Roman construction methods. Eternal inventions of the ancient Romans: fountains, roads, law, holidays Main characteristics of Roman architecture

The architecture of Ancient Rome is based on two great civilizations - Greek and Etruscan. The Etruscans had excellent technologies for building temples, houses, and tombs. It was they who introduced the arch and vault. But, unlike the Greek ones, the Etruscan temples were built from short-lived materials, so little has survived to this day.

Etruscan arch in Perugia, Italy

However, there are objects by studying which you can get a lot of information about this culture. It is known that the supporting structure of the buildings was made of wood, bricks and terracotta coverings were used.

The Etruscan arch in Perugia is an intact example of a city gate.

Architecture of Ancient Rome: periods

Real Roman architecture with original features that rework Etruscan and Greek influences is defined from the 2nd century BC.

Architecture of the Roman Monarchy

It is believed that Rome was founded in 753 BC. At the beginning of its history, Rome was a monarchy. According to tradition, after the reign of Romulus, King Numa Pompilius ascended the throne and improved the organization of the city's territory. He was succeeded by Tullus Hostilius, an experienced Latin warrior who conquered nearby cities. The fourth king was Anco Marcio, who built the port of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber.

Etruscan rulers followed - Tarquinius Priscus ordered the market square, Foro, to be covered with stone, built numerous temples and ordered the digging of the Cloaca Maxima sewer to discharge dirty water. Servius Tullius surrounded the city with a wall.

The monarchy ended with the reign of Lucius Tarquin the Proud, who was expelled from the city in 509 BC, and Rome became a republic.

Architecture of the Roman Republic

During the Republic, which lasted almost five centuries, Rome was always at war. After conquering the Etruscans and other peoples living in what is today Italy, the Roman Republic conquered the territories of Greece and other Mediterranean countries. Construction was actively underway. To move the army, good roads were needed, and many were built. Road (lat. strata) was formed from several layers (Italian. strato) and its surface was covered with stone slabs.

The architecture of the Roman Republic period pays great attention practical and functional aspects buildings.

Architecture of the Roman Empire

After the Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire in 31 BC, there was a long period of prosperity for the arts and architecture. Under Emperor Augustus, then under Trojan and Hadrian, the architecture of the Roman Empire reached its splendor and played an important role in the propaganda of power.

Extensive evidence has been preserved relating to architecture, where the Romans demonstrate excellent skills in construction techniques, sculpture (portraits, reliefs that complement the architecture), painting (frescoes, mosaics).

Architecture of the Christian era

The period of barbarian invasions marks the decline of Roman architecture. A new era is coming - Christian.

Main characteristics of Roman architecture

Centinatura. Wooden structure to support vaults

1. In Roman architecture, of course, there is a great continuity with Greek art- symmetry, regularity of forms, use of architectural orders (Doric, Tuscan, Ionic and Corinthian). In fact, instead of the Doric order, the Romans used the Tuscan order ( tuscanico/toscano), which is very similar to it, the only difference was that the column was smooth, without grooves ( flute).
2. From the Etruscans The Romans adopted arches and vaults, becoming the primary experts in their use. During the construction of the arch and vaults, a temporary wooden structure was used for support - centinature ( centinatura). From a large number of arches standing one after another, the Romans formed a cylindrical vault ( volta a botte), and the intersection of two barrel vaults formed a cross vault ( Volta a Crociera). The first builders of real domes were also the Romans. One of the most beautiful domed Vaults is the Pantheon.

Dome vaults in the architecture of Ancient Rome

Materials and technologies

The Romans used bricks to build walls, arches, columns, and floors. Marble, as an expensive material, was used much less frequently. The variety of brick shapes - elongated, square, triangular, pyramidal - helped create strong structures and grips.

Brick production was also expensive, and a lot of labor was required for masonry.

That is why they were often replaced with blocks of tuff and travertine, or other materials. To speed up the construction of walls, the Romans began to use artificial conglomerate or Roman concrete ( calcestruzzo).

Concrete was poured into wooden formwork, compacted with a tamper and, after it hardened, the formwork was removed. This method of building walls was called opus caementicium.

