Roman technology is the set of artefacts and customs which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years.
The Roman Empire had the most advanced set of technologies of their time, which in many areas was lost during the dark ages, and was only equalled in the 19th and 20th centuries. By the Renaissance many of the discrete technological elements had been rediscovered and others, such as firearms, advanced sailing ship technologies, and moveable type printing, went ahead of what the Romans had done. Yet, it took another four hundred years for Europe to produce inventions and engineering feats such as roads, aqueducts, sewage systems, wagons, cranes, bridges and mechanical devices which were equal to that of the Romans and on a large scale.
Process of acquiring new technology
Foreign influence
Much of what is described as typically Roman technology, as opposed to that of the Greeks, comes directly from the Etruscan civilization, which was thriving to the North when Rome was just a small kingdom. The Etruscans had perfected the stone arch, and used it in bridges as well as buildings. Etruscan cities had paved streets and sewer systems, unlike most Hellenic city-states, which had muddy roads and no sewers save filthy open-air trenches.
A great part of later Roman technology were taken directly from Greek civilization. Roman fleets were based directly on Greek triremes and much of the implements of land based Roman armies came out of the experimentation and the new developments in weapons of the Hellenistic wars that raged for decades between the successors of Alexander the Great. Most of the Greek city states abandoned the new weapons developed during these wars, reverting to simpler Macedonian arms and tactics of old, while the Romans took the newest developments and adapted them to their social forms.
Slowness of innovation
Roman technologists were conservative and, relative to 21st century society, adopted foreign technologies very slowly over time. Roman culture and society did not encourage technological innovation or the development of new ideas. The ideal Roman citizen was an articulate veteran soldier who could wisely govern a large family household, which was supported by cheap slave labor. There was no place for innovators such as scientists, or their predecessors, the natural philosophers; nor were there provisions in Roman law for the development and preservation of innovation or the promotion of the work of inventors.
It took more than a century for concrete to be adopted by the Romans, from its origin in a small corner of the eastern part of the empire. Many other new technologies never were fully used in the Empire, because of the relative scarcity of capital as well as older infrastructure and social issues. For example, Roman commerce was aware of the use of barrels by the Gauls for a long time, but they never integrated this technology, using instead the more fragile and small amphora. Barrels were eventually used in parts of the empire that had cheap and abundant wood to make them and the wider town and city alleys needed to make them efficient. By the time the knowledge on barrel-making crept into the empire, most of the older city roads and such things as warehouse entrances had been built up to handle the much smaller amphora. There simply was no physical room in the older urban areas to let the larger and unproven barrels through. There was usually enough trained slave labor around to carry each small amphora by hand, through the labyrinth of alleys, small doors, and stairs.
Craft basis
Roman technology was entirely based on a system of crafts. Although the term "engineering" is used today to describe the technical feats of the Romans, they had no such discipline or profession. There were no engineering schools, or even engineers. Each trade, each group of artisans—stone masons, surveyors, etc.—within a project had its own practice of masters and apprentices, and all kept their trade secrets carefully, passing them on solely by word of mouth. Writers such as Vitruvius were the rare exceptions.
Most of what is known of Roman technology comes indirectly from archaeological work and from the third-hand accounts of Latin texts copied from Arabic texts, which were in turn copied from the Greek texts of scholars such as Hero of Alexandria or contemporary travelers who had observed Roman technologies in action. Philosophers like Pliny the Elder and Strabo had enough intellectual curiosity to make note of the inventions they saw during their travels, but they did not seem to understand what they were describing.
Engineering and construction
The Romans made heavy use of aqueducts, bridges, and amphitheaters. They were also responsible for many innovations to roads, sanitation, and construction in general. Roman architecture in general was greatly influenced by the Etruscans. Most of the columns and arches seen in famous Roman architecture was adopted from the Etruscan civilization.
In the Roman Empire, cements made from pozzolanic ash/pozzolana and an aggregate made from pumice were used to make a concrete very similar to modern portland cement concrete. In 20s BC the architect Vitruvius described a low-water-content method for mixing concrete. The Romans found out that insulated glazing (or "double glazing") improved greatly on keeping buildings warm, and this technique was used in the construction of public baths.
Another truly original process which was born in the empire was the practice of glassblowing, which started in Syria and spread in about one generation in the empire.
Roads
The Romans primarily built roads for military purposes. They allowed the legions to be rapidly deployed in far reaches of the realm. However, their economic importance was also significant. At its largest extent the total length of the Roman road network was 85 000 km (53 000 miles).
Way stations providing refreshments were maintained by the government at regular intervals along the roads. A separate system of changing stations for official and private couriers was also maintained. This allowed a dispatch to travel a maximum of 800 km (500 miles) in 24 hours by using a relay of horses.
The roads were constructed by digging a pit along the length of the intended course, often to bedrock. The pit was first filled with rocks, gravel or sand and then a layer of concrete. Finally they were paved with polygonal rock slabs. Bridges were constructed over waterways. The roads were resistant to floods and other environmental hazards. After the fall of the Roman empire the roads were still usable and used for more than 1000 years.
Aqueducts
The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself was supplied by eleven aqueducts that provided the city with over 1 million cubic meters of water [1], suficient to supply 3.5 million people [2] and with combined length of 350 km (260 miles).[3] Most aqueducts were constructed below the surface with only small portions above ground supported by arches. The longest Roman aqueduct, 141 km (87 miles) in length, was built to supply the city of Carthage.[4]
Roman aqueducts were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and to a technological standard that was not to be equalled until modern times. Powered entirely by gravity, they transported very large amounts of water very efficiently. Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 m had to be crossed, inverted siphons were used to force water uphill.[2]
Sanitation
The Roman public baths, or thermae served hygienic, social and cultural functions. The baths contained three main facilities for bathing. After undressing in the apodyterium or changing room, Romans would proceed to the tepidarium or warm room. In the moderate dry heat of the tepidarium, some performed warm-up exercises and stretched while others oiled themselves or had slaves oil them. The tepidarium’s main purpose was to promote sweating to prepare for the next room, the caldarium or hot room. The caldarium, unlike the tepidarium, was extremely humid and hot. Temperatures in the caldarium could reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Many contained steam baths and a cold-water fountain known as the labrum. The last room was the frigidarium or cold room, which offered a cold bath for cooling off after the caldarium.
The Romans also had flush toilets.
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References
- ^ "De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae" by Sextus Julius Frontinus (On the water management of the city of Rome, translated by R. H. Rodgers, 2003, University of Vermont) (retrieved November 22, 2005)
- ^ a "Water and Wastewater Systems in Imperial Rome". WaterHistory.org. International Water History Association. 2005-11-22.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - Derry, Thomas Kingston and Trevor I. Williams. A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. New York : Dover Publications, 1993.
- Hodges, Henry. Technology in the Ancient World London: The Penguin Press, 1970.
- Williams, Trevor I. A History of Invention From Stone Axes to Silicon Chips. New York, New York, Facts on File, 2000.