The achievements of Roman engineers in solving infrastructural challenges are impressive. But the problem remains that blueprints, building descriptions and many important written sources have not survived. The works of ancient authors, such as Vitruvius and Frontinus, report technical details, but in order to decode the technological structure accurately, one must engage with the perspective the ancient engineer, for only in this way are we able to comprehend ancient building strategies. Recent research reveals new insights regarding aqueduct construction and, in particular, working with measuring tools such the Chorobates and Groma. But technological discoveries go further: for example, a recently decoded tombstone relief in Hierapolis (Pamukkale, Turkey) has led to the realization that by the third century CE a gearbox for transferring circular to horizontal movements had already been developed. Ammianus, otherwise unknown, preserved this invention for the propulsion of a water-driven double masonry sawmill on his gravestone. This chapter explores these engineering marvels, surveying Roman achievements in urban infrastructure, including construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, and canals.
...MoreBook Georgia L. Irby-Massie (2016) A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Similar Citations
Article
Giorgio Vittorio Dal Piaz;
Alessio Argentieri;
(2019)
Sessant’anni del Traforo del Monte Bianco, la storia di un’impresa. Prologo: Da Annibale alle grandi gallerie alpine
(/isis/citation/CBB773244504/)
Book
Robert W. 1950- Jackson;
(2011)
Highway under the Hudson: A history of the Holland Tunnel
(/isis/citation/CBB273163842/)
Chapter
Cravo, Télio;
(2014)
Scientific Instruments, Booksellers and Engineers in Imperial Brazil: Building Bridges and Roads in Minas Gerais, 1835--1889
(/isis/citation/CBB001420899/)
Book
Joseph Heathcott;
Jonathan Soffer;
Rae Zimmerman;
(2022)
Urban Infrastructure: Historical and Social Dimensions of an Interconnected World
(/isis/citation/CBB623418452/)
Book
Courland, Robert;
(2011)
Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material
(/isis/citation/CBB001421924/)
Article
Mauro Calzolari;
(2012)
La misura delle distanze nei miliari dell’Italia romana: alcune osservazioni
(/isis/citation/CBB708304248/)
Article
Anne Kolb;
(2012)
The Conception and Practice of Roman Rule: The Example of Transport Infrastructure
(/isis/citation/CBB084765443/)
Book
Brian Phillips Murphy;
(2015)
Building the Empire State: Political Economy in the Early Republic
(/isis/citation/CBB610727332/)
Book
Peter Wakelin;
(2015)
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal: World Heritage Site
(/isis/citation/CBB301079185/)
Book
Ashley Carse;
(2014)
Beyond the Big Ditch: Politics, Ecology, and Infrastructure at the Panama Canal
(/isis/citation/CBB368970305/)
Book
Ashley Carse;
(2014)
Beyond the big ditch: politics, ecology, and infrastructure at the Panama Canal
(/isis/citation/CBB384585453/)
Book
Cynthia A. Ruder;
(2018)
Building Stalinism: The Moscow Canal and the Creation of Soviet Space
(/isis/citation/CBB334243328/)
Article
Pieter De Graef;
(August 2018)
The fruits of better roads and waterways: Facilitating fertiliser improvement through transport innovations in 18th-century Flemish Husbandry
(/isis/citation/CBB281755742/)
Article
Jesús Sánchez Miñana;
(2019)
Los Primeros Facultativos de la Inspección de Caminos y Canales (1799) [The first appointees to the Inspección de Caminos y Canales, a technical body established in Spain in 1799 to deal with the kingdom’s roads and canals]
(/isis/citation/CBB613490295/)
Article
Passfield, Robert W.;
(2007)
St. Andrew's Caméré Curtain Bridge Dam
(/isis/citation/CBB001180536/)
Book
Ryan Dearinger;
(2015)
The Filth of Progress: Immigrants, Americans, and the Building of Canals and Railroads in the West
(/isis/citation/CBB156700263/)
Book
Christopher F. Jones;
(2014)
Routes of Power: Energy and Modern America
(/isis/citation/CBB824368541/)
Book
Nathalie Montel;
(2015)
Écrire et publier des savoirs au XIXe siècle. Une revue en construction : les Annales des ponts et chaussées (1831-1866)
(/isis/citation/CBB882185058/)
Thesis
Cooper, Alan R.;
(1998)
Obligation and jurisdiction: Roads and bridges in medieval England (c. 700-1300)
(/isis/citation/CBB001566091/)
Article
Massimo Moraglio;
Dhan Z. Singh;
(December 2016)
Editorial: ‘The Life of Modern Roads’: Spill-overs of automobile infrastructure
(/isis/citation/CBB812608498/)
Be the first to comment!