The deductive method in Archimedes probably originated in the same remarkable sociological phenomenon which also caused the poor state of physics in antiquity. Ancient civilization was based on slave labor and, in general, their patrons and representatives did not have occupations, but lived on their rents. In ancient opinion, therefore, logical deduction and mathematics were worthy of free-born men, whereas experimentation, as requiring manual work, was considered to be a slavish occupation.

Edgar Zilsel, ‘The Genesis of the Concept of Physical Law’, The Philosophical Review, vol. 51, no. 3 (May, 1942), p. 254