It was hot in the pub’s private meeting room, which was dimly lit by several flickering olive oil lamps. The pub was located in one of the more plebian areas of the city of Rome. Smells of sweaty men and cheap wine permeated the room, twisting around the twenty-three men packed together. One man at the front climbed onto a box and shouted, “Quiet, quiet! This union meeting is now come to order!” Gradually the voices in the room fell silent. The noises of drinking continued.
The man on the box was in his early 40’s, his dark hair flecked with gray and wearing a short beard with tight curls. He was obviously fit, like all the other men in the room, although, if a two-foot tall observer was roaming around the meeting, he would have noticed that the muscles in their legs were particularly chiseled.
“Friends, you all know me – Gratus the bematist! I have gathered you here, my fellow bematistae, who are joined together in brotherhood, to discuss a danger that has arisen against our profession, the noble profession of distance measurement!” The crowd shouted several times then quieted. The drinking noises still continued.
“Our profession is threatened by a new machine, an artificial odometer, invented by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a man we have worked for, a civil engineer who should know better than to try to replace us! Alexander the Great and the Roman army carved out their empires based on the backs and legs of bematistae like us – human odometers. We cannot be defeated by a mechanical monstrosity!”
A thick-set man named Valerius interrupted Gratus. He surged to the front, pulled up another box, mounted it and began speaking clearly and calmly.
“With all due respect to you, Gratus, we cannot be replaced by a machine. It would be impossible to replace us, my fellow bematistae! Think of all that we do. We set our pace and keep it, precise like the dripping of a water clock, each step the same length. Every time our right foot hits the ground we count an additional two-step pace. When our count reaches 100, we move a pebble from our pocket into our C-bag. When the C-bag becomes full, we count the number of pebbles, write it down on our wax tablet, empty the pebbles back into our pocket, and begin to count again. When we have reached our destination, we add up all the numbers and report the total distance. All these actions take skill, mental focus, perseverance, and strong, enduring legs. How could we professionals ever be replaced by a simple device?”
The audience roared their approval of this speech and the orator went back into the crowd. The men started talking to each other again, thoroughly satisfied with what Valerius had said. Some of them began looking around for more wine.
Gratus stood on the box again. He shouted loudly and waved his arms for attention and quiet. Again, the noise gradually faded away. The sounds of drinking continued.
“You fools!” shouted Gratus. This shocked the gathering so that even the drinking stopped. “I have seen this machine that Vitruvius has made. I have seen it tested. It is a wheeled device with a mechanical counter mounted on one wheel. And it works! It gives as good a measurement of distance as the best of us can do.”
A third person in the crowd, named Polius, raised his hand and Gratus recognized him. Polius said, “If this odometer is a cart, pulled by a horse, then the only place it could be effective is on a road, where the distance has already been previously measured by a bematist before the road was even built. Therefore, this odometer can only be effective in places where it is not even needed. This machine cannot compete with us!”
There was a loud chorus of agreement with Polius.
Gratus continued speaking. His tone was witheringly sarcastic. “I tell you that I have seen this machine and I will describe it to you if you will only shut up for a moment and listen! This odometer is not a cart pulled by a horse. It is the size of a small wheelbarrow, with two wheels, and is pushed by a single man, who does not need the skills of a trained bematist. It can easily go on any path that a man can walk on, even a steep uphill or downhill path. Yes, it cannot be pushed over large rocks but we are rarely called on to do that, anyway. For laying out new streets and construction in a town, or for measuring trails to be turned into highways, it works perfectly. Vitruvius’ odometer can replace a single bematist. It will replace all of us unless we do something about it.”
The room was silent now. Even the drinking had stopped.
Valerius raised his voice to speak. His words had much less confidence than they had before. “What can we do, Gratus? Do you have any ideas?”
Gratus replied, “Yes, I do. First, we can protest to the civil authorities, who are the ones planning new roads. If they do not allow this odometer to be specified for their projects, that will help us immensely. Second, we can protest to the construction companies who are building the roads, large buildings, and aqueducts. Third, we can protest to the army authorities, appealing to their pride in the training of their soldiers, equating their training with our training. After all, many of you have served in the army, have you not? Finally, we can get the other construction unions to support us – their turn at being replaced by a machine may be next. To do all this, we need to hire a scribe who can write well and translate our concerns into compelling Latin for these various letters. We can then follow up the letters with personal visits.”
Polius spoke again. “What if we refuse to work on any project if an odometer is used? Won’t that teach the project leaders a lesson?”
Gratus was really a master of sarcastic wit. “Oh, such a smart idea, Polius! We go on strike and the construction companies decide to try the odometer, in desperation to keep to their schedules! And they find that they like it! Oh, that will really show them!”
Polius flushed and remained silent.
A fourth speaker claimed the floor, one Decimus. “It should not be too hard to wreck these odometers, should it? From your description, Gratus, a few minutes with an axe would do the trick. If everyone trying to use an odometer, which must be expensive to build, finds them wrecked overnight, then everyone will have to turn back to us. I once met this Vitruvius on a road project. He is not a prepossessing physical specimen. If we also intimidate him, in secret of course, he’ll be too frightened to build any more odometers. Thus, the problem will be solved!”
Gratus said what he thought of this suggestion. “Decimus, were you born a fool or did you somehow become a fool? The first wrecked odometer may be ascribed to random vandalism. The second and the third…the city watch contains many stupid people but not all of them are stupid. When they start investigating the crimes, the first thing they will think is – who benefits from wrecked artificial odometers? Which will lead them straight to us, the human odometers. As for Vitruvius, he is a wealthy man and can easily hire bodyguards and set the city watch onto us, since by trying to intimidate him we would be saying exactly who we are. No, the only viable plan is the one I have said – protest and appeal.”
Valerius shouted out, “We are all loyal Roman citizens here! We do not threaten people or commit illegal acts of sabotage! We respect our consuls Ahenobarbus and Sosius!” The crowd of men seemed to agree with this sentiment, judging by their shouts of acclamation.
Gratus correctly evaluated the crowd’s mood. He called for a vote: “All in favor of protest by petition, raise your right hand!” He quickly counted but the vote was almost unanimous.
“We are agreed,” said Gratus. “I, with whoever wants to help me, will find a scribe who will write the different letters as we dictate. We will call another meeting to read the letters to you before we all sign them and have them delivered.” Valerius and Polius volunteered to help Gratus.
Gratus finished the meeting by saying, “Before we dismiss, I have one more thing to say. Always remember this day, my friends. On this day, we are taking the first steps in resisting a new technology that, if used, would destroy our jobs and diminish our humanity and the humanity of the Empire!”
The men all cheered this last speech, which ended the meeting. The drinking of wine re-commenced and continued far into the night.