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Also, if the story be true of his having devised a small flying-machine in the shape of a wooden pigeon balanced by an arrangement of weights and pulleys and launched by the escape of compressed air, he must be regarded as one of the fathers of aeronautics. Incidentally, he is said to have in vented the rattle to amuse the children of his slaves. And he was an accomplished performer upon the flute. On the prac tical side, moreover, he showed not only ingenuity but great wisdom and force of character. He was the leading statesman of his city and a beloved and respected governor, and to his generalship as commander-in-chief of the army Tarentum owed her successful campaigns against even such powerful neighbors as Syracuse. prev next |