Ancient Roman technology
The military was not only used for territorial acquisition and defense, but also as a tool for civilian administrators to use to help staff provincial governments and assist in construction projects.
[2] The Romans adopted, improved, and developed military technologies for foot soldiers, cavalry, and siege weapons for land and sea environments.
Though wind-powered sails were the dominant form of power in water transportation, rowing was often used by military craft during battle engagements.
For carriages carrying passengers or light materials donkeys or mules were generally used, as they were faster than oxen and cheaper on fodder than horses.
In this design oxen are attached to a rotary, moving in a circle on a deck floor, spinning two paddle wheels, one on either side of the ship.
The reason being the economic cost to building an aqueduct was too high for the mild benefit of having the water wheel turn faster.
Thermae were built with large windows facing southwest, the location of the Sun at the hottest time of day.
[6] It was ideal to mine stones from quarries that were situated as close to the site of construction as possible, to reduce the cost of transportation.
[6] Cranes were used for construction work and possibly to load and unload ships at their ports, although for the latter use there is according to the "present state of knowledge" still no evidence.
Embodying mathematical concepts of beauty, symmetry, and perfection, into the structure conveys the technical sophistication of Roman engineers.
Evidence for the use of the substance comes from the sagging of the structure's arches during construction, as a distinguishing feature of pozzolana mortar is the large amount of time it needs to cure.
[17] Roman aqueducts were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and to a technological standard that was not to be equaled until modern times.
[5] The plaster incorporated crushed terracotta in the typical Roman mortar mixture of pozzolana rock and lime.
Several earthen dams are known from Britain, including a well-preserved example from Roman Lanchester, Longovicium, where it may have been used in industrial-scale smithing or smelting, judging by the piles of slag found at this site in northern England.
Tanks for holding water are also common along aqueduct systems, and numerous examples are known from just one site, the gold mines at Dolaucothi in west Wales.
[21] A waste disposal system was not a new invention, but rather had been around since 3100 BCE, when one was created in the Indus River Valley [22] The Roman public baths, or thermae served hygienic, social and cultural functions.
The elastic suspension systems used leather belts attached to bronze supports to suspend the carriages above the axles.
[25] The Romans also made great use of aqueducts in their extensive mining operations across the empire, some sites such as Las Medulas in north-west Spain having at least 7 major channels entering the minehead.
Other sites such as Dolaucothi in south Wales was fed by at least five leats, all leading to reservoirs and tanks or cisterns high above the present opencast.
This segmented armour provided good protection for vital areas, but did not cover as much of the body as lorica hamata or chainmail.
Generally, chainmail was cheaper, easier to produce, and simpler to maintain, was one-size-fits-all and was more comfortable to wear; thus, it remained the primary form of armour even when lorica segmentata was in use.
Commonly used during siege battles, the "sheer discipline and synchronization required to form a Testudo" was a testament to the abilities of legionnaires.
[28] Testudo, meaning tortoise in Latin, "was not the norm, but rather adopted in specific situations to deal with particular threats on the battlefield".
There is one account of the use of artillery in battle from Tacitus, Histories III,23:On engaging they drove back the enemy, only to be driven back themselves, for the Vitellians had concentrated their artillery on the raised road that they might have free and open ground from which to fire; their earlier shots had been scattered and had struck the trees without injuring the enemy.
A ballista of enormous size belonging to the Fifteenth legion began to do great harm to the Flavians' line with the huge stones that it hurled; and it would have caused wide destruction if it had not been for the splendid bravery of two soldiers, who, taking some shields from the dead and so disguising themselves, cut the ropes and springs of the machine.
Large artillery pieces such as carroballista and onagers bombarded enemy lines, before full ground assault by infantry.
Similarly, the onager "named after the wild ass because of its 'kick'," was a larger weapon that was capable of hurling large projectiles at walls or forts.
[30] The expedient and valuable innovation of the pontoon bridge also accredited its success to the excellent abilities of Roman Engineers.
Although various levels of medicine were practised in the ancient world,[31] the Romans created or pioneered many innovative surgeries and tools that are still in use today such as hemostatic tourniquets and arterial surgical clamps.
[32] Rome was also responsible for producing the first battlefield surgery unit, a move that paired with their contributions to medicine made the Roman army a force to be reckoned with.
