Listen to Courtney Ann Roby, Associate Professor, Cornell University talking about the dreams of, and designs for, automata in ancient Greece, and how actual “ancient robots” were “programmed.” Dr Roby is the author of Technical Ekphrasis in Greek and Roman Science and Literature: The Written Machine between Alexandria and Rome (2016) and Hero of Alexandria (forthcoming). Her lecture was recorded at the University of King’s College, Halifax on January 25, 2018.