Ancient architects were as much artists as engineers. Greek "architectons," for example, did not design new forms of their own, so much as improve upon Egyptian and Mycenaean designs. There was no formalized training for Greek architects--they simply learned through apprenticeships and experience.

Some of the most famous Greek architects include Democritus, credited with inventing the stone arch, Ictinus and Callicrates, who built the Parthenon, and Denocrates and Sostratus, who planned out the streets of Alexandria and constructed the Pharos lighthouse.