What may seem easy today was a remarkable feat of engineering accomplished as early as 312 B.C. The aqueducts were connected to a large water holding area, which would then distribute the water to public baths, fountains, farms, and more. While earlier civilizations in Egypt and India also used aqueducts, the Romans truly mastered the technology.Ī dream for modern environmentalists, the technology enabled water transport from the source to the point of use using little more than the power of gravity. Romans built aqueducts to bring fresh water from neighboring sources into their growing cities and towns. Some systems, like the Cloaca Maxima in Rome, would continue to be used up to the modern day. They would only develop similar systems over a thousand years later. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the ability to build and maintain these structures was rapidly lost, with many post-Roman nations in Europe regressing hundreds of years in terms of sanitation. Romans also used covered gutter systems and public bathrooms, ensuring the streets were clear of human waste. This improved the aesthetics of large population centers and drastically improved public health. The drainage pipes were connected and flushed regularly, with the water running off streams. These consisted of a mixture of masonry, early concrete, and in some circumstances, lead piping. While it may seem less visually impressive, their engineering excellence is highlighted by their sewage and sanitary plumbing systems. But their talent wasn't limited to building large structures like the Colesseum or roadways. Romans were very knowledgeable when it came to civil engineering. You can thank the Romans for formalized sanitation Unfortunately, there are no surviving fully intact copies today. Later, emperors used the acts to advertise court activities and royal or senate decrees. Each would be taken down from public spaces after a few days and archived for future reference. The Acta were occasionally copied by scribes and given to regional rulers for information. This Roman invention had much the same purpose as modern newspapers, giving Roman citizens information about military victories, births and deaths, and even human interest stories. This publication was called Acta Diurna or 'daily acts' and originated as early as 131 B.C. They often inscribed news of current affairs on papyri or wax slabs, which were placed in public spaces. While Romans cannot be credited with creating a modern system of daily paper newspapers, they did have something similar. The newspaper is, sort of, a Roman invention Still, Roman numerals are seen today - most often on clock faces or representing years in architecture, pagination for books, dating of films, etc. Starting in the 14th century, Roman numerals began to be replaced in the West by Arabic numerals, which benefitted from the zero, making them much more helpful for arithmetic and counting. Some practical examples can be seen at the entrances to the Roman Colosseum (more accurately, the Flavian Amphitheater), with one entrance, for example, labeled with the Roman numerals – XXXVIII – XLII (indicating seating areas 39, or 10+10+10+5+1+1+1+1 to 42 (50-10+1+1). The need for a universal counting system, crucial to trade and communication, gave rise to these now-immortal numerals. Seven fundamental symbols from the Latin alphabet are used in the number system: I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, representing 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 respectively.īetween 900 and 800 B.C., the symbols' earliest applications started to appear. Roman numerals originated in ancient Rome but survived for some uses after the end of the Roman Empire.
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