# How Accurate Were The Ancient's Water Clocks?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-were-the-ancients-water-clocks/188876>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 16, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-were-the-ancients-water-clocks/188876 "2003-07-16T13:37:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-were-the-ancients-water-clocks/188876/1 "2003-07-16T13:37:32Z")

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WEstern man has spent a lot of energy in devising ways to measure the flow of time. I have always wonderd about the sophistication of the water clocks constructed by the greeks and Romans… from what I understand, these machines could be quite eleaborate, displaying the time of day, the year, position of the earth relative to the sun, etc.  
My question: have any modern reconstructions of these clocks been made? What sort of accuracy do they exhibit? And, did ancient Romans time their activities like we do? For example, would a Roman lawyer agree to meet his client in court at 6:00"o’clock"? Or were appointements a lot looser back then?

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**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-were-the-ancients-water-clocks/188876/2 "2003-07-16T17:39:33Z")

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have any modern reconstructions of these clocks been made?

Modern? As in the last 100 years? Yes, they were still in use in Africa within the last 100 years … but you know how behind the times those Africans can be. Heck, they still had racial discrimination in South Africa as a matter of public policy until just recently.  
What sort of accuracy do they exhibit?

Very poor … the water all evaporated ages ago.  
And, did ancient Romans time their activities like we do? For example, would a Roman lawyer agree to meet his client in court at 6:00"o’clock"? Or were appointements a lot looser back then?

Appointments? Are you kidding?

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**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-were-the-ancients-water-clocks/188876/3 "2003-07-16T19:24:17Z")

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[Way more than you ever wanted to know about clepsydra.](http://www.ubr.com/clocks/pub/clep/clep.html)