10 Wonders of Ancient Roman Technology

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You cannot really compare the trajectory  of scientific progress in antiquity and   in the modern era because, first of all, the  civilization of the modern era is built upon   the foundations of antiquity, and second,  the pattern is not the same. You can have   the 19th level of technology in one field, and  the 15th century level of technology in another. The problem here is that people don’t quite  understand the level of technology in Ancient   Rome at all and usually assume that it  was something comparable to the so-called   Middle Ages. That’s wrong and how this deep  misunderstanding emerged is a separate subject. For this video I picked ten “wonders of Ancient  Roman technology” which show us a very interesting   picture of Rome. A picture of a civilization which  essentially entered the industrial era. Let’s go.

The Antikythera Mechanism The most interesting thing about the Antikythera  Mechanism is that this artifact could be invented   only in the culture with sophisticated  mathematical and engineering schools. Only   one mechanism was recovered - in the year  1901 near the Greek island of Antikythera.   But you can be sure that it wasn’t some  prototype built by an enthusiast. There   were more mechanisms and their production is  impossible without proper scientific tradition.

The Antikythera Mechanism is essentially an analog  computer. It is composed of over 30 bronze gears,   originally housed in a wooden box. It also  included several dials on its exterior. These   dials and gears worked together to model the  movements of celestial bodies. The Mechanism   could predict solar and lunar  eclipses, track the phases of the moon,   and even model the irregular orbit  of the moon caused by its elliptical   path around the Earth. All of this with  astonishing precision. Something more or   less comparable, the astronomical clocks,  was invented only during the Renaissance.

Obviously the Antikythera Mechanism is  usually placed under the “Ancient Greek   technology” label, which is true.  But currently it is believed that   this device was built in the 1st century  BC, which makes it both Greek and Roman. Automatic Doors of the Temple of Serapis This one can also be classified as a  Greek invention, but Heron of Alexandria,   who constructed the doors of  the Temple of Serapis in the   1st century obviously lived in the Roman Empire. The doors of the temple are notable for being the  first known automatic doors in history. And not  

only automatic, but hydraulic doors. The mechanism  worked by utilizing heat to create pressure,   which in turn moved the doors. The process  began when a fire was lit on an altar in the   temple. As the fire heated the air inside  a closed vessel hidden beneath the altar,  

the air expanded and was forced through a series  of tubes connected to a water reservoir. The   expanding air pushed the water into another  vessel, which was weighted on a balance system   attached to the temple doors. As the water shifted  from one vessel to the other, the changing weight   on the balance caused the doors to slowly open.  Once the fire was extinguished, the air in the  

vessel cooled, causing the water to flow back to  its original container and the doors to close. The doors were not the only Heron’s creation. It   is believed that he constructed a  number of steam-powered devices,   automated fountains, mechanical birds  and some kind of a vending machine.

Water Mills A significant part of this video is dedicated  to hydraulics and the overall mastery of the   power of water, something at which Romans -  and Greeks, as we can see - really excelled.   Water mills are not a very popular  subject of discussions about Ancient Rome,   which is a shame. And probably a direct  disinformation. Most people never heard   about the ancient Roman mill complex at  Barbegal in the south of France. Or about   comparable facilities like The Hierapolis  sawmill, located in modern-day Turkey.

Barbegal mill which was probably built  in the 2nd century is not just, you know,   a mill. It is an actual factory, an  industrial complex. And we don’t know   many of these complexes there were in the Roman  Empire. And how many people were employed at the   factories of Rome. But you can imagine the  implications of all of this for the economy. So the site at Barbegal consists of a series  of 16 water wheels, arranged in pairs down   a hillside. The wheels were powered by a  continuous flow of water diverted from a   nearby aqueduct. As the water flowed down the  incline, it powered the wheels in succession,   with each wheel driving millstones  used for grinding grain into flour.

The current estimates show that the mill could  produce around 4.5 tons of flour per day,   enough to feed a population  of 10-12 thousand people. Another great example of how water power  was used is the Hierapolis sawmill,   built in the 3rd century. This structure used  a waterwheel to power a saw capable of cutting   stone and timber. This waterwheel obviously was  positioned in a nearby water source and used the  

natural flow of water to rotate. This rotational  movement was then transferred to a mechanical   system that converted it into linear motion. The  mechanism had a crank and connecting rod system,   which allowed the saw to move back and  forth in a straight line—similar to   modern saws. The sawmill was likely used for  large-scale cutting operations in the region. Dams and Canals Yes, Romans obviously built dams. And canals. Naturally, Roman dams were constructed  primarily to store water for urban use,   agriculture, and industrial purposes,  as well as to protect settlements from   flooding. And as you can imagine, one  of the most important uses of dams was   to support the aqueducts. Because  we’re talking about the system.

