10 Innovations That Built Ancient Rome
10 Innovations That Built Ancient Rome (Roman aqueduct)
1. Aqueducts
The Romans enjoyed many amenities for their day, including public
toilets, underground sewage systems, fountains and ornate public baths.
None of these aquatic innovations would have been possible without the Roman aqueduct.
First developed around 312 B.C., these engineering marvels used gravity
to transport water along stone, lead and concrete pipelines and into
city centers. Aqueducts liberated Roman cities from
a reliance on nearby water supplies and proved priceless in promoting
public health and sanitation. While the Romans did not invent the
aqueduct—primitive canals for irrigation and water transport existed
earlier in Egypt, Assyria and Babylon—they used their mastery of civil
engineering to perfect the process. Hundreds of aqueducts eventually
sprang up throughout the empire, some of which transported water as far
as 60 miles. Perhaps most impressive of all, Roman aqueducts were so
well built that some are still in use to this day. Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain, for instance, is supplied by a restored version of the Aqua Virgo, one of ancient Rome’s 11 aqueducts.
2. Concrete
Many ancient Roman structures like the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the
Roman Forum are still standing today thanks to the development of Roman
cement and concrete. The Romans first began building with concrete over
2,100 years ago and used it throughout the Mediterranean basin in
everything from aqueducts and buildings to bridges and monuments. Roman concrete was
considerably weaker than its modern counterpart, but it has proved
remarkably durable thanks to its unique recipe, which used slaked lime
and a volcanic ash known as pozzolana to create a sticky paste. Combined
with volcanic rocks called tuff, this ancient cement formed a concrete
that could effectively endure chemical decay. Pozzolana helped Roman concrete set quickly even when submerged in seawater, enabling the construction of elaborate baths, piers and harbors.
3. Newspapers
The Romans were known to contribute to public discourse through the use
of official texts detailing military, legal and civil issues. Known as Acta Diurna,
or “daily acts,” these early newspapers were written on metal or stone
and then posted in heavily trafficked areas like the Roman Forum. Acta
are believed to have first appeared around 131 B.C. and typically
included details of Roman military victories, lists of games and
gladiatorial bouts, birth and death notices and even human interest
stories. There was also an Acta Senatus, which detailed the proceedings of the Roman senate. These were traditionally withheld from public view until 59 B.C., when Julius Caesar ordered their publication as part of the many populist reforms he instituted during his first consulship.
4. Welfare
Ancient Rome was the wellspring for many modern government programs,
including measures that subsidized food, education and other expenses
for the needy. These entitlement programs date back to 122 B.C., when
the tribune Gaius Gracchus instituted lex frumentaria, a law that
ordered Rome’s government to supply its citizens with allotments of
cheaply priced grain. This early form of welfare continued under Trajan,
who implemented a program known as “alimenta” to help feed, clothe and
educate orphans and poor children. Other items including corn, oil,
wine, bread and pork were eventually added to the list of
price-controlled goods, which may have been collected with tokens called
“tesserae.” These generous handouts helped Roman emperors win favor
with the public, but some historians have argued that they also
contributed to Rome’s economic decline.
5. Bound Books
For most of human history, literature took the form of unwieldy clay
tablets and scrolls. The Romans streamlined the medium by creating the
codex, a stack of bound pages that is recognized as the earliest
incarnation of the book. The first codices were made of bound wax
tablets, but these were later replaced by animal skin parchment that
more clearly resembled pages. Ancient historians note that Julius Caesar
created an early version of a codex by stacking pages of papyrus to
form a primitive notebook, but bound codices did not become popular in
Rome until the first century or thereabouts. Early Christians became
some of the first to adopt the new technology, using it extensively to
produce copies of the Bible.
6. Roads and Highways
At its height, the Roman empire encompassed
nearly 1.7 million square miles and included most of southern Europe.
