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Why did Marcus Claudius Marcellus regret Archimedesā death?
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Archimedes
Archimedes, oil on canvas by Giuseppe Nogari, 18th century; in the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow. Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician and inventor.
The Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus regretted the death of Archimedes because he held the scientist in high regard for his intellectual and mechanical genius.1
Specifically, Marcellus admired the many clever and effective war machines Archimedes had designed to defend Syracuse against the Roman siege. These inventions had significantly delayed the Roman capture of the city. Additionally, Archimedes was credited with creating sophisticated devices, such as a star globe and a mechanism representing the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, which Marcellus reportedly took back to Rome as spoils of war.12