Crates (engineer)
Encyclopedia
Crates or Craterus was a mining (metalleutes) and hydraulic engineer , who accompanied Alexander the Great. He was entrusted with draining Lake Copais
in Boeotia and contributed to the construction of Alexandria
. It appears that Crates may have been an Olynthian who settled in the Euboean mother-city, Chalcis
, after the destruction of Olynthus
in 348 BC.
Lake Copais
Lake Copais, Kopais, or Kopaida used to be in the centre of Boeotia, Greece, west of Thebes until the late 19th century. The area where it was located, though now a plain, is still known as Kopaida.- Drainage :...
in Boeotia and contributed to the construction of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. It appears that Crates may have been an Olynthian who settled in the Euboean mother-city, Chalcis
Chalcis
Chalcis or Chalkida , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from antiquity and is derived from the Greek χαλκός , though there is no trace of any mines in the area...
, after the destruction of Olynthus
Olynthus
Olynthus was an ancient city of Chalcidice, built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, about 2.5 kilometers from the sea, and about 60 stadia Olynthus was an ancient city of...
in 348 BC.