Thales of Miletus wisely declared that water is the vital element for life. Being the core substance for human survival, the management of water has always been an important matter. Early attempts to improve water-lifting devices for agricultural endeavors have been detected in Hellenistic Alexandria. However, aside from the limitations of the different devices, variations in geology also limit the use of some of these machines in specific areas. Some of these devices were used daily, whereas others remained impractical or were of minor importance due to their complicated nature, and some were even forgotten until they were later rediscovered. Water also became a basic power source, providing energy, e.g. for cutting stone or milling grain, and such applications constituted the first attempts at Roman industrialization.