To ensure effective administration of this sprawling domain, the Romans
built the most sophisticated system of roads the ancient world had ever
seen. These Roman roads—many of which are still in use today—were
constructed with a combination of dirt, gravel and bricks made from
granite or hardened volcanic lava. Roman engineers adhered to strict
standards when designing their highways, creating arrow-straight roads
that curved to allow for water drainage. The Romans built over 50,000
miles of road by 200 A.D., primarily in the service of military
conquest. Highways allowed the Roman legion to travel as far as 25 miles
per day, and a complex network of post houses meant that messages and
other intelligence could be relayed with astonishing speed. These roads
were often managed in the same way as modern highways. Stone mile
markers and signs informed travelers of the distance to their
destination, while special complements of soldiers acted as a kind of
highway patrol.
7. Roman Arches
Arches have existed for roughly 4,000 years, but the ancient Romans were
the first to effectively harness their power in the construction of
bridges, monuments and buildings. The ingenious design of the arch
allowed the weight of buildings to be evenly distributed along various
supports, preventing massive Roman structures like the Colosseum from
crumbling under their own weight. Roman engineers improved on arches by
flattening their shape to create what is known as a segmental arch and
repeating them at various intervals to build stronger supports that
could span large gaps when used in bridges and aqueducts. Along with
columns, domes and vaulted ceilings, the arch became one of the defining
characteristics of the Roman architectural style.
8. The Julian Calendar
The modern Gregorian calendar is modeled very closely on a Roman version
that dates back more than 2,000 years. Early Roman calendars were
likely cribbed from Greek models that operated around the lunar cycle.
But because the Romans considered even numbers unlucky, they eventually
altered their calendar to ensure that each month had an odd number of
days. This practice continued until 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar and the
astronomer Sosigenes instituted the Julian system to align the calendar
with the solar year. Caesar lengthened the number of days in a year from
355 to the now-familiar 365 and eventually included the 12 months as we
know them today. The Julian calendar was almost perfect, but it
miscalculated the solar year by 11 minutes. These few minutes ultimately
threw the calendar off by several days. This led to the adoption of the
nearly identical Gregorian calendar in 1582, which fixed the
discrepancy by altering the schedule of leap years.
9. The Twelve Tables and the Corpus Juris Civilis
Subpoena, habeas corpus, pro bono, affidavit—all these terms derive from
the Roman legal system, which dominated Western law and government for
centuries. The basis for early Roman law came from the Twelve Tables, a
code that formed an essential part of the constitution during the
Republican era. First adopted around 450 B.C., the Twelve Tables
detailed laws regarding property, religion and divorce and listed
punishments for everything from theft to black magic. Even more
influential than the Twelve Tables was the Corpus Juris Civilis, an
ambitious attempt to synthesize Rome’s history of law into one document.
Established by the Byzantine emperor Justinian between 529 and 535
A.D., the Corpus Juris included modern legal concepts such as the notion
that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. After the fall of the
Roman empire, it became the basis for many of the world’s legal
systems. Along with English common law and sharia law, Roman law remains
hugely influential and is still reflected in the civil laws of several
European nations as well as the U.S. state of Louisiana.
10. Battlefield Surgery
The Romans invented many surgical tools and pioneered the use of the
cesarean section, but their most valuable contributions to medicine came
on the battlefield. Under the leadership of Augustus, they established a
military medical corps that was one of the first dedicated field
surgery units. These specially trained medics saved countless lives
through the use of Roman medical innovations like hemostatic tourniquets
and arterial surgical clamps to curb blood loss. Roman field doctors
also performed physicals on new recruits and helped stem the spread of
disease by overseeing sanitation in military camps. They were even known
to disinfect instruments in hot water before use, pioneering a form of
antiseptic surgery that was not fully embraced until the 19th century.
Roman military medicine proved so advanced at treating wounds and
promoting wellness that soldiers tended to live longer than the average
citizen despite constantly facing the hazards of combat.
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