The RomansHow does Roman Civilization

effect me?

Roman

Roads There is an old expression,

"All roads lead to Rome.“ Each time a new city was

conquered, a road was built from that city back to Rome. 

Roads were built in straight lines. Many had gutters. Along the side of road, the Romans built road signs called milestones. Milestones did not give any information about other towns in the area. Milestones told how far it was back to Rome.   

Rome was famous for was their system of roads. Romans built over 53,000 miles of roads to connect every part of their empire.

The roads were mostly built by the army and were all done by hand

Roads Today

Roman Numerals

Roman numerals are still used today. You can see them on clocks, in books and even on the television if you look carefully.

Names of monarchs and Popes are still displayed in Roman numerals, e.g. Elizabeth II, Benedict XVI.

Roman numerals are commonly used in numbered lists (in outline format), pages preceding the main body of a book, chord triads in music analysis, the numbering of movie publication dates, successive political leaders or children with identical names, and the numbering of some annual sport events such as the Olympic Games, Super Bowl, Wrestle Mania.

Concrete/Cement The Romans were pioneers in the development

of concrete and it's use. They surpassed previous methods of concrete building techniques by leaps and bounds.

Rome's development of concrete technology, along with the sophisticated application of the arch as a building form created the foundation for many of ancient world's greatest engineering achievements in:

RoadsBridgesAqueductsBuildings

For more than six hundred years Roman concrete technology flourished until the empire collapsed in the fifth century CE

Concrete use today

Roman ArchitectureRomans were well know

thieves. Although most of their ideas were stolen from other societies Romans improved upon the stolen ideas and made them great.

Arches Dome Buildings Aqueducts Bath houses

The great and highly advanced Roman waterway system known as the Aqueducts, are among the greatest achievements in the ancient world. The running water, indoor plumbing and sewer system carrying away disease from the population within the Empire wasn't surpassed in capability until very modern times.

As cities grew, the ancient Romans needed more fresh water. To solve this problem, they built aqueducts. These were massive construction projects.

Arches Today

The Coliseum/Stadiums The ancient Romans were great builders. They built

things to last. The Coliseum was built of concrete, faced with stone, as were most amphitheaters. It was built in the early days of the Roman Empire, around 70 CE. It was designed to host huge spectacles.  Anyone could attend the events in the Coliseum. Admission was free. 

The Coliseum was a huge public entertainment center. It could seat 45,000 spectators. If you didn't mind standing, the Coliseum could hold up to 70,000 spectators! This is where the ancient Romans gathered to watch bloody combat between gladiators, and battles between men and wild animals. This is where they threw people to the lions! On occasion, they flooded the Coliseum with water, to hold naval battles. During the battles, many competitors died. 

Art

The Romans copied the art style of the Greeks but made it better.

More real

Latin Language

The Latin language was the source of today’s French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages.

About half of all English words have a Latin history.

Laws

Trial By Jury Twelve Tables-

written law code

Heated Baths there were separate hours

for men and women. The Public Baths were

extremely popular. Roman women and men tried to visit the baths at least once every day. The baths had hot and cold pools, towels, slaves to wait on you, steam rooms, saunas, exercise rooms, and hair cutting salons. They had reading rooms and libraries, as among the freeborn, who had the right to frequent baths, the majority could read.  They even had stores, selling all kinds of things, and people who sold fast food. The baths were arranged rather like a very large mall, with bathing pools.

A modern spa resort

Drains and Sewers