When the same technology was used to fill the cavities of two load-bearing walls made of brick or stone, it was called Muratura a sacco. Thus, the Romans received thick, strong walls, saving time and resources. The technique did not affect the aesthetics, because... the concrete part was inside.

Architecture of Ancient Rome: building walls

External masonry walls can be characterized according to the main building traditions -

• opus quadratum
• opus reticulatum,
• opus incertum
• opus latericium.

Opus quadratum

When working with a material such as soft tuff, large parallelepiped-shaped stones were cut and arranged in rows of equal height (opus quadratum); if hard limestone such as Traventino was used, each element took on its own polygonal shape (opus polygonalis).

Opus reticulatum

With this technique, cement was poured between walls formed by small pyramidal stone blocks, the bases of which formed a regular diamond-shaped grid.

Ancient Roman stonework: opus quadratum and opus reticulatum

Opus incertum

IN opus incertum the stones are irregularly shaped and their arrangement seems almost random.

Opus latericium

Rectangular fired bricks (about 45 cm x 30 cm) were laid in an alternating pattern. Since the Augustan era, its use has become more frequent. Due to the fact that the thickness of the bricks and their color changed over time, it is easy to establish the chronological order of architectural structures.

Opus mixtum

Although brick was usually used uniformly (opus testaceum), there are examples of it being used with other stones and courses of other masonry, creating an opus mixtum.

Stonework of Ancient Rome: opus latericium, opus inchertum, opus mixtum

Architecture and city planning (urban planning)

Here are two different examples -

1. the city of Rome itself, which is unique in its development,
2. and the construction of new cities.

The layout of most ancient Roman cities was rectangular, founded on the principle of temporary legionnaire camps - castrum.

City layout of Ancient Rome

Namely, the settlements were divided and built along two main streets - cardo (oriented from north to south) and Decumanus (from east to west). The intersection of these streets was designated for the main square of the city - Foro.

Reconstruction of the layout of the city of Rimini

Roads, water pipelines, sewers, and bridges were built in cities. Various buildings were built:

• residential houses (Domus, Insulae and Villas);
• for recreation (theatres, amphitheatres, circuses and baths);
• intended for the worship of gods (temples);
• for political and administrative activities (Curia and Basilica)
• and festive monuments (triumphal arches and columns).

Brief video review-reconstruction of the architecture of Ancient Rome:

The Western Roman Empire fell over 1,500 years ago, but its rich legacy of technology and innovation can still be seen today. The Romans were amazing builders and engineers, and their thriving civilization produced advances in technology, culture, and architecture that have endured for centuries. From our list you will learn more about the innovations created in Ancient Rome.

Aqueducts

The Romans used many amenities that seem common to us but were not common at the time. Among them are fountains, public baths, underground sewers and toilets. But these water innovations would not have been possible without the aqueduct. First developed around 312 BC. BC, this engineering marvel supplied water to pipelines in urban centers. Aqueducts made Roman cities independent of water supplies and proved invaluable for public health and sanitation. Although the Romans did not invent aqueducts—the primitive canals for irrigation and water transport that had previously existed in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon—they did improve the process using their skill in construction. Eventually hundreds of aqueducts sprang up throughout the empire, some of them carrying water over 100 kilometers. But what is most impressive is the quality of the construction of the aqueducts, because some of them are still in use today. The famous Trevi Fountain, for example, is fed by a restored version of the Virgo Aqueduct, one of 11 in ancient Rome.

Concrete

Many ancient Roman buildings, such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, still survive thanks to the fact that cement and concrete were used for their construction. The Romans first began using concrete in the construction of water pipes, buildings, bridges and monuments more than 2,100 years ago throughout the Mediterranean basin. Roman concrete is not as strong as its modern counterpart, but it was surprisingly resilient due to its unique formulation. The Romans used slaked lime and volcanic ash, which together created a kind of sticky paste. Combined with volcanic rock, this ancient cement formed concrete that survived chemical decay. Concrete retained its properties even when immersed in sea water, which made it possible to use it for the construction of complex baths, piers and harbors.

