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Romans differ from us greatly, many commons today originate from Rome. Many aspects in law, literature and technology created by the ancient Romans are still in use today. One of the biggest examples of such is concrete. If one were to venture into the heart of today’s urban Jungle, they would find an abundance of concrete. Concrete was a modern marvel, and a creation of the ancient Roman Empire. Their mixture of concrete allowed them to build enormous and heavy structures that would be otherwise impossible to build without it. Their mixture of concrete was stronger and more environmentally friendly than today’s concrete.
Some structures made of ancient Roman concrete still stand today, 2000 or so years later! Unfortunately we do not know the exact mixture, or formula of the ancient Roman concrete. Nor do we know the procedure the ancient Romans used to make it. However, we do know that it included water, hydrate lime, volcanic ash and some rocks in the mixture. Though the ancient Roman concrete was strong, durable, reliable, and experienced it was also visually appealing. The ancient Romans would coat the top layer of concrete in volcanic ash. Amphitheaters Surrounding the culture of the ancient Romans were heir enormous venues and the events held in them.
The venues were known as amphitheaters. The word amphitheater comes from the word, amphitheaters that directly translates to “theatre all around”. That is because amphitheaters were very large and the seating was curved around the performance area, sometimes in a complete oval or circle. The ancient Roman amphitheaters had raised seating so the entire crowd could see the event happening without the patron in front of them blocking the event. Sports venues today closely resemble the ancient Roman amphitheaters, with their raised, curved seating around the event.
However today’s sports venues do not feature events that the ancient Roman amphitheaters held, such as: chariot races, animal fights, and gladiator combat. In fact, sometimes the ancient Romans would flood the amphitheaters and hold naval battles. The ancient Roman emperors 2 strongly encouraged events in amphitheaters to keep the respect of their subjects. The emperors would also influence large amphitheaters in great numbers to promote a larger crowd. Over 230 amphitheaters were built by the ancient Roman Empire and largest of them was named The Coliseum, which could hold over 50000 patrons.
Amphitheaters could be built so large because amphitheaters and many other ancient Roman structures had perfectly rounded arches built from end to end. The Arch Another great technological and architectural marvel of the ancient Romans was the arch. Unlike concrete, the ancient Romans did not invent the arch. The arch was already invented and used by the Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians since prehistoric times. However, the Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians only used the arch as small support systems for small structures with very little weight.
Unlike the Romans who used them to instruct enormous structures such as amphitheaters, and aqueducts out of their very strong and durable concrete. Arches were so strong because most of the Diagram of how an arch works force applied to the arch was driven into the ground through victorious and held steady by the abutments, which were placed on the outside of the footers at the bottom of the arch. The way the Romans laid out the arches for the structures was also key to why they were so strong. The Romans would often lay out perfectly rounded arches end to end.
The Abacus The ancient Romans also made some advancements in mathematics. Despite using the ancient Roman numerals system, the Romans eventually began to use the base ten system with the abacus. Like the arch the Romans did not invent it. The abacus was a pre-existing creation of the Babylonians, but the Babylonian abacus was large, heavy, and not very portable. The ancient Romans developed a more simple, and portable version that utilized an early base ten system. The ancient Roman Ancient Roman Abacus adaptation of the abacus consisted a metal sheet with vertical grooves.
Metal ball bearings fitted into the grooves and were used to calculate numbers, and ultimately equations. 3 The Aqueduct Another technological marvel of the ancient Roman Empire was the aqueduct. Aqueducts were the ancient Romans solution to having fresh water, and indoor plumbing for an expanding population. Aqueducts were extremely long gravity propelled pathways for water that stretched hundreds of kilometers long connecting fresh spring water to the Roman population. For the most part aqueducts were underground water systems but sometimes the aqueducts would have to breach the surface.
Some aqueduct bridges were very tall and heavy. The ancient Roman Empire could build these immense ridges thanks to concrete and the arch. 4 Understanding Ancient Rome – Jesse Further understanding ancient Roman technology has conclusively changed my understanding on the way the ancient Romans lived. Before pursuing and researching ancient Roman technology, I though the ancient Romans differed from us greatly and lived in a rather barbaric and crude society. After my research of the technology of the ancient Romans I have realized that they lived in a distinct and organized society.
Examples of such were the ways the ancient Romans modernized, modified, and adapted pre existing technologies, the amount of organized entertainment the ancient Romans enjoyed partaking in and their importance to the political leaders, and the efficient and durable public systems. The first example of how researching ancient Roman technology affected my understanding of the time period are the pre existing technologies the ancient Romans modified and improved upon, similar to our society. Examples of this include the abacus and the arch.
