Electric technology is more ancient than is commonly thought.  In 1896, Master Electrical Engineer John B. Verity, the author of Electricity up to Date for Light, Power, and Traction, wrote:  "Although the study of Electricity has only been developed within the last century, there is no doubt that its existence was known to the civilized world of 2000 years ago.  It may well be that Electricity was the magic of the Ancients, and that Tullus Hostilius, who, according to the Roman myth, incurred the wrath of Jove for practicing magical arts and was struck dead with a thunderbolt, may have met a more prosaic end through receiving a fatal shock while experimenting with a high pressure current."

This is the type of current employed by the electric carbon arc light, illustrated above; and just one more enlightened electrical authority who points to the development of ancient technology in electricity.

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