Newspapers

The Romans were known for their public debate. They used official texts to decide civil, legal, and military issues. Known as "daily acts", these early newspapers were written on metal or stone and then distributed in places such as the Roman Forum. It is believed that the “acts” first appeared in 131 BC. e. They typically contained details of Roman military victories, lists of games and gladiator fights, birth and death notices, and even interesting stories. There were also "Senatorial Acts" which detailed the work of the Roman Senate. Traditionally they were closed to public access until 59 BC. e. Julius Caesar did not order their publication as part of the many reforms he implemented during his first consulate.

Security

Ancient Rome was the source of ideas for modern government programs, including measures aimed at subsidizing food, education, and others. These programs date back to 122 BC. e., when the ruler Gaius Gracchus ordered the supply of grain to the citizens of Rome at lower prices. This early form of provision continued under Marcus Trajan, who implemented a program for poor children to be fed, clothed and educated. A list of goods whose prices were controlled was also compiled. It included corn, butter, wine, bread and pork. They could be purchased using special tokens called mosaics. Such actions helped the Roman authorities win the favor of the people, but some historians are confident that this was one of the reasons for the economic fall of Rome.

Related Pages

For most of our history, literature took the form of bulky clay tablets and scrolls. The Romans simplified them and began using a stack of linked pages. This invention is considered to be an early version of the book. The first books were made from bound wax tablets, but these were soon replaced by parchment, which more closely resembled modern pages. Ancient historians note that the first version of such a book was created by Julius Caesar: by folding papyrus together, he received a primitive notebook. However, bound books did not become popular in Rome until the first century. The early Christians were among the first to embrace the new technology and use it to make copies of the Bible.

Roads and highways

At its height, the Roman Empire covered an area of ​​4.4 million square kilometers and included most of Southern Europe. To ensure efficient administration of such a vast area, the Romans built the most complex road system in the ancient world. These roads were built from dirt, gravel and bricks made from granite or hardened volcanic lava. When designing roads, they followed strict standards and created special ditches that ensured the flow of water. The Romans built more than 80 thousand kilometers of roads before 200 AD. e., and first of all they were supposed to serve for military conquests. These roads allowed the Roman legions to travel at speeds of 40 kilometers a day, and the complex network of post houses meant that messages were transmitted at astonishing speed. Often these roads were managed in the same way as modern highways. Signs on the stones informed travelers the distance to their destination, and special detachments of soldiers acted as traffic police.

Roman arches

Arches have existed for 4 thousand years, but the ancient Romans were the first to effectively use their knowledge to build bridges, monuments and buildings. The original design of the arch made it possible to evenly distribute the weight of the building across various supports, preventing the destruction of massive structures under their own weight. Engineers improved them by smoothing the shape to create a segmental arch and repeating it at different intervals. This allowed the construction of stronger supports that could span larger spans, such as those used in bridges and aqueducts.

Julian calendar

The modern Gregorian calendar is very similar to its Roman version, which appeared more than 2 thousand years ago. Early Roman calendars were most likely based on Greek models, which were based on the lunar cycle. But since the Romans considered even numbers unlucky, they changed their calendar so that each month had an odd number of days. This continued until 46 BC. BC, when Julius Caesar and the astronomer Sosigenes decided to align the calendar in accordance with the solar year. Caesar lengthened the number of days in the year from 355 to 365, resulting in 12 months. The Julian calendar was almost perfect, but it missed the solar year by 11 minutes. Those few minutes ultimately set the calendar back several days. This led to the adoption of the virtually identical Gregorian calendar in 1582, which added a leap year to correct these discrepancies.

Legal system

Many modern legal terms come from the Roman legal system, which dominated for centuries. It was based on the Twelve Tables, which formed an essential part of the Constitution during the Republican era. First adopted around 450 BC. BC, the Twelve Tables contained detailed laws that concerned property, religion, and punishments for many offenses. Another document, Corpus Juris Civilis, is an ambitious attempt to compile the history of Roman law into one document. Founded by Emperor Justinian between 529 and 535, the Corpus Juris Civilis included modern legal concepts, such as the fact that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Field surgery

Many instruments for surgical operations were invented in Rome. The Romans were the first to use Caesarean sections, but field medicine became the most valuable. Under Augustus' leadership, a military medical corps was established and became one of the first specialized field surgery units. Specially trained medics saved countless lives by using Roman medical innovations such as hemostatic bands and arterial surgical clamps. Roman field doctors also examined new recruits and helped stop common diseases by monitoring the level of sanitation in military camps. They were also known for disinfecting instruments in hot water before using them, and for pioneering a form of antiseptic surgery that only came into widespread use in the 19th century. Roman military medicine was so successful in treating wounds and general health that soldiers tended to live longer than the average citizen, despite the dangers they constantly faced on the battlefield.

