 Since there are only a few sources from which to draw upon for technical information, it is theorized that tradesmen kept their knowledge a secret.Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder and Frontinus are among the few writers who have published technical information about Roman technology.There was a corpus of manuals on basic mathematics and science such as the many books by Archimedes, Ctesibius, Heron (a.k.a.