The abacus was originally a creation of the Babylonians, but it was large, heavy, and difficult to use. The ancient Romans adopted the abacus and created a simple, portable and user friendly abacus. One could correlate the evolution of the Babylonian abacus to modernizing and adapting today’s laptops, smoothness, and other technologies to be more user friendly. Another pre existing technology the ancient Romans adopted and modified was the arch. Originally a creation of previous empires during the prehistoric ages, the Romans adapted and improved upon it with one of their creations and then integrated it into their architecture.
If an ancient society can take pre existing technologies, improve upon them and integrate them into their culture, they deserve to be called distinct and organized. Another example of how researching ancient Roman technologies has affected my understanding of the time period was the amount of organized entertainment the ancient Romans enjoyed partaking in and its importance to the political leaders. Entertainment was undoubtedly a very important aspect in ancient Rome. Hundreds of amphitheaters were created for multiple events to take place at these venues.
Political leaders such as Roman emperors strongly encouraged the construction and happenings of these events and venues to buy the respect of their subjects. Influencing and approving of events the population enjoys to watch would influence the population to think dearly of the political leader who approves of the events. Despite being in ancient times and being subjugated to an uneducated population, the political leaders of ancient Rome aggressively bribed their public. The ancient Roman political leaders bribing their citizens closely resembles today’s political leaders.
Although it is seen as rather dated in a narrow chronological perspective, an excellent example of a political leader winning the preference of the public was Bill Clinton starring on The Tonight Show. The final example of how researching ancient Roman technology has affected my understanding of the time period was my research on the efficient and durable public systems the ancient Romans built and used. Originally I thought the ancient Romans lived in a rather barbaric fashion. I also thought the supposedly barbaric ancient Romans had no fresh water system, or 5 indoor plumbing.
I later figured out that the ancient Romans had a clean, efficient, and durable water and plumbing system. In fact their water and plumbing system closely matched ours despite being created in ancient times. The Romans also enjoyed taking baths more than we in modern society do. In my opinion, if an ancient society constructed and used a clean, and efficient water and plumbing system, and enjoyed taking baths they shouldn’t be considered barbaric. In conclusion, researching ancient Roman technology has evidently changed my opinion on the ancient Roman time period.
My opinion has changed from thinking that the ancient Romans were dirty and barbaric to sophisticated, clean, and organized. My opinion has changed because I learned about how the ancient Romans modernized and adapted many technologies, used political schemes involving entertainment and amphitheaters, and the sanitary lives they tried to live. 6 Understanding Ancient Rome – Andrew Before this assignment, my understanding of Ancient Rome was very rudimentary, but now, I have been educated on our preceding ancestors.
Ever since my newly found education on Ancient Roman technology, my respect for their work reached new boundaries. My foremost favorite understanding is that they were much more evolved in technology then I previously imagined, followed by, their distinctive lifestyle that we base ours off, and finally the way they perfected technology that their assistant ancestors created. The development of the Romans is what astonished me the most, for many reasons. Examples of such are their revolutionary concrete and their understanding of gravity.
You might think about concrete as is it currently at the peak of its evolution, but that would be a false statement, the truth is modern concrete does not even compare to its Roman predecessor. However, we have not found the reason for their immortal concrete, for it may be their unique way of mixing the ingredients or the concentration of each element in the mixture. Now, for their understanding of raving, how did they determine that they could transport water over long distances of terrain?
Everyone needs water and the Romans knew that, so they built a peculiar machine that would supply them with great quantities of water using gravity. The aqueduct brought water to many cities, how they would do this is that, they would create an immensely long tube made of their superior concrete that would be slightly slanted in order for the water to move, of course, the beginning would be a water source. Where there was mountains, they would create a tunnel, where there a valley, they would create an aqueduct bridge.
The Ancient Roman discoveries is indubitably dumbfounding, and that is why I find it so very interesting. The Roman lifestyle does not greatly differ from ours. You may ask yourself where our systematized society originated. Today society evolved through millennial, foremost, our organized society descended from the Ancient Roman civilization. Roman were very contemporary in systemization, for they built many prodigious structures. Yet another resemblance in our way of life is our craving for enhanced technology. They strove to better their mathematics, and their engineering, Just as we do.
The Romans created a different version of an abacus, making it portable, or as you might say they created the first calculator, and for modern mathematics, we discover new equations daily, that furthers our understanding of math. For their engineering, they strove as we do today. They strove to create stronger, bigger establishments, and so do we. The similarities are very strong between our two cultures, creating an unforgettable link between them and us. Their way of reforming technology is definitely a colossal step in their dominance, for it be altering the abacus or perfecting the arch.
The abacus was not a useful tool for a mathematician during the Greek times, unless he was where an abacus was, it only became practical when the Romans got their hands on it. Before the Romans, the abacus was not portable, meaning; you cannot bring it around with you, but then they created a portable abacus. Perfecting the arch was a monumental step in architecture. After honing the arch, they were able to sustain immense amounts of weight, so much that some still stand today. The Romans did not 7 create the arch, but without their perfectionist, we would not be as advance in architecture as we are today.