Additionally, some dams were used in mining  operations, specifically in hydraulic mining,   where controlled bursts of water were used  to erode soil and expose valuable minerals. The dams were typically constructed  using stone, concrete, and rubble,   often with a facing of dressed stone to provide  additional strength and durability. Which is,   once again, quite obvious, but I have  to mention this to stress once again the   importance of Roman concrete, which made all the  construction works possible in the first place. Several Roman dams have survived or left  remnants that provide insight into their   engineering capabilities. One of the most  famous is the so-called “Proserpina Dam”   near Emerita Augusta, modern Mérida, Spain.  Which created a large reservoir that supplied   water to the city via the aqueduct. Another  dam near Mérida served a similar purpose  

and is notable for the fact that it is  still partially in use up to this day. Since we’re on this subject, as a side-note  I’d like to mention the canals and one canal   in particular, because people sometimes choose  to ignore it which twists our perception of   antiquity. I’m talking about the Canal of the  Pharaohs, linking the Nile River with the Red   Sea. So yeah, Egyptians and later Romans had their  own version of the Suez Canal. The modern canal   was opened with a huge pomp in 1869, it was a  construction project of incredible importance and   immense cost, a marvel of engineering.  But there was a canal in antiquity,  

it was probably completed by Darius I. And I  mention it in the video about Roman technology,   because, first of all, Egypt became a  part of the Roman Empire. And second,   even though the initial canal was Egyptian - or  Persian, depending how you look at things - the   Romans were improving the existing  system, most notably under Trajan. Aqueducts And now we’re talking about probably the most  impressive achievement of the Roman engineers,   the aqueducts. This thing is frequently deeply  misunderstood. People see the remains of these  

structures, towering here and there, with these  impressive arches and stuff. That’s only the   visible part. But an aqueduct is an iceberg of  sorts, you cannot really see the whole picture,   because it is a complex system which  is largely hidden under the ground.

The most impressive feature of the aqueducts is  inhuman scientific precision. Most Roman aqueducts   operated using gravity, allowing water to flow  naturally from higher elevations to lower ones.   The engineers constructed channels with extremely  gentle gradients, often just a few centimeters of   decline per kilometer. The aqueduct could easily  bring water from sources as far as 100 kilometers. Out of all the aqueducts I’d like to mention  the famous Pont du Gard in France, because it   tells us a very revealing story. So this Pont du  Gard is an aqueduct bridge constructed during the  

reign of Claudius, which used to be a part of the  system that transported water over 50 kilometers   to the city of Nemausus, modern-day Nîmes. The  slope of this structure was 34 centimeters per   kilometer, which is a fantastic precision. Later,  when the Empire collapsed, the technology was   lost and Pont du Gard was used solely as a  bridge. And it is standing up to this day. It also must be mentioned that some of the  aqueducts, like the one near the city of Cologne,   are currently partially integrated into  the contemporary water supply systems.  

Because if you can restore and clean the  aqueducts, they are still good enough for   use in modern times. They are efficient,  they comply with the modern standards and   the planning of the networks, the whole  design of the system is near-perfect. Sewers and Cloaca Maxima Obviously, you can imagine the implications  of having a functioning water supply system.  

Romans had running water in public toilets,  a thing absolutely unimaginable even in early   19th century Europe. Well, that’s two separate  unimaginable things actually: running water and   public toilets. That’s actually one of the  reasons why historians of the 18th and 19th   centuries launched this gross myth about dirty  Romans passing the communal toilet sponge around. Another sidenote: Romans also invented  underfloor heating. Because if you have   water supplied to your house and  you have something to heat it,   you can just put the pipes under  the floor and there you go. But let’s get back to the toilets. Rome also had  probably the earliest sewage system, the Cloaca  

Maxima, the "Great Sewer". It is believed that  it was initially built around the 6th century BC,   as an open canal that drained the marshlands  between the city’s hills, but gradually evolved   into an underground system. So Cloaca Maxima  was draining water from the city’s streets   and removing waste from homes, public  baths, and latrines. Its main channel,   which is still partially functional today, ran  through the heart of Rome, eventually emptying   into the Tiber River. Over time, the network  expanded into a vast web of underground tunnels.

