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Psy-Kosh comments on Open Thread: October 2009 - Less Wrong
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Basic electrics are possible as soon as you have decent metalworking. Dynamos are just a bunch of spools of copper wires and magnets. Add some graphite, and you have telephones. ̶G̶r̶e̶e̶k̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶.
Well, did the Greeks have the ability to make decent enough wire in sufficient quantities?
I think they could. Remember the Antikythera mechanism's high quality of fabrication. And fine metal wire was useful for jewelry and art:
I don't know, but even if they could do it, they had no reason to. So we can't really tell.
The real question is - if they really really wanted to and had a book of helpful tips, could they have made decent enough wire? (And could they get copper in sufficient quantities? By Roman times they certainly could.)
Could they make it thin enough (even with insulation) to be able to fit large amounts of windings?
ie, assuming they had reason to try, could they do it based on what we know of their capabilities at the time?
Incidentally, a radio would be much cheaper to make and almost certainly within their capabilities.