Of course, the ancient Romans were not the “founding fathers” of military affairs of their time. But they were excellent at learning from the experiences of others. Today you will learn about five innovations that made the army of Rome an invincible force throughout the ancient world.

Today it is almost impossible to say exactly how a naval battle took place in Antiquity. It is believed that the main tactic was reliable as an iron door battering ram. The second option involved putting two ships on the same course, after which the crew of one, thanks to coordinated actions broke the oars of the second. In general, the ancient Romans, who got into the legendary Punic Wars with Carthage (former Phoenicians, famous sailors), were unable to succeed with either the first version of the naval war or the second. But they were ideal fighters on land, which means all they needed was to turn a sea battle into a land battle.

And so it appeared “raven” - a ship’s hook that clung to the side of an enemy ship and became a kind of bridge, along which Roman soldiers could move to someone else’s ship. The width of such a bridge was no more than a meter, and the length was up to eleven meters. The ancient Romans were the first to use boarding bridges during naval battles, which allowed them to defeat the huge fleet of the Carthaginians, who were considered invincible at sea.

In Antiquity, a wide variety of weapons were used. Thus, the Etruscans and Gauls often used a unique throwing spear in battles - pilum. True, given the structure of the army of both the first and second, somehow the pilum did not take root with them. But the Romans quickly realized how great an advantage such a throwing spear gave the infantry. After some improvements, the Roman pilum was born, bringing one victory after another to the legions of Rome and capable of piercing even the most durable and heaviest armor.

During the era of the end of the Republic, the Roman legionary was armed with two pilums. The first, light one, was thrown at the enemy army from a distance of up to thirty meters. The light version was more like a dart and, stuck in the warrior's shield, was called upon to hinder him during the battle. Second, heavy pilum, the legionnaires threw when the enemy was no more than ten meters away- this spear pierced armor and was considered one of the most deadly throwing weapons of its time.

Roman armies marched throughout the known world, conquering barbarians and expanding the empire's borders. Legions of many thousands had to spend the night and stop for rest quite often. To protect themselves, the Romans came up with a great way - to build standard fortified camps at any stop of the army, even for one night.

This camp looked quite simple. A rectangle with an aspect ratio of three to two. If there was a lot of time, the camp was surrounded by a ditch and wooden stakes driven into the ground. There are known cases of building stone walls for temporary strengthening. A wide "praetor's" street ran through the center of the Roman military camp., about which residential and administrative streets ran at right angles. In the center, the most fortified place of the camp, there were the Roman troops themselves, carts and command. Closer to the walls were the tents of the allied troops and mercenaries.

The problem with all the armies of Antiquity is the lack of mobility. The ancient Romans quickly realized that if they used the so popular at that time ( and quite effective, just remember Alexander’s campaign) Greek phalanx, they will not be able to surpass their enemies. It was necessary to come up with a military system that would have an undeniable advantage over other armies.

This is how Roman maniples appeared. Literally translated from Latin maniple - handful. It is generally accepted that the maniple was the smallest unit of division of the army of the ancient Romans. The formation was usually in three lines and consisted of ten maniples. Some scholars dispute this, but documents from the time indicate that the entire detachment was built in a checkerboard pattern. When the first line could not cope with the enemy, the second line went into battle. In the third line were the maniples of the most experienced and heavily armed warriors - the triarii. As a result, the maniple system allowed the Roman army to be practically invincible in the field with the eastern cavalry armies and Greek phalanxes, since it had incredible mobility for its era. Thanks to this military system, the Romans were able to build one of the largest and greatest empires in human history.

And also thanks to the skills of Roman technicians and engineers. It should be noted that a significant part of Roman scientific and technical innovations and achievements was created by ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period (late IV-II centuries BC).

