101 Amazing Facts about Ancient Rome by Jack Goldstein

Author:Jack Goldstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romans, Rome, Horrible Histories, Gods, Facts, Fun, Education, Trivia, Ancient, All About, Gladiator, punic, emperor, gods, jupiter, mars, venus, quiz, learn, food, wine
ISBN: 9781783336104
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2014-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

Technology

Roman houses (or at least those belonging to the richest citizens) had their own form of central heating; the floors of the buildings were raised off the ground by pillars, and walls were hollowed out. Hot air from a furnace was then circulated through the enclosed spaces and vented out through a system of flues.

The Romans are famous for their aqueduct system which brought fresh water to bath houses and private homes and was then pumped through the sewer system, flushing waste back out of the city. Amazingly, poorer citizens who weren’t officially connected up to the aqueduct system would tap into the water supply illegally!

The Cloaca Maxima was one of the city’s greatest archaeological achievements. This was a huge and complex sewer system which was far ahead of its time; it would take other civilizations almost two thousand years to reach a similar level of technology.

The Romans built a number of dams, especially in Britain and Spain. At Montefurado, a dam was built that allowed engineers to collect gold deposits from the river bed, but mainly they were used to create a reliable water supply.

The Romans are generally considered to be the first to have widely used arches in their buildings. The weight-supporting structures allowed the Empire to create magnificent buildings, amongst them beautiful aqueducts that still stand to this day.

By the fourth century AD, Romans had built 53,000 miles of road throughout their empire; many of the routes that these roads followed are still in use today.

Although the Romans invented some machines, such as one that reaped the corn, they didn’t much care for them. This was mainly due to the fact that slaves could usually do the work much cheaper!

Amazingly, the Romans had all the necessary elements to develop the steam engine, but never turned it into anything other than a curiosity - although one record does show that the basic theory was used to operate the heavy doors of one temple.

Ancient Rome is thought to be the first civilization to have used indoor plumbing. Many expensive houses boasted running water, and the technology was used in public buildings such as baths. However, lead was often used for the pipes. This wasn’t a good idea as the metal is poisonous, and causes those who ingest it to go mad. It has been suggested that the continued use of lead was a major factor in Rome’s downfall, with those who made key decisions for the Empire afflicted by the insanity.

Many more inventions were either first introduced or first popularised by the Romans, from the Spiral staircase to the screw press, newspapers to tanned leather and glass blowing to cast iron.

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