This type of odometer was likely invented around the 3rd century BCE, and was widely used during the late-Hellenistic Period. Vitruvius described the device around 27–23 BCE and it is believed he was describing the device invented by Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) or .

Collection of the Society of Ancient greek Technology. Construction D. Kriaris.
From the 2013 “Το Ναυάγιο των Αντικυθήρων. Το Πλοίο, οι Θησαυροί, ο Μηχανισμός” (The Antikythera Shipwreck. The Ship, The Treasures, The Mechanism) at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece.