In ancient Greece, Archimedes developed an improved lifting device
operated by ropes and pulleys, in which the hoisting ropes were
coiled around a winding drum by a capstan and levers.
By A.D. 80, gladiators and wild animals rode crude elevators up to
the arena level of the Roman Coliseum.
Medieval records contain numerous drawings of hoists lifting men
and supplies to isolated locations. Among the most famous is the
hoist at the monastery of St. Barlaam in Greece. The monastery
stood on a pinnacle approximately 61 meters (200 ft) above the
ground. Its hoist, which employed a basket or cargo net, was the
only means up or down.
At an abbey on the French seacoast, a hoist was installed in 1203
that used a large tread wheel. A donkey supplied the lifting power.
The load was raised by a rope wound on a large drum.