In Roman times, there were no outstanding inventions in the field of agriculture, metalworking, ceramics and textiles, similar to those created in the Neolithic and Bronze Age civilizations of Egypt and the Middle East, but the Romans were able to develop and improve the technologies known to them. The Greek cultural space of the eastern Mediterranean gave Roman engineers knowledge of the fundamentals of mathematical, natural and other sciences, which allowed them to radically improve energy production, agricultural technology, mining and metalworking, glass, ceramics and textiles, transportation, shipbuilding, infrastructure, construction, mass production of goods, communications and trade.

Basics of mathematics

Although already in Roman times positional number systems were known, which were more advanced and resembled the modern decimal system, conservative Romans preferred to use the traditional counting system, in which numbers were written as sequences of repeating letters.

For practical calculations (in particular, basic arithmetic operations), the Roman number system was not suitable. For this purpose, a counting board (abacus) was used, with the help of which units, tens, hundreds and other digits of numbers were indicated. Thus, not only engineers and technicians, but also merchants, artisans and market traders were able to easily perform basic calculations.

For everyday (for example, trade) calculations, the Romans created a portable version of the abacus made of bronze, which easily fit in a bag and made it possible to perform not only basic arithmetic operations, but also calculations with fractions using small stones (lat. calculi). In principle, the abacus could be used within any number system. The Romans' particular success lay in standardizing the vast number of possible fractions that could find use in the world of commerce - the ounce was reduced to a single value.

The Roman world used the duodecimal system for coins, measures and weights, which originally appeared in Egypt and Babylon, spread throughout the Mediterranean and reached Rome through Phoenician merchants and Greek colonists of southern Italy. Along with measuring weight in ounces, this system also featured fractions with a denominator of 12, which simplified operations with fractions. Slaves who folded the phalanges of their fingers often served as “intermediate memory” when multiplying or dividing large numbers, who thus served their masters as a handy means for fixing numbers.

While merchants, artisans, and technicians made calculations using ounces, more precise measures of weight were common in some areas. For example, in the field of precision mechanics and when laying pipes, a finger (Latin digitus) was used, which was 1/16 of a foot.

In other areas, the Romans also demonstrated an interest primarily in the practical application of mathematical knowledge: for example, they knew the approximate value of π 22 7 ≈ 3.142 857 (\displaystyle (\tfrac (22)(7))\approx 3(,)142857) and used it, among other things, to calculate pipe sections. Roman surveyors, despite the simple design of their instruments, could determine angles, elevations and inclinations.

Energy sources

Reconstruction of a water mill after Vitruvius

In the Roman Empire there were five sources of energy: muscular power of people, animals, water power (from the time of Augustus), fuel (wood and charcoal) and wind power. The latter was used only in navigation, probably because the rapidly changing direction of the wind was considered an obstacle to the creation of mechanisms. Steam energy, theoretically known since Hellenistic times, was not used in production either. The low level of mechanization of the Roman economy did not allow us to consider the development of new energy sources and the replacement of manual labor with machine labor as a possible step towards increasing productivity.

Many mechanisms were driven by human physical force - for example, potter's wheels or construction cranes, which often moved heavy loads using running wheels. It is true that merchant ships were equipped with sails to take advantage of the wind, but warships, which had to maneuver independently of the wind, along with cargo ships and boats, were propelled by a team of rowers. Transportation of goods in Roman cities was also carried out mainly by porters. Due to the abundance of narrow alleys, the most preferred means of transportation for wealthy citizens was the palanquin.

As throughout the Mediterranean, the Roman state relied on the draft and lifting power of animals - primarily oxen, donkeys and mules - for agriculture and transport. The use of horses was initially limited to the military and racing, but over time their role in transport increased.

Thanks to the so-called “Pompeian mill,” which for the first time used the principle of rotational movement, it was possible to replace the tedious and monotonous labor of people with the use of donkeys and horses. Old and weakened animals were often used for this purpose.

Roman sources record the use of hydraulic power to pump water through wheels, as well as its use in water mills. Vitruvius describes water wheels driven by the flow of a river; they were a simple mechanism in which the drive wheel also served as a drive wheel. Water mills were less economical - in order to transfer rotational energy to the millstone, an appropriate mechanism with gears was required.

