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PDF Download Ancient Roman Technology Ebook ANCIENT ROMAN TECHNOLOGY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Amelie Von Zumbusch | 24 pages | 15 Jul 2013 | PowerKids Press | 9781477708934 | English | United States BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Discovering Roman Technology And it was the immunes , a group of highly trained specialists who were specifically employed to maintain the logistical and medical sustenance of the legions. Ranging from doctors, engineers to architects, these men were exempt from the hard labor duties of the rank-and-file soldiers, while also earning more than them — thus hinting at the presumed crucial nature of their jobs. Pertaining to the Roman medical professionals, their dedicated battlefield surgery units were instrumental in the use of innovative contraptions like hemostatic tourniquets and arterial surgical clamps to curb blood loss. Taking all of these factors into account, combined with better diet, the Roman soldiers possibly tended to live longer than their civilian counterparts, thus alluding the efficiency of the ancient Roman doctors and surgeons. While the core ballista mechanism was probably developed by the ancient Greeks by 5th century BC in forms like oxybeles and gastraphetes , there is no doubt that the Romans advanced the practical scope of such fascinating weapon systems, along with their deployment and usage on ancient battlefields. The so-named carroballista was an extension of the similar manuballista technology, but its difference lied in its advantage of maneuverability. In essence, the weapon system was developed as a cart-mounted ballista, thus entailing a type of mobile field artillery. ArcheoArt has described the weapon in some details, based on the reconstruction of Michael Lewis —. The caroballista: a powerful descendent of the Roman ballistae and catapultae. This two-man example is being used at some point in the Dacian War. It shoots heavy bolts, and is an extremely powerful weapon, thanks to the wide sweep of the arms, which transmit a huge amount of stored spring-energy to the ammunition. The sinew-loaded spring frames are made of iron, and have tough leather covers to protect them from enemy fire- and the weather. The machine is mounted on a universal joint, atop a stand, and can be pointed in any direction. To shoot, one man turns the windlass to draw back the slider and rope, while his crew-mate holds it steady, and places a bolt on the slider; he then holds the tiller and aims, while the first pulls the trigger-bar. The whole weapon is light enough for its two-man crew to move it around and load it onto a cart when the division has to move; in this way, it is the equivalent of a WW2 Bren-gun. According to Vegetius, the late Roman army adopted the carroballista as a standard mobile field artillery, with 55 carroballistae being the standard number that was distributed among each legion. Each of these war machines, having the advantage of light yet stout metal spring-frame, were transported by mules and operated by contubernium units group of ten legionaries. During the time-line of the First Punic War fought between Rome and Carthage — BC , the Carthaginians were known for their prowess in the naval field, partly due their maritime experience in trading and overseas colonies that stretched beyond centuries. On the other hand, the Romans were considered as relative newcomers to the Mediterranean sphere of influence. In spite of this, it was the sheer ingenuity of the Roman army engineers that brought victory to the Romans in what might have been the largest naval battle in the history of mankind. We are talking about the Battle of Cape Ecnomus in BC — that pitted around Carthaginian ships with more than , rowers and marines against Roman vessels with around , rowers and soldiers ; all the figures being according to the account of Polybius in World History. This was a sort of a boarding bridge that could be raised from a ft high sturdy wooden pillar, and then rotated in any required direction. The Roman soldiers crossed across this makeshift bridge, and directly boarded the enemy ship. This naval tactic gave the Romans the upper-hand, since they were known for their expertise in close-quarter combat, as opposed to the Carthaginians who mainly relied on mercenaries. Unfortunately, the corvus was seemingly abandoned in the post BC era, perhaps because of its destructive effect even on Roman warships. In any case, this is how 2nd century BC Greek historian, Polybius, described the boarding maneuvers initiated by the corvus —. The leading pair protected the front by holding up their shields, and those who followed secured the two flanks by resting the rims of their shields on the top of the railing. Designed as an incendiary weapon circa 7th century AD, the Greek Fire is one