classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, an or ( grc, αὐθέψης, ; from + , "self-boiling", "self-cooking") was a vessel used for water heating. Basically, it was a vase with a central tube used to keep coals. ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law ...

'' describes it as follows:''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', 1890 edition
at

Perseus Project The Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University, which assembles digital collections of humanities resources. Version 4.0 is also known as the "Perseus Hopper", and it is hosted by the Department of Classical Studies. The proj ...

(the book is in public domain)

AUTHEPSA (αὐθέψης), or “self-boiler,” was a vessel used for heating water or keeping it hot. As is well known, both hot and cold water were served by the attendants at well-appointed Roman tables (calidae gelidaeque minister, Juv. 5.63, with Mayor's note). For this purpose vessels were used which cannot have differed much in construction from our modern tea-urns (Böttiger, Sabina, 2.30), and like them might be made of costly materials and in artistic designs (authepsa illa, quam tanto pretio nuper mercatus est, Cic. pro Rose. Amer. 46.133; authepsas argenteas, Lamprid. Heliog. 19). Many ingenious contrivances for economical and portable cooking have been found at
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Like the nea ...
, and are now in the Museo Nazionale (formerly Borbonico) at Naples. It is probable, however, that the , unlike the '' aënum'' and '' caccabus'', was not used for cooking; and it is rather to be identified with a utensil from the same collection (Mus. Borbon. vol. iii. pl. 63) in the first cut above. This vessel is in bronze, and of very tasteful workmanship: the cylinder in the centre was filled with charcoal, and has a grating which allowed the air to enter and the ashes to escape. The second cut, from Mus. Borbon. vol. v. pl. 44, shows another of more elaborate construction. The Russian
samovar A samovar (russian: самовар, , literally "self-brewer") is a metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water. Although originating in Russia, the samovar is well known outside of Russia and has spread through Russian culture t ...
is likewise explained to mean “self-boiler,” and appears to be little different from the .

References

{{reflist Heaters Boilers Classical antiquity