Athenaeus the Mechanicus (Ἀθήναιος ὁ Μηχανικός) was a Hellenistic military engineer of the 1st century BCE. His biography is unknown, but his surviving treatise suggests he was a professional active during a period of significant development in siege warfare. The dating is based on internal evidence and his apparent influence on later writers like Vitruvius [1].

His sole extant work is the treatise Περὶ μηχανημάτων (On Machines), dedicated to a Marcellus, often tentatively identified as the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus. It provides practical instructions on the construction and use of siege engines [1][2].

Athenaeus is a significant figure as one of the few surviving technical writers on Hellenistic military engineering. His work is a valuable source for the history of ancient poliorcetics and represents an important link in the transmission of Greek mechanical knowledge to the Roman world, with clear parallels to the later work of Vitruvius [1][2].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Plato.stanford.edu): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/athenaeus-mechanicus/ 2. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0051