The Roman Achievements ;
As great civilization the Romans had , they most have been successful and productive people in many fields of life . Indeed , the Romans achieved many achievements and put their own creative imprint on various fields such as; military , architecture and engineering , arts and literature .In the field of military , the Roman military is one of the most powerful military in the history that managed to conquer large parts of the world in relatively short period .This achievement is due to the great support of romans to their military before anything else where most ancient weapons where actually developed or invented by romans such as ballistae or onager which is a heavy war engine for hurling large rocks to take down walls and forts . In the field of architecture and engineering , the Romans are well known for their creative engineering achievements such as: the Roman highways that constituted extended road networks that play major role in travel, trade, and maintaining control over the Empire’s vast regions and facilitating the rapid deployment of armies when needed. Also, the aqueducts that consisted of waterways, tunnels and pipelines that bring water from distant mountains and rivers into cities and towns to provide water to the cities’ fountains, public baths , houses of wealthy and to power watermills and other machines. Moreover, Roman contributed a lot to building technology by inventing the Concrete which allowed the construction of impacted bridges and buildings with architectural designs such as castles and cathedrals. Romans also invented the watermill that were widely used in Europe and were the first to use advanced technology in mining operations. In the field of literature, the Romans genirally were the
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1- https://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/11/11/10-roman-military-innovations-facts/
2- http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Engineering/
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The fourth factor was the amazing engineers, inventors, and architects in the Empire. By 200 AD the Romans had built 53,000 miles of roads throughout the Empire. The very first was built in 312 BC. They also invented sewers, central heating systems, and the first types of concrete. (Mahoney, 2001)
Historically, the civilization with the most powerful army dominates the world. It is also common for the most advanced technology to be developed and applied by the military before being put to use to aid the people. One of the main reasons Rome was able to dominate for over a thousand years was because they were on the leading edge of science and technology. The Romans were expert military and civil engineers, among their accomplishments included creating better quality metal, bridge-building, ballistic weapons, elevated and underground aqueducts, the use of arches and domes, and the invention of concrete. Their roman short sword killed more people than any other weapon until the machine gun was developed in WWI(3). This is similar to the Americans who have led the way in the 20th century in military advancement, from the splitting of the atom to advancement in aircraft, military power has allowed its country to both protect themselves and expand economically and socially.
The Roman Empire had various technological innovations such as aqueducts. The Romans were the first to build aqueducts. The system was much like a bridge built on arches, aqueducts were genius because of the mountainous terrain of Rome which made supplying water difficult. Aqueducts were built to supply towns with water from lakes, springs, or rivers. They sloped downhill towards town using gravity in
Roman aqueducts were very important to the ancient Romans and heavily influenced their daily life. The aqueducts brought wealth, power, and luxury to the people of Rome in more ways than imaginable and more than just for the obvious purpose of delivering water. When the wells and rainwater were no longer sufficient for the population of Rome, they had to develop a new method of bringing water into the city. Thus creating the invention of aqueducts.
Some examples of these would include The Battering Ram, The Turris, and The Ballista. The Roman army was also very willing to incorporate the war tactics and the weapons of their defeated enemies if they were deemed beneficial. (Alchin) These improvements provided the Roman army advantages in battle. The Roman generals that were picked to lead the army were highly skilled in the art of war. They were masters of attack and counterattacks, the use of mounted and unmounted calvary as well as archery. As a result of the Roman army's successful tactics, Rome therefore was able to achieve massive amounts of territory and assemble a substantial empire. (Cavazzi)
In document 8, the “flowing aqueducts” of the Roman Empire greatly increased the ability for people to live in very condensed areas, and therefore making the empire more efficient by allowing more people to live in smaller areas. The elected officials in each respected empire noted that, because of the technological advances, the empress benefited. Thus showing that the ideas of man to invent and reinvent are not always broken causes. Document 6 states that, the romans had very advanced roads built, roads built to last thousands of years. “For the roads were built to carry straight through the country without wavering and were paved with quarried stone and made solid by tightly packed sand.” This quote shows that, because of how technologically advanced the Romans were, they were able to build these roads, roads that still last
The military prowess of Roman commanders and legionaries proved to be successful enough to turn a small community into an ancient super power. There are many discussions to be had about the tactics and success of the Roman army, some of which are: their style of fighting, the attitude toward the fight, and the fruits of their war.
