ASTRONOMER, ENGINEER, ARCHITECT

Work
A native of the Syrian city of Cyrrhus, Andronicus is cited by Pausanias, Vitruvius and Varro. He constructed celestial spheres and astronomical instruments, which were often variations and improvements on existing devices; but he is perhaps best known for two more substantial works. The first of these was the white marble sundial he built for the sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite on the island of Tinos, which is now on display in the Museum of Tinos. This sundial became so famous that Andronicus was invited to Athens, where he erected a magnificent horologium on the eastern side of the Roman marketplace. One of the very first "town clocks", this was an octagonal structure of Pentelic marble, 3.2 metres long on each side and 12 metres high. The tower housed a water clock, while atop the conical roof was a bronze statue of Triton, rod in hand, that turned to indicate the direction of the wind. On each facade was a sundial and a winged figure carved in relief, representing one of the eight principal winds. Each of these figures carried its own particular symbol, and its name was engraved on the lower part of the cornice beneath it: (anti-clockwise from the North) Boreas, Sciron, Zephyr, Lips, Notos, Euros, Apeliotes, Caecias. Andronicus incorporated into this construction a number of inventions of earlier clock-makers, including Archimedes, Ctesibius and Philo.

Vitruvius called the monument the "Tower of the Winds", and described it in considerable detail; it is also mentioned by Varro. A cylindrical reservoir on the south side held water piped in from the spring on the north side of the Acropolis. The tower itself, with its Doric interior and its Corinthian exterior, is still in relatively good condition.