of the very few contrivances whose gruesome effectiveness was noted by various then-contemporary sources, both Arabs and Greeks. In fact, some writers have gone on to explain how the viciously efficient Greek Fire could only be mitigated by extinguishing it with sand, strong vinegar or old urine. Suffice it to say, the weapon was perfectly tailored to naval warfare; and as such the Eastern Roman Empire Byzantine Empire used it in numerous marine-based encounters to secure victories — with notable examples involving the crucial successes achieved against two Arab sieges of Constantinople. However the procedures of making and subsequent deployment of Greek Fire remained a closely guarded military secret — so much so that the original ingredient has actually been lost over time. Once again while the construction and development of roads mirrored the historical evolution of urban culture and trade since Bronze Age , the ancient Romans took it up a level to complement their juggernaut of a military. In fact, highways and roads were an intrinsic part of the logistical scope maintained by the Roman Empire at its height, so much so that the massive road networks after 2nd century AD accounted for a whopping , miles, of which over 50, miles were stone paved. In fact, at the peak period of the ancient empire, around 29 great military highways radiated from the capital Rome itself, and these in turn were connected by at least great roads. Now as for the construction of the roads, building materials that were generally used encompassed a composite of dirt and gravel along with bricks made of either granite or hardened volcanic lava. The Roman engineers also gave special attention to the gradient of the roads, with accommodation for curvatures that allowed for efficient water drainage. In consideration of all these factors, suffice it to say, the Roman network of highways and roads played a major role for the inland carriage of official communications and trade goods. To that end, highways are estimated to have allowed the Roman legions to travel as fast as 25 miles or 40 km per day. And furthermore, intermittently constructed post houses allowed the armies to maintain communications and share intelligence over relatively long distances. This is how Ammianus Marcellinus, the 4th century Roman soldier and historian, described the ancient war machine —. Two posts of oak or holm-oak are hewn out and slightly bent, so that they seem to stand forth like humps. These are fastened together like a sawing-machine and bored through on both sides with fairly large holes. Between them, through the holes, strong ropes are bound, holding the machine together, so that it may not fly apart. From the middle of these ropes a wooden arm rises obliquely, pointed upward like the pole of a chariot, and is twined around with cords in such a way that it can be raised higher or depressed. To the top of this arm, iron hooks are fastened, from which hangs a sling of hemp or iron. In front of the arm is placed a great cushion of hair-cloth stuffed with fine chaff, bound on with strong cords, and placed on a heap of turf or a pile of sun-dried bricks; for a heavy machine of this kind, if placed upon a stone wall, shatters everything beneath it by its violent concussion, rather than by its weight. Then, when there is a battle, a round stone is placed in the sling and four young men on each side turn back the bar with which the ropes are connected and bend the pole almost flat. Then finally the gunner, standing above, strikes out the pole-bolt, which holds the fastenings of the whole work, with a strong hammer, thereupon the pole is set free, and flying forward with a swift stroke, and meeting the soft hair-cloth, hurls the stone, which will crush whatever it hits. And the machine is called tormentum as all the released tension is caused by twisting torquetur ; and scorpion, because it has an upraised sting; modern times have given it the new name onager , because when wild asses are pursued by hunters, by kicking they hurl back stones to a distance, either crushing the breasts of their pursuers, or breaking the bones of their skulls and shattering them. Interestingly enough, there are also accounts of how the Roman sometimes mixed in combustible substances with the large rocks that were used as projectiles to be hurled towards enemy fortifications. And at times, depending upon wind speeds and the terrain, onagers could even out-range dedicated archers by virtue of their sheer torsional force. Archaeological evidences mainly from site of the Roman siege of Numantia, in Spain conforms to this assessment. To that end, both types of the pila were made from around 1. Anyhow, beyond their shape and thickness, the pilum was engineered as a potent javelin-like throwing weapon that would mostly only favor the Romans.
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