The Roman Empire was successful because of their strong willed leaders that helped shaped their country until the very end. One of the leaders was Marius, who properly organized the Roman army to be known as the most strongest army the earth has ever known. With Marius's fighting spirit leading and motivating everybody on, they were able to stop an invasion from barbarians that ultimately saved Italy and Rome from destruction. He also knew how to pay back to his soldiers and people. Veteran soldiers of the legion were given land to thank the soldiers for serving him and Rome. To help the people, Marius made it possible for non-Roman citizens to enlist in the army, making them citizens and giving them a chance to fight for their country.
The Roman Empire left a legacy that still continues to affect people with modern technology. The Romans’ technology might have not been as advanced as modern technology today, but they still managed to caused great impact over the ancient people. The Roman Empire’s inventions and innovations such as indoor plumbing, aqueducts, and construction of roads and buildings with their fast drying will always be notable attention because they managed to acquire extensive progress without modern methods. However, the Romans were not restricted to new inventions, they also managed to improve the existing fields of medicine, law, government and warfare.
The aqueducts also gave birth to another landmark in building of early mega-structures: the arches. Through use of arches, aqueducts could be made taller and longer without using a lot of building materials. The aqueducts enabled expansion of Rome and helped keep the city clean. Through aqueducts the common Roman citizen had access to running water, a quantum leap in the civic amenities as per many experts.
One of the most practical and effective structures the Romans built was the aqueduct. Fresh water was a necessity for any civilization to survive, and Rome found the perfect solution in distributing a water source into different parts of the city. Aqueducts were long and tall pathways for water that could be built in and around the city of Rome. The water came from different sources of water such as rivers. Although the Romans did not invent the idea of aqueducts, they mastered the method of building them. Since the system relies purely on gravity, the angle was important. The Romans calculated the angle of the aqueducts so that water could travel extremely long distances without it being stagnant or it moving too rapidly that it damaged the aqueducts (Messner
With the development of Roman concrete as well as the design of the Roman arch, the construction of unique innovative aqueducts were constructed. Other structures erected with these design features were colossal Roman Structures such as roads, dwellings, bath house, and amphitheaters.
The ancient Romans were skilled engineers and have left lasting contributions in this field. The Romans built a great network of roads connecting cities throughout their empire. They also built aqueducts and bridges using arches for support. The Roman arch design was by far the most important innovation of their time. The arch, however, would have been useless without the discovery of concrete. The Romans had many other such discoveries that would make their engineering skills known throughout the world.
In ancient Rome, architecture and engineering were highly regarded. It contributed much to Rome’s development, power, as well as the longevity of such an immense and substantial empire. Architecture displayed an immense amount of workmanship as well as innovation. This is seen through Rome engineers as they created the concept of concrete, constructed the famous Roman aqueducts, and the luxurious Roman baths. Roman’s were clearly superior engineers compared to their competitors because Roman engineers developed new and innovative concepts that were never introduced before, therefore contributing to the success of the Roman Empire.
The Romans were extraordinary builders and professional civil engineers, and their flourishing civilization formed developments in technology, culture and architecture that endured for centuries. Ancient Rome had several qualities that made their civilization successful but most importantly through the advancements of technology and innovations that flourished throughout the ages that are still used in today’s society. The legacy lives through the inventions of the aqueducts, concrete, newspapers, battlefield surgery, bound books, roads and highways, roman arches, and the twelve tables. All of these inventions and innovations served as their own individual purpose that made the civilization boundless which is why I interested in this research topic.