Bronze and iron dividers
Compás de puntas (divisor) de bronce y hierro
- Date
- c. century I a.C.-I d.C. · confidence low
- Place
- Pompeii, Campania, Italy
- Credited to
- Greek and Roman craftsmen
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Two hinged legs with metal points used to draw circles and arcs and to transfer distances in sculpture, carpentry and architecture. Roman hinged bronze and iron dividers survive at Pompeii.
Greco-Roman tradition credited it to Perdix or Talos, a legendary figure; the real origin is earlier and multiple. There are poorly dated Iron Age and Mesopotamian dividers.
What it led to
- precise layout of mouldings, columns and building plans
- a basic instrument of geometric drawing and cartography
- the dividers of cartographers and navigators