Naturally the Cloaca Maxima was connected to the  system of aqueducts. Meaning that the aqueducts   brought fresh water into the city and the sewers  removed the waste, creating a continuous flow that   helped to keep the city clean. Or relatively  clean. Clean by the 19th century standards. Yes, the system had its flaws, because  the waste was still ultimately dumped   into the Tiber River, which led  to pollution downstream. But,  

once again, we’re dealing with  19th century technology here. The Road System You all know the phrase "all roads lead to  Rome". What does this phrase mean? Well,   it means that a long time ago all roads literally  lead to Rome. That’s how the system was designed. The Roman road system was crucial for  both governance of the Empire and its   expansion. It is estimated that there were  400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) of roads  

with approximately 50,000 miles paved. And  who was actually building them is actually   quite an interesting story. Because the labor was  provided primarily by the Roman legions. And yes,   Roman legions are frequently misunderstood  as well, because it wasn’t some medieval   army roaming here and there, it was a highly  disciplined military unit that specialized not   only in warfare per se, but also in engineering.  As the legion was moving into new territories,  

it was building roads, connecting the army to  the supply chains and making the fast advancement   of reinforcements possible. They also built all  kinds of fortifications and camps. And stationary,   permanent camps gradually evolved into colonies.  You already had a small town where you could   transport colonists. Using the road. So the  legions expanded the infrastructure of the Empire. The roads themselves were often quite complex.  Romans followed a standardized design, starting   with a foundation of heavy stones, followed by  smaller stones, gravel, and sand, all topped   with large stone slabs or paving stones. This  multi-layered construction ensured durability,   drainage, and ease of travel in all  weather conditions. The roads were  

also slightly curved to allow  water to run off to the sides,   preventing flooding and erosion. Some stretches  of the paved Roman roads still survive today. Limes Limes is the further development of  the idea of a legion building roads   and fortifications. Essentially it  is a system of frontier defenses.   And, once again, the word  “system” must be emphasized.

The greatest example of a limes is the so-called  Limes Germanicus, which spanned from the North   Sea to the Danube River, which is more than  500 kilometers. Essentially it was a number of   outposts, walls, forts and watchtowers, etc, all  of them were connected into a well-thought system,   with roads and everything. Nobody knows exactly  how exactly this particular system worked,   since we don’t have sufficient data, but  what has been excavated is very impressive. Roman started to construct this system at the  time of Augustus, constantly upgrading it,   most notably under Tiberius and then under  Flavians. Limes Germanicus was designed to   withstand prolonged sieges, it housed a rather  large garrison of troops and helped the Empire   to maintain control over the region. It  was a much more impressive and much more  

well-thought structure than the Great Wall of  China. The Great Wall just has a better PR and   has impressive photogenic segments built in the  20th century. Sorry, restored in the 20th century. Obviously there were other limites in the  Empire and the Brits will gladly tell you   marvelous stories about Hadrian's Wall.  Indeed it looks very impressive in the   Assassin’s Creed Valhalla videogame. But  it is mostly a fantasy wall, it doesn’t   serve any serious strategic purpose, so British  historians come up with explanations that yes,   it wasn’t so much about the protection of  the region, but more like a boundary where   you could place customs and enforce taxation of,  I don’t know… sheep from Caledonia? Forget about   the wall attributed to Hadrian based on one  broken inscription or the Antonine Wall. The   system in Germany is what really reveals  the genius of Roman military engineers.

Pantheon The Pantheon in Rome is the pinnacle of  architectural achievements of Romans and   an ode to Roman concrete. A material that  was replicated only in the 19th century. The original temple was built by Agrippa during  the reign of Augustus. That’s why his name is   on the building up to this day. But this temple  was destroyed in fire and rebuilt by Hadrian. The   main feature of the Pantheon is its incredible  dome. It is 43 meters in diameter and it was  

the largest dome in the world until 1436 when  the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del   Fiore was built in Florence. But the Duomo of  Florence was built using a different technology   and it looks different. The dome of the Pantheon  is a perfectly symmetrical sphere - a half of   a sphere - made of unreinforced concrete.  With the oculus in the middle. Which lets   the rays of the sun inside and the whole temple  could work as some sort of a gigantic sundial. The oculus is the only source of natural  light for the interior and in fact it also   lightens the load on the dome’s apex,  reducing stress on the structure. It  

is actually a very complex technology. The  thickness of the dome decreases as it rises,   going from 6 meters thick at the base to  just 1.2 meters at the oculus. Lighter   materials were used in the upper  levels to further reduce weight. It is an actual architectural wonder, but  people sometimes just don’t understand   how hard it is to build a super-large dome  and what kind of technology and engineering   genius it takes to construct something like  that. Let’s just put things into perspective.  

