Technikatörténeti szemle 5. (1970)

TANULMÁNYOK - Makkai László: Nagyüzem és gépesítés az ókorban

eine wertvolle Arbeitskraft, die man schonen musste, so, dass man ihre Muskelkraft mit Maschinen ersetzte. Die hellenistischen Ingenieure konstruierten vom vierten Jahrhundert an vor unserer Zeitrechnung die technischen Möglichkeiten des universellen Triebwerkes der antiken Technik, des Rades, weiterentwickelt, eine Reihe von sinnvollen Kombinationen von elementarenMaschinen (Schnecke, Winde, Schraube, Zahnrad) zur Vervielfachung der menschliehen Muskelkraft, bzw. zur Ersetzung deren durch tierische Kraft und endlich durch Wasserkraft (Flaschenzüge, Göpel, Tretrad, Wasserschraube, Pressschraube, Wasserrad). Die Erfindungen der Ingenieure gingen von der Armee zu den mit Sklaven produzierenden landwirtschaftlichen Grossbetrieben über und entwickelten sich hier zur umfangreichen Mechanisierung (Wasserhebemaschinen, Mahlangen, Presskonstruktionen). Ein grosser Teil der Historiker der Technik meinte irrtünlicherweise, dass die Sklaverei die Mechanisierung hinderte. Im Gegenteil: der Sklave muss gekauf und ernährt werden und die diesbezüglichen hohen Kosten veranlassten den Sklavenbesitzer dazu ihre Sklaven gut auszunützen, aber auch möglichst ihre teuere Arbeitskraft zu schonen.Damit ist es zu erklären, dass die Blütezeit der antiken Sklaverei zwischen dem vierten und ersten Jahrhundert vor unserer Zeitrechnung mit der Entwicklung der ersten Kraftmaschinen und mit der Entfaltung, der Grossbetriebe zusammenfällt. Dies beschränkte sich aber nur auf die Landwirtschaft, da das Handwerk keinen so grossen physikalischen Arbeitsbedarf beanspruchte und im griechisch-römischen Zeitalter in den Manufakturen keine Maschinen benützte. Mit der industriellen Anwendung des Wasserrades machte man erst im Mittelalter den nächsten Schritt der Entwicklung des modernen Grossbetriebes zu. LARGE-SCALE PLANTS AND MECHANIZATION IN ANTIQUITY Large-scale plants are factories where workers use implements which cannot be produced and used in small factories: the machines. With their greater productivity they make illusory the existence of workshops working with hand tools, so automatically depriving the small producer from his mens of production. The early civilisations of Antiquity did not know such large-scale plants. The manufactures of the temples in Mesopotamy and the royal manufactures of Egypt produced with hand tools and the agriculture was based upon peasant small-holdings connected only by the jointly established and used big irrigation works of the state, otherwise they produced independently. Large plants and mechanization could not originated until the ruling class and their craftsmen were sustained by the contributions and the public works of independent peasants. The manpower providing itself is cheap and not stimulating for economy with the labour force, this is only necessary when the manpower is scarse or his provision is due to the employer. In this case arises the need for mechanization together with the necessity of large-scale plants. The big infantry armies of the Hellenistic epoch were the historical precursors of the mechanized large-scale plants. Their task was not only warfare, in peacetime they built and maintained their camps which grew to be cities. Soldiers were an expensive manpower and in consequence of time and expenses needed to their training also precious, they had to be spared in substituting their muscular strength with machines. Hellenistic engineers from the 4th century before our era developing the technical possibilities of the universal transmission medium of ancient technology, the wheels with rationally combinations of primary machines ( pulley, hoist, screw, gear) constructed a series of mechanismes (pulley block, draw beam, treadle, water-raising mechanism, press screw, water-wheel) to amplify man's muscular force, resp. to repalce it by animal force and finally by hydraulic power. These inventions were taken over from the army to agricultural plants producing with slaves and developed there to large-scale mechanization (water-raising mechanismes, constructions for milling and pressing). Many historians of technology believed erroneously that slavery had hindered mechanization. The contrary was true: slaves had to be purchased and provided; the involving big expenses impelled the slave-holder to exploit them throughly, but also to spare as possible this expensive manpower. This explains the fact that the antic slavery at its height, consequently between the 6th and 1st centuries before our era, coincided with the development of the first power machines and largescale plants. But this was limited only to the agriculture because the craftmanship did not