 165 AD), Egyptian astronomer, mathematician and geographer. Among many other things he described the phenomenon of retina inertia, an essential concept for modern media such as film and television. His “Almagest“ is viewed as a ground-breaking work in astronomy and was a standard work until the 17th century. The geocentric world view, postulated in this work, prevented advances in astronomy for a considerable time due to the prevailing canonical position. Q. Septimius Florens Tertullianus, (approx. 160 – 220), was the first important Christian church writer in Latin. In around 205 he joined the early Christian move- ment of Montanism, named after its founder Montanus, at which time he composed theological and apologetic writings. He takes credit for being the first to use the word “alphabetum“ to describe the sum of all letters. Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, (214 – 275), Roman emperor who contributed in large part to the destruction of the great library of Alexandria while waging a campaign against Zenobia, the ruler of Palmyra (in modern-day Syria). Theophilus of Alexandria.,(†412), Christian patriarch of Alexandria. Acting on a decree of Emperor Theodosius, who ordered all pagan cults to be banned in the Roman Empire, he was responsible for having what remained of the Great Library of Alexandria torn down and the manuscripts burned as a testament to pagan beliefs. Theodosius I, (346 – 395), Christian Roman emperor, who was the last emperor to rule the Roman Empire in its entirety. He took strong measures against paganism, ordering the banning of all pagan cults and the closing of all pagan temples in 391. In an act of overzealousness, Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, ordered what remained of the Great Library of Alexandria to be torn down. Its collection of manuscripts, seen as evidence of pagan beliefs, was burned. In the course of this imperial decree the Olympic Games were also declared a pagan cult and banned in 393. Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, (approx. 400), Roman veterinarian and war theo- rist who described the Roman version of an ancient optical telegraphic system. Mo- vable wooden beams were fastened to towers and messages exchanged by way of prearranged signals. His main work “Epitoma rei militaris“ deals with the art of war and siege technology. Its maxims have met with great interest throughout history and up to modern times.

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