The dome in Florence was built in a very different  manner - although it is still very impressive - it   happened in the middle of the 15th century and  we don’t know how long it took to construct   the thing. Officially the dome took 16 years to  complete. And the whole cathedral has a fantastic   backstory, it is said that it took a total of  140 years to complete the whole thing which is… OK. Now the prominent domes of  the 19th century. The dome of   St. Isaac’s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg  is larger in scale, compared to Pantheon,   rising to over 100 meters, but the diameter  of the inner dome is around 25.4 meters,  

which is substantially smaller. It took  40 years to complete the Cathedral,   the project was finished in 1858. 40  years. Twice the reign of Emperor Hadrian. Then we have the U.S. Capitol Building.  The dome is 29 meters in diameter,   took 11 years to complete, finished in 1866. Once again, the dome of the Pantheon: 43  meters. Took 4 or 5 years to complete.  

We don’t know when it was finished, but  probably in the year 125. 4 or 5 years. I also have to mention that originally the  dome was covered in bronze. But Christians   stripped the dome from bronze in the 17th  century, they needed it for construction   works in the Vatican. And Hadrian… Well,  the Pope chose the Mausoleum of Hadrian   as his residence. That’s a deeply disturbing  story if you’ll think about it for a minute. The Temples of Baalbek Since we mentioned the Pantheon and its dome,   we also should talk about the temples  of Baalbek. Baalbek is the modern name,  

the city was known as Heliopolis in Roman times.  It is the territory of present-day Lebanon. The complex includes three primary temples:  the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Bacchus,   and the Temple of Venus. The Temple of Jupiter  in particular is usually referred to as the   Temple of Baalbek, singular. Heliopolis  used to be an important Phoenician city,  

the transformation of the religious  complex started under Augustus   with the main temple finished much later,  somewhere in the middle of the 1st century.   And then they were constantly upgrading  everything, most notably under Trajan. So what’s so important, so jaw-dropping  about this temple complex? It is mostly   the ability of the Roman architects to  work with massive objects. The columns of   the Temple of Jupiter were 20 meters tall  and each of them weighed approximately 60   tons. 6 columns remain standing.  There were more than 50 of them. But that’s not all. The foundation of  the temple has massive stone blocks.  

The three largest blocks, known as  the "trilithon," each weigh around   800 tons. And they were placed  there with incredible precision. Just to put things into perspective, in the  year 1586 the so-called Vatican Obelisk was   moved 250 meters from one place to another, the  St. Peter’s Square. This is a very large obelisk,   25 meters tall and made of granite, it  weighs over 300 tons. It was the first   obelisk to be moved from one place to another in  the modern era. Nobody even tried to accomplish   something like that before the year 1586.  In order to move this thing, the architect  

Domenico Fontana had to devise an elaborate  method, which he later described in detail.   It took a few months of preparation, about 1000  people, more than 70 horses and building rails. It must be noted that this obelisk was brought  from Egypt in the times of Gaius Caligula. So   they moved it into a ship, brought it to Rome  and started moving it around and then placed   it in the circus - the horse track. And roughly  at the same time they were moving 800 ton blocks   in Heliopolis. Moving them, cutting  them, assembling them with precision. But yeah, there was obviously  a limit to Roman capabilities,   there are some other monoliths found  at Baalbek. The largest is 1500 tons,  

so apparently Romans decided not to use  this one. Too heavy. Even for Romans. That’s all for today. I hope this list changes  your perception of Ancient Rome a little bit.   In the beginning of this video  I’ve said that we see “a picture   of a civilization which essentially entered  the industrial era”. And I wasn’t joking. Thank you for watching, don’t forget to  like, subscribe and give this video five   stars. Also please don’t forget that  I have this beautiful Oedipus/Antigone  

visual novel game I made. It is available on  Steam, link in the description. And I also   have a nice soundtrack for the game and a bunch  of industrial metal albums of debatable quality. See you soon.

2024-09-20

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