In Rome, many water mills were erected, located on the slope of the Janiculum hill, near the Tiber, and received water from an aqueduct. In the late Roman Empire, near Arelat (Gaul), a similar complex appeared with eight water mills on a steep slope. Here, a constant flow of water was also ensured by an aqueduct. Merovingian sources suggest that watermills were frequently used in Gaul during late antiquity. Palladium recommended that landowners build such mills in order to be able to grind grain without the use of the muscular power of people and animals.

The situation with room lighting was more complicated. There was only one way to enhance the weak light of lamps - to increase the number of light sources, so the Romans used standing and hanging lamps, candlesticks, as well as numerous oil lamps. In the south of the Roman Empire, olive oil was widely used for lighting, which was partially imported into the northern provinces. Simple clay lamps, mass-produced, were available to everyone; Along with them, bronze lamps were also made. Clay lamps had a hole on the side for the wick, and oil could be added through a hole in the lid. The oil usually burned without smoke and could provide light for as long as desired (provided it was added in a timely manner). Lamps with automatic refilling were traditional, consuming more oil.

Less practical candles were usually made from rolled fabric soaked in wax or grease and burned faster. Candelabra with spikes were used to secure them. Candles were used primarily in the north, where oil-producing olive trees did not grow.

Agriculture

Without exception, all ancient societies were agrarian (except for nomadic ones): the vast majority of the population were residents of rural areas, and agriculture was the main branch of the economy. The wealth of the wealthy Romans lay primarily in land holdings, which provided high incomes. Thus, most of the Roman Empire's tax revenue came from rural regions.

A significant part of the rural population of Rome worked mainly to satisfy their own needs. The subsistence economy of the peasants of central Italy began to change only with the growth of population and the development of cities. In less populated regions without developed transport routes, it remained the same.

The supply of large cities (for example, Rome, which already had 800,000 inhabitants in the 1st century AD) could only be ensured by adapting the structure of industries to real conditions, during which estates lying near the city and on trade routes began to satisfy the growing demand by reorientation of production to the market. Very often this was due to specialization in specific products, such as wine or olive oil (which later became used for lighting). Here the beginnings of the division of labor in agriculture appeared: the bulk of agricultural work was performed by slaves, and the additional need for labor during the harvest period was compensated by hiring free small peasants and farm laborers. In addition to this, imports of products from other parts of the empire were necessary to meet Rome's needs for grain, oil and wine.

Unlike small peasants, who retained old ways of working and tools, on large estates there was a fundamental need for innovation - both in improving already known tools and in completely new technology. However, in practice, landowners paid little attention to technical innovations. Their knowledge of agriculture was often comparatively small; The works of Roman agronomists that have come down to us also contain rather little information about agricultural implements. In particular,

Roman civilization left behind a huge contribution to history, despite the fact that in most cases it was overshadowed by its neighbors from Greece. The Romans borrowed many sciences, and counting using Roman numerals was not at all pleasant. However, there are at least 10 technologies created in Rome that are still used today.

In ancient times, it was believed that in order to learn the basics of geometry or philosophy, it was preferable to turn to a Greek. If you need to build a bridge, a sewer, or a powerful weapon, then it is better to turn to a Roman. Indeed, unsurpassed technological achievements set this civilization apart from other representatives of its time. The result of Roman inventions was the fact that many technologies are still used today throughout the planet. We will tell you about ten of the most famous.

10. Dome
What is now taken for granted: arches, atriums, glass walls and ceilings, was unthinkable in the ancient world: before the Romans managed to create technology for improving buildings, the best architects of the time spent a long time struggling with stone roofs. All architectural works created before the rise of Roman civilization, such as the pyramids, looked much more impressive on the outside than they were on the inside - they were dark rooms with limited space. The Romans were the first in history to create huge open interior spaces by realizing that the arch could be rotated in three dimensions. And to create a powerful, reliable force to hold such structures, a special substance was needed, which became concrete - an achievement of the Romans. In this rating we will return to this achievement of civilization.

