1. Concrete
The Romans were able to produce strong and durable concrete, which is often better than modern. While current concrete has collapsed in fifty years or less, Roman concrete still remains the same as it was thousands of years ago. Tradition has it that the Roman engineer Marc Vitruvius created this heavy-duty solution from volcanic ash, lime, and sea water.
He mixed these three ingredients with volcanic stone and immersed the mixture in sea water. After about ten years, a rare mineral called aluminum tobermorite formed in concrete, which allowed it to maintain its strength.
2. Roads and highways
As soon as the Romans realized that paved roads could help them maintain a strong army and empire, they built them everywhere. Over 700 years, they paved 88,000 kilometers of roads across Europe. These roads were well designed, designed for a long service life and allowed you to quickly travel around the empire. 2,000 years have passed, but many Roman roads still exist today.
3. Nutrition Culture
The Romans loved to eat well, and the dining room was an important part of their living space. A typical Roman dinner consisted of three dishes: appetizer, main course and dessert, which is very reminiscent of modernity. The Romans also drank wine throughout the meal, which was different from the Greeks who drank wine after a meal. Similar habits have survived to this day.
4. Stitched books
Before the appearance of stitched books, civilization mainly used stone tablets or scrolls. However, by the first century AD e. the Romans created the first “codes” that consisted of sheets of papyrus or parchment bound together. However, these books only appeared in the 5th century A.D.
5. Water supply
The ancient Romans developed a revolutionary water supply system, which first began with aqueducts, which allowed them to transport running water to populated areas, and ended with the development of a complex system of lead pipelines. They are one of the first civilizations to do this.
6. Courier service
The Roman emperor Augustus founded the first courier service in the Roman Empire under the name “Cursus Publicus”. This helped transfer messages and tax information from one place to another. The emperor founded the service on the Persian system, but changed it so that only one person delivered packages or information from one place to another, and did not transmit information to many people. It was a slower process, but it provided more security.
7. Newspapers
Newspapers have come a long way. Initially, the Romans began to publish records of Senate assemblies called Acta Senatus, which were available only to senators. Later, after 27 BC. e., appeared “Acta diurna” – a daily newspaper for “ordinary people.”
8. Central heating
One of the first known centralized heating systems in the world was created by the Romans. It was called a “hypocaust” and was installed mainly in large public baths. Under the raised floor, a fire was constantly burning, which heated the room and the water going to the bathhouse.
9. Graffiti
It turns out that graffiti is not a modern art form, and it arose in ancient Rome. Scientists have found graffiti during excavations of Pompeii, which were “preserved” for centuries in a layer of ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. One of the many things scratched on the walls was the phrase: “I am surprised that the wall has not yet collapsed from all these notes.”
10. Sewerage
The first Roman sewer was built by the Etruscans on the entire Italian peninsula in 500 BC. After this, the Romans expanded the sewer. It is worth noting that it was mainly used not for wastewater, but to reduce floods.
