The Arrows of Hercules

There was a moment of silence, while the tyrannos' eagle gaze roved the room. Then a man held up a hand.

"Yes, Menedemos?"

"Please, sir, that pile of trash against the east wall of the Arsenal is a fire hazard. Shouldn't it be removed?"

"Indeed it should." Dionysios nodded to his secretary, who scribbled. "Next?"

Another man wanted more slaves assigned to moving materials about the shipyards. Another urged a patrol of soldiers around the Arsenal to rout out slaves and apprentices who sneaked off to loaf or sleep in corners.

When the engineers ran out of suggestions, Dionysios said: "Now I have the pleasure of announcing an award. Master Pausanias, come forward with your masterpiece!"

The burly smith approached the dais, holding the new iron cuirass, polished to mirror brightness. Archytas whispered behind his hand:

"I hope for Pausanias' sake that it fits."

It did. The guards helped the smith to put it on the tyrannos, over his head, and to buckle the straps at the sides. Dionysios drew a breath and slapped the breastplate with a resounding bong. He looked magnificent in it.

"I had been told," he said, "that no smith in the world could forge a complete cuirass of iron, because of the difficulty of working that metal in such large pieces. But, as you see, Master Pausanias has done it. As far as I know, he is the first. Here, sir, is a small token of my regard!"

Around the smith's neck, Dionysios hung a golden disk on the end of a golden chain. The smith, ducking his head and twisting one toe back and forth like an embarrassed schoolboy, said:

"O President, I—ah—anyway, thanks a lot, sir. Now do you want me to start production of these cuirasses?"

Dionysios cocked his head. "That is something I shall have to think about. I may like this so well that I shall wish to keep its use exclusively to myself. In any case, you have done a noble piece of work."

As the smith retired, Dionysios said: "Three more matters before we break up. First: There is entirely too much loose talk in the city about our plans and projects. Too many of you, when you go home at night, hunt up the nearest drink shop, sit with cronies, and tell everything you know in a voice that would carry from Karia to Carthage. By Zeus the King, no wonder foreigners call us garrulous Greeks! I have never believed the tale that Pythagoras compelled his disciples to keep silent for five years, for I doubt that the God himself could render Hellenes mute for so long.

"After this, there shall be no more discussion, off the island, of what goes on at the citadel. What boots it to devise new weapons against implacable foes, if we describe them to these foes so they can equip themselves likewise? I should not like to make you live on the island in barracks; but, unless this loose talk stops, I shall be compelled to do so.

"The second matter is this: Our production of standard military items, like shields and spears, should be increased and, I am sure, can be increased, even without buying more slaves or hiring more free workers. I have been considering why the Athenian potters can undersell all the others in the Inner Sea, although their pottery is finer and shipping is costly. The reason is that they use a new method of production—mass production, we might call it.

"Have you ever seen an Athenian pottery? I have not been to Athens, but my agents have described one to me. Instead of having each workman make a complete pot, the Athenians split up the task among a number of specialists. One man mixes the clay, another turns the wheel, another throws and molds the clay, another gives the pot its finished form, another paints it, and so on. Each worker, by constant repetition, becomes more expert in his particular task than he could be if he scattered his talents among several operations. Working thus, a given number of potters can turn out twice as many pots as they could if they worked each on his own. Now I, Dionysios, want you to think about applying this lesson to the making of warlike gear.

"Lastly: I have tried several means of signaling the start of work in the morning, and none works very well. The trouble is that all signals depend upon some human being to blow a trumpet or strike a gong; and human beings are fallible. As things stand, people straggle in over a period of an Egyptian hour, and those who come early cannot work efficiently because those who should fetch them materials or otherwise help them have not yet arrived.

"Now, I want some device that can be started in the evening, when I can see to its setting, and that shall give its signal the following daybreak without further attention. Think hard, my friends!

"And speaking of getting to work promptly in the morning, tomorrow is a working clay, so we must all seek out our beds. Good night!"