Archimedes lived in the Greek city-state of Syracuse, Sicily, where he was known as a mathematician and as a designer of machines, some of which might have helped keeping Roman armies at bay during the Second Punic War.Hoyos, Dexter. 2011. A companion to the Punic Wars. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. page 328 Archimedes' interests in the conditions of stability for solid bodies are found both here and in his studies of the lever and centre of gravity in On the Equilibrium of Planes I-II.
