Difference between revisions of "Roman Empire"
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− | The Roman Empire is known for its construction of roads that stretched throughout the Empire. These roads nurtured trade through the Empire and connected with other trade routes as far as the [[Silk Road]] to China. The Roman style of road construction was revolutionary at it's time, and has for the most part yet to be improved upon. Crowns allowed runoff of rainwater into gutters and sub-packing of peastone and gravel allowed for absorption of frost heaves where necessary. While not all Roman roads were built this way, this was nevertheless a milestone in road construction. Surveying methods of the time forced the Romans to build these roads arrow straight. During the reign of [[Diocletian]] 372 main roads were recorded, totaling 53,000 miles<ref>Leslie and Roy Adkins, ''Life in Ancient Rome'' ISBN 0-19-512332-8</ref>. Many of the routes the roads followed are still in use today. | + | The Roman Empire is known for its construction of roads that stretched throughout the Empire. These roads nurtured trade through the Empire and connected with other trade routes as far as the [[Silk Road]] to [[China]]. In addition to trade, the highways allowed for fast overland movement of military forces to areas that needed defense or suppression. This same spirit of military infrastructure has a modern descendant in the [[Eisenhower Interstate System]]. The Roman style of road construction was revolutionary at it's time, and has for the most part yet to be improved upon. Crowns allowed runoff of rainwater into gutters and sub-packing of peastone and gravel allowed for absorption of frost heaves where necessary. While not all Roman roads were built this way, this was nevertheless a milestone in road construction. Surveying methods of the time forced the Romans to build these roads arrow straight. During the reign of [[Diocletian]] 372 main roads were recorded, totaling 53,000 miles<ref>Leslie and Roy Adkins, ''Life in Ancient Rome'' ISBN 0-19-512332-8</ref>. Many of the routes the roads followed are still in use today. |
− | Aqueducts were built to supply water to cities by finding an aquifer or reservoir and channeling it along the route of the aqueduct with a slight reduction in grade to provide water pressure. Once the aqueduct arrived at destination city, lead pipes directed the flow of water to fountains and even the wealthier homes. Sewers were provided, as were large public latrines. | + | Aqueducts were built to supply water to cities by finding an aquifer or reservoir and channeling it along the route of the aqueduct with a slight reduction in grade to provide water pressure. Once the aqueduct arrived at destination city, lead pipes directed the flow of water to fountains and even the wealthier homes. Sewers were provided, as were large public latrines and often extravagant public and private baths. |
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+ | These baths, known as '''thermae''' usually provided separate rooms for cold '''(frigidarium)''', warm '''(tepidarium)''', and hot '''(caldarium)''' bathing. Water and floors were heated using a hypocaust heating system; an under floor furnace. Tending these furnaces was a dangerous job, done by slaves. As bath complexes grew larger, they began to include saunas and gyms, along with other health and hygiene related buildings and areas. Roman baths were not merely salubrious, however. They also were an important social gathering point along with [[forum]]s and [[curiae]]. | ||
Much of Roman construction was poured concrete, made primarily from seashells. This concrete was able to cure underwater, vital to bridging rivers and bodies of water. | Much of Roman construction was poured concrete, made primarily from seashells. This concrete was able to cure underwater, vital to bridging rivers and bodies of water. |
Revision as of 02:43, April 17, 2007
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Pax Romana |
An empire started by the Romans that stretched from British Isles 44AD to Northern Africa 146 B.C., to Armenia 42 B.C. The Roman Empire was the direct successor to the Roman Republic.
Rome may be credited with creating the virtue of civic republicanism: that a citizen should give his life in battle or in work to the glory of the Republic.
Its greatest ruler was Caius Iulius Caesar Octavianus, or Augustus, although many others parallel his life in depth.
Rome contributed a great deal to the mythology of early Christianity. For example, the prophecy that "a savior would come out of Judea" was popular in the Roman Empire, so popular that the biographer Suetonious saw fit to include it in his De Vitae Caesarium. However, Suetonious identified the savior as Vespasian in his "Life of Vespasian," since Vespasian did, as it was said, "save the State."
Roman Engineering
The Roman Empire is known for its construction of roads that stretched throughout the Empire. These roads nurtured trade through the Empire and connected with other trade routes as far as the Silk Road to China. In addition to trade, the highways allowed for fast overland movement of military forces to areas that needed defense or suppression. This same spirit of military infrastructure has a modern descendant in the Eisenhower Interstate System. The Roman style of road construction was revolutionary at it's time, and has for the most part yet to be improved upon. Crowns allowed runoff of rainwater into gutters and sub-packing of peastone and gravel allowed for absorption of frost heaves where necessary. While not all Roman roads were built this way, this was nevertheless a milestone in road construction. Surveying methods of the time forced the Romans to build these roads arrow straight. During the reign of Diocletian 372 main roads were recorded, totaling 53,000 miles[1]. Many of the routes the roads followed are still in use today.
Aqueducts were built to supply water to cities by finding an aquifer or reservoir and channeling it along the route of the aqueduct with a slight reduction in grade to provide water pressure. Once the aqueduct arrived at destination city, lead pipes directed the flow of water to fountains and even the wealthier homes. Sewers were provided, as were large public latrines and often extravagant public and private baths.
These baths, known as thermae usually provided separate rooms for cold (frigidarium), warm (tepidarium), and hot (caldarium) bathing. Water and floors were heated using a hypocaust heating system; an under floor furnace. Tending these furnaces was a dangerous job, done by slaves. As bath complexes grew larger, they began to include saunas and gyms, along with other health and hygiene related buildings and areas. Roman baths were not merely salubrious, however. They also were an important social gathering point along with forums and curiae.
Much of Roman construction was poured concrete, made primarily from seashells. This concrete was able to cure underwater, vital to bridging rivers and bodies of water.
The Fall of the Roman Empire
The causes of the decline of the Roman Empire are controversial. Many posit that immorality and homosexuality so weakened spirit of the Empire that it was unable to stand firm against the Barbarians. Certainly poets such as Catullus and Juvenal describe many unnatural practises that may well have contributed to the final collapse just four hundred years later. However, this theory was sensationalized by the (at the time) popular British writer Edward Gibbon, who wrote the influential Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbons, though, was highly biased, in his attempt to analogize between the fall of Rome and what he saw as a lessening of moral strength in his own England. This theory is widely discounted by modern historians.
One influential writer theorized that the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire are simple - it never was strong. Rather, it simply had no strong enemy prior to 300 A.D.[2] Prior to this time, a complicated system of "buffer states" and sedentary provincial legions could hold such a vast territory - however, with the advent of the first comparable military unit, the Visigoths, led by Alaric.
After "the Fall"
Accounts of the Roman world's immediate descent into poverty have been greatly exaggerated. Rather, rulers such as Theoderic the Ostrogoth and his followers (the Amal clan) ruled from Ravenna in the Roman style, maintaining much of Roman life and infrastructure.[3] Theoderic even employed Romans to ensure this continuity and sense of Roman stability. One example was Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (or just Cassiodorus), who, writing as Theoderic, famously urged all Romans to "clothe themselves with the morals of the toga" - i.e., retain your Roman ways, in spite of the "barbarian" rule.
This twilight period was finally cut short by the reconquest campaign planned by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, led by the general Belisarius. In a bloody war, both sides reduced the Italian countryside to nothing, with the Byzantines finally inheriting a ravaged husk.[4] Many Romans - Eastern and Western - blamed Justinian for this devastation.[5]