rome wasn't built in a day
but the romans created a few things that
have lasted up to this day
it's eight incredible roman innovations
if you lived in ancient rome and wanted
to look up the box score from the big
gladiator match or were looking for a
review of virgil's latest poem
you weren't quite in luck however the
romans did generate and distribute a
daily document called the acta
that very closely resembles our modern
newspaper
the term acta diurna translates to daily
ax
or gazette carved on stone or metal the
acta was originally a private account of
what took place in the senate meetings
in 59 bc julius caesar made the acta
available to the public
they were posted in common areas and
began to feature content that was more
relevant to the average citizen
like social political and criminal
events the acta were able to be
distributed across the whole empire
and just like in modern journalism
cicero once critiqued that the acta had
too much tittle tattle and not enough
hard facts
although there is evidence that other
ancient civilizations used it
the romans are cemented in history as
the kings of concrete
or should we say emperors one of the
roman empire's lasting legacies as the
many structures that stand today
the coliseum the pantheon the forum the
aqueducts and many more
they are all made of and remain intact
thanks to
concrete a special feature of roman
concrete that scientists are studying to
this day
is its resistance to erosion by seawater
while modern concrete begins to erode
after about 50 years when underwater
the roman concrete has survived for
centuries
this is due to the combination of slaked
lime and volcanic ash that creates a
chemical reaction
causing the concrete to dry quickly and
actually thrive under seawater
it was quite literally the foundation of
the empire
the romans didn't invent roads per se
civilizations had been building them
since the bronze age
but babe ruth didn't invent baseball
either yet they
both just mastered a craft in a way that
had never been done before
the romans revolutionized the
engineering and maximized the potential
of what a system of roads and highways
could do
the romans built roads through any land
that they conquered
beginning in the early 300s bce the
network stretched up to 50
000 stone paved miles at its peak
engineers figured out a method to build
every road to be as straight as possible
from origin to destination
and yes almost all of them led back to
rome
it seems obvious now but the benefits of
these roads are a huge reason the roman
empire was a world
power for more than 800 years the
two-lane cobblestone roads had drainage
systems
and steps for people to mount horses and
carts it allowed messages and orders to
be sent quickly
made for efficient trade across
thousands of miles
and most importantly gave campaigning
armies a reliably steady stream of
troops and supplies
for the romans life was very much a
highway
the romans were jacks of all trades
warriors
engineers artists and intellectuals we
even have them to thank for the
invention of books
who knew for the first few millennia
that people were writing things down
it was done on heavy stone or clay
tablets and then long scrolls that could
stretch over 30 feet long
the romans were the first people to
create the very first bound books of
stacked pages called a codex
julius caesar was known to make
notebooks for himself but they became
really popular around 1ce
the pages were first made of wax covered
wood tablets
then animal skin parchment and
eventually paper which was invented by
the chinese
the codex was originally used as a log
of laws and decrees made by emperors
but the christians were early adopters
of the process to produce copies of the
bible to spread christianity
with great success the invention of
binding is considered the greatest
advancement in books until the printing
press
a huge win for the bookworms
although the assyrians had been using
plumbing as far back as the 9th century
bce
it was the romans a few centuries later
who elevated and in this case buried it
to another level the romans developed
the first
modern plumbing system building
aqueducts to bring fresh water into the
city
and laying a series of lead pipes and
large sewers underground to flush away
waste
the latin term plumbus actually means
lead or one who works with lead
the aqueducts many of which stand today
supplied
public wells baths and many homes
throughout the city
after the fall of rome many of the
countries that emerged were
disinterested in maintaining the roman
standard for sanitation and cleanliness
and allowed the plumbing to fall into
disrepair making the population more
vulnerable to outbreaks of disease
the romans have a history of improving
upon existing ideas
however the concept of welfare stems
entirely from the brains of
forward-thinking roman leaders
in 122 bce tribune gaius gracchus
instituted lex frumentaria
a law ordering the government to provide
citizens with cheaply priced grain
however it was two centuries later in 98
ce
under emperor trajan that the first true
welfare system took form
it was called alamenta and it
distributed funds to the poor
and provided food for poor children
throughout italy proponents of trajan's
system
point out that this period was a
prosperous time citizens were treated
with fairness and the empire reached its
greatest expanse
however detractors feel that these
programs were a drain on the economy
and were the reason that the empire
began its decline shortly thereafter
during the first century ce the roman
version of leonardo da vinci was living
in alexandria
modern-day egypt hiro was one of the
greatest mathematicians of his time
and called the father of physics he was
interested in the practical uses of
mathematics
which led him to inventing several items
that were so advanced
people viewed them as miracles one such
invention was the first known vending
machine in history
which dispensed holy water inside
temples priests were apparently having
trouble with their poorer patrons using
up all of the holy water
and they were tired of chasing down
these wet patrons for payment
so hiro invented a special kind of vase
someone would drop a five drock mccoin
into a slot at the top
the coin landed on a tray its weight
slowly opening another slot that
released the holy water
when the coin slipped off the tray the
water slot would close
the device not only gave temples an
automated way to collect money
it became an attraction for the temple
everyone wanted to see this miracle with
their own eyes
to put this accomplishment in
perspective the first vending machine in
the u.s
wasn't built until 1888
the practice of surgery existed long
before the rise of the roman empire
there is evidence of a procedure called
refining drilling a hole in the skull to
relieve pain
being performed as early as 3000 bce
however as we've seen time and time
again just about anything people did
romans did better archaeologists have
discovered many surgical tools that the
romans developed as early as 79
ce that closely resembled their modern
contemporaries
including scalpels bone forceps vaginal
speculums
bone hooks saws and levers catheters and
more
most of these tools and procedures were
born on the battlefield and being able
to successfully treat previously deadly
injuries
gave the romans another huge advantage
over their adversaries
these tools help the romans master other
surgical advancements like c-sections
and even plastic surgery it seems great
until you remember that general
anesthesia wasn't available for another
1800 years
so we've essentially learned that the
minds of the romans were like the bacon
of the ancient world
add them to anything and they enhanced
it and they're also amazing on their own
at this point we wouldn't be surprised
if the romans invented brunch
you