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Ancient Roman technology

(Redirected from Roman technology)

Roman technology is the set of artifacts and customs which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military might 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 all the discrete technological elements had been rediscovered and a great many, such as firearms, advanced sailing ship technologies, and moveable type printing, went far ahead of what the Romans had done. Yet, it took another four hundred years for Europe to produce civil engineering feats such as roads, aqueducts and bridges, which were equal to that of the Romans, on a large scale.

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Slow syncretism

Roman technologists were extremely conservative and slowly adopted foreign technologies over time. It took more than a century for concrete to be adopted, from its original base in a small corner of the eastern part of the empire. The only truly original process which was born in the empire was the practice of glassblowing, which started in Syria and spread slowly in the empire. Many other "new" technologies never were fully used in the Empire, because of a number of 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 managed to integrate this superior new technology, using instead the more fragile, small and difficult to handle amphora. By the time the knowledge on barrel-making crept into the empire, most of the city roads and such things as warehouse entrances had been built up to handle the much smaller amphora. There simply was no physical room to let the larger and unproven barrels through, and there was usually enough trained slave labor around to carry each small amphora by hand, through the labyrinth of alleys, small doors, and stairs.

Anti-technological culture

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; and no provisions in Roman law for the development and preservation of innovation or the promotion of the work of inventors.

Craft basis of technology

Roman technology was entirely based on a system of crafts. Although we use the term "engineering" 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 tightly, in oral form. Writers like Vitruvius were exceptions. Most of what we know of Roman technology comes to us indirectly from archaeological work and from the third hand accounts of Latin texts copied from the 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.

Greek borrowings

A great part of roman technologies were taken directly from Greek civilisation. 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.

Etruscan foundations

Much of what we describe as typically Roman, as opposed to Greek technology, 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.

Engineering and constructions

Trade

Military technology

References

  • 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.
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