Chapter 9 – Ancient Rome Q1. Engineering and architecture was very important during the time of Ancient Rome. They produced monumental buildings that are impressive to this day. Repetitive structures were built, such as arches and pillars, to create beautiful feats of geometric design. These buildings glorified the state and enriched the lives of Roman citizens.
The Roman views technology as if it doesn’t directly benefit the upper-class it doesn’t matter to them which explain the lacks of great inventions. The technological advancements in Document 8 in the fields of architecture of aqueducts and chemistry of sediment concentrations, clearly states its superiority to the monuments of craft made by the Egyptians or Greeks. The fact that the Egyptian, for they did not get along well. Furthermore, the description of the works of the others as idle or useless shows bias towards the Romans. This does question if the aqueducts are truly as magnificent as the author describes since if he could lose his job if he said that the aqueducts were of poor quality which is best
Document 6, written by a high official of Rome, emphasizes the brilliance it took a man to construct roads that had “grace and beauty” (Doc 6). This document summarizes how the Romans viewed technology like roads with practical uses, but they cared more about the beautiful architecture of it and how it enhanced the character of Rome. Another piece technology that the Romans valued was the aqueducts as shown by document 8. A Roman general, governor, and water commissioner reports the use of their aqueducts and marvels in the water production compared to other civilizations. The Romans are rarely interested in the improvement of technology unless it benefits and brings pleasure to the entire society, or mainly the upper class.
Because so many people were forced to live in one common area, the buildings would be inflicted with unsanitary conditions. These included poor plumbing and a lack of running water. Larson referenced the fact that people in the community would dump waste into the city’s water supply, which contributed to the spread of sickness and disease and went untreated because of limited access to healthcare. The city’s insufficient sanitation systems led to diseases like Typhus and Cholera running rampant through the city, infecting many.
Roman influences are visible all around us today. One of the most important lessons that our culture has taken from ancient Roman would be our roadways. Romans were the first to use roads that gave our society the formula for construction that allowed rainwater to drain off. They used numbered signposts every Roman mile, which indicated such things as the distance to the next town and which construction team had built the road.
The Roman Empire was one of the most advanced cultures of its time. The grandeur of Rome has had abiding effects on the societies of the entire world. Evidence of the brilliance and creativity of the Romans can be found in many modern countries such as the remains of roads, walls, baths, basilicas, amphitheaters, and aqueducts. These exhibit the technological advances made by the engineers and architects of the Roman Empire. Many modern civic buildings have been built using the Romanesque styling.
After modifying the Etruscan arch the Romans found it was perfect to build an aqueduct to carry water all across the vast empire. This marvel in itself led to the invention of toilets, sinks, modern day plumbing, and wastewater infrastructure. Philosophy: Roman philosophy influenced the naming of months on the calendar, planets, and even the modern Julian calendar. Roman Government: The Roman government was the almost exact predecessor to our modern day government here in the U.S..
Others were bad such as not being able to see the streets due to pollution. Urbanization led to cleaner cities, improved technology, new politics, and increased population in urban places. When cities started to grow, one of the biggest needs was to clean it. Due to lack of waste elimination methods people dumped waste, even feces, out onto the roads. When horses ejected waste, they would stay and rot in the middle of the
Fathers are some of the most influential people there will ever be; they teach you some of the basic rules of life, they show you how to act, they lead you when you don’t know what to do. But what happens when you grow up without a father? In The Odyssey, written by Homer, we follow the story of a man who, on the day of his son’s birth, was forced to go to war. Odysseus was gone for a painstakingly long 20 years, and during that time, Telemachus grew up watching his mother struggle. As the queen of Ithaca, Penelope had many suitors fighting for her hand: the king was gone and they took control.
While the wealthy spent their riches on luxury goods, such as gold, jewels, and rare items, the poor were crowded onto streets and into apartments. These areas where the poor lived often suffered from urban decay. The text explains that Rome “was very overcrowded: approximately one million people lived within eight square miles.” Poor Romans lived in multi-story apartments that were in danger of collapse and infested with critters. Additionally, there were no toilets, no running water, and many fires.
At this they would have received a C+ because of the aqueducts, roads, and gladiator fights. The Roman aqueduct system was a series of pipes that ran down from the mountains and provided the Roman Republic with running water and indoor plumbing. The only people who were not positively affected by this were the people forced to build the aqueducts, the Legions, slaves, and laborers. If the army was building a new fort or colony, Rome was not responsible for supplying it with water. The soldiers had to build aqueducts themselves.
Providing Public Services B- Rome had many different public services for its citizens, including aqueducts, roads and gladiator fights. A plus on Rome was they provided aqueducts that were free for anyone to get fresh water. The water was transported to a public fountain where people could use buckets to get their water into their homes. The water was used for baths, sewers, and drinking water.
The sewer system, running water system, and indoor plumbing system reduced the chance of diseases from affecting the population. The roman adequates were an amazing demonstration of their ability to engineer amazing things. They would transport the water to the city, and if you were a patrician then it would go right to your house. Whenever a new city was added they would be a brand new road from the city to Rome. The Roman roads had milestones which are like signs that we use today.
The innovation of aqueducts allowed the common folks of Rome accessibility to the use of water more conveniently from inner cities to rural farmers. This was a very impactful innovation for the growth of not only the expansion of people away from the major central Roman cities, but also provided greater prosperity to the poor folks who had trouble accessing resources of water to support themselves. They now had easier ways of retrieving the necessary materials to better their livelihood. The third and arguably the most significant impact that the Pax Romana had on the Empire was the advancement in architecture. The innovation of concrete was founded, and this discovery opened the door to Roman architecture we know of today.
The bath houses used arches, domes and vaults to make them both aesthetically beautiful and to work as functional spaces. The Romans also made spectacular private homes for those who could afford them, and designed and built innovative apartment type buildings for those who couldn’t afford a private residence. As with the Greeks, the Temples of Rome were a great architectural achievement. These temples are a significant source of their architectural history and still today are some of the most visible remains from their culture. Unlike the Greeks who believed in having an equal emphasis in their design on all sides of their temples, the Romans put the emphasis on the front of their buildings.