9.Armament
Like most technologies of the time, siege weapons were first created by the Greeks, but were improved by the Romans. Thanks to captured samples of Greek weapons, the world saw ballistas - gigantic crossbows, lightweight and accurate. The use of ballistas was widely directed against infantry, while on their basis “siege engines” were created - powerful and maneuverable mini-catapults, which, although not as accurate as ballistas, caused enormous damage, which made it possible to successfully use them for siege

8. Concrete
Liquid stone, also known as concrete, is one of the greatest achievements of the Romans. Nowadays, concrete is widely used in construction of various sizes. Antique concrete consisted of a mixture of volcanic ash, pozzolan, crushed stone, lime and sand. Concrete allowed for pouring of any shape, and was unusually durable. Initially, Roman architects used it to cast the bases of altars, but in later times a variety of experiments were carried out with this material, which resulted in the appearance of such wonders as the Pantheon - the world's largest unreinforced concrete structure, still 2000 years old

7. Roads
When talking about the achievements of Roman civilization, one cannot remain silent about such an invention as roads, which were created so well that many of them are still suitable for use. Of course, it would be incorrect to compare Roman roads with modern asphalt highways, but they were indeed durable, and were created to last for centuries in several stages. First, they dug a huge pit about a meter deep, then wide stone blocks were installed at the bottom of the trench, after which the remaining space was filled with a thick layer of gravel. The topmost layer was laid with special slabs with convexities along which water could flow. As you know, the engineers of the empire insisted on creating exclusively straight roads, which required enormous resources to clear the area through which these roads passed. However, by 200 BC, the Roman Empire had 85,000 kilometers of roads.

6. Sewerage
The monumental sewers of the Romans became one of the most iconic creations, despite the fact that they were originally built for a completely different purpose. Initially, the “Cloaca Maxima” (“The largest sewer” in literal translation) was created to drain part of the water from the local swamps. Beginning in 600 BC and over the next hundreds of years, many waterways were added. At the moment, it is difficult to determine exactly at what point the sewer became a full-fledged sewer, but as cities grew, the sewer began to penetrate deeper and deeper into them, eventually completely engulfing them. The main achievement of sewerage was the fact of inconspicuousness and ridding society of most infectious diseases, and Pliny the Elder stated that Roman sewerage is a much more complex architectural structure than the Egyptian pyramids

5.Heated floor
Creating an optimal temperature is a complex engineering task that requires powerful scientific potential even in our time, let alone ancient times. However, the Romans coped with this task. They were the first to use an idea that is still used in the construction of heated floors - it was a structure made of clay hollow columns that were built under the base of the floor, and solved several problems at once: the problem of fire and the problem of smoke. Fire at that time was the main source of heat, but buildings tended to burn, and the smoke released was a huge danger of suffocation. In the Roman heating system, the floor was raised, which allowed the hot air from the furnace never to come into contact with the room: it passed through the hollow tiles and was absorbed by the clay tiles as it exited the building, achieving the desired effect

4. Aqueduct
Like roads, aqueducts of phenomenal length became a hallmark and a true engineering marvel in the life of the Romans. One of the limitations to the growth of ancient cities was the inability to get drinking water from any point, and this problem was solved. After all, although Rome was located on the Tiber River, it was excessively polluted by another invention of architecture: sewage. Roman aqueducts were a complex system stretching over 400 kilometers, supplying clean drinking water to the city.

3. Hydropower
The Romans were able to combine Greek technology and their own engineering skills, which made it possible to create the world's first water-powered mills, turbines and sawmills. Also, the Romans created the world's first inverted wheel, which subsequently became widespread throughout the world. It is noteworthy that despite the abundance of engineering ideas, accessible and cheap manual labor continued to be used in most parts of the empire.

2.Arch made of segments
Although such an invention as the arch did not belong to the hands of the Romans, they found a way to improve it. The Roman engineers managed to understand that in order to give the structure strength, the arch should not consist of one segment, when it can be divided into many small parts. This made it possible to create much more powerful and reliable bridges

1. Pontoon bridges
The huge number of Roman roads meant the possibility of quickly moving armies, and the pontoon bridge, more than 400 meters long, created in 55 BC by Julius Caesar, allowed the Romans to cross the Rhine with lightning speed, in which the ancient German tribes saw reliable protection from invasion. The bridge over the Rhine turned out to be an extremely clever creation, because building a bridge across the river without disturbing the flow is a very difficult task, especially in a military situation. The engineers worked quickly and efficiently: the piles were assembled together within ten days, after which the bridge was assembled