If I were to introduce my work on the timekeepers of ancient peoples with the confession that I actually lack the necessary mathematical and technical knowledge, and that I must therefore ask for the indulgence of my readers for any errors that may arise from such a deficiency, I would undoubtedly be met with the question that Postumius Albinus once received from the old Cato in a similar case: whether I have been condemned by the Amphictyonic Council to address a subject for which I lack the required knowledge—a question I could not affirm with a clear conscience. Perhaps I can gain the indulgence of my readers by pointing out that a border area between philology on one hand and technology and mathematics on the other will rarely find contributors who are equally proficient in both fields.