Roman Achievements – Engineering

Ancient Engineering and Construction The Romans were excellent engineers and builders. Many of the buildings and engineering projects they designed are still around today and some are still being used. Here are some of the projects that the Romans excelled in: were important to the economy and the military of the Romans. They allowed for easier commerce between towns and cities and also allowed the Roman Legions to move quickly around the expanding empire. The roads were designed to last despite the environment. They were built using many layers of masonry including . These durable roads are still used today. They were also built with a hump making water flow to the edges. This kept the roads from flooding and allowed them to be used in rainy weather. The Colosseum The Colosseum in Rome is a great example of Roman engineering and construction. The Colosseum was a large outdoor stadium that could seat around 50,000 people for various forms of entertainment such as gladiator games, mock battles, and dramas. The huge Colosseum is free standing and built with multiple to give it strength. Much of it still stands today, although earthquakes have knocked portions of it down. It is 615 feet long and 510 feet wide and took around 131,000 cubic yards of stone to make. Aqueducts Aqueducts were long channels that the Romans built to carry water into the cities. Many of the Roman aqueducts were below ground. The water that was carried into the cities was used for drinking water, baths, and sewers. It was generally carried to a public fountain where people could then use buckets to get their water. Roman plumbing became so advanced that many of the large wealthy houses had running water. The Romans built long durable bridges. Many of their bridges still stand today. They used stone and concrete to build their bridges and used the as the basic architectural feature to make them strong. The largest Roman ever built was the bridge over the river . It was over 3700 feet long and 62 feet high. Architecture Roman engineering had a large influence on Roman architecture. Arches were used a lot due to their strength. The Romans also used as they enabled them to build large ceilings with wide open spaces. Fun Facts about Roman Engineering

 The Romans built over 400,000 km of roads including 29 highways that lead to the city of Rome.  The word for is via. The plural of via is viae. Roman roads generally had the name via in them, like the Via Appia or the .  All the aqueducts in the city of Rome together totaled around 500 in length.  The Romans were among the first civilizations to harness water power.  It is estimated that the Romans built over 900 bridges in their empire.

Write out the correct choice: 1) What type of Roman engineering construction was important to help the army move quickly around the large ? Aqueducts Arches Stadiums Roads

2) Which of the following statements is true about Roman roads? They were mostly packed dirt They tended to flood when it rained making them useless in bad weather They were made of layers of masonry including concrete All of the above

3) Around how many people could attend the games at the Roman Colosseum? 5,000 50,000 100,000 12

4) What type of Roman engineering construction helped to bring water into the city? Arches Stadiums Bridges Aqueducts

5) What architectural feature did the Romans use to make their constructions such as bridges and the Colosseum strong? The arch The The truss The gable

6) If you were to total the length of all the aqueducts in the city of Rome, about how long would it be? 300 yards 2 miles 75 miles 500 miles

Pliny the Elder once wrote an ode to concrete “that as soon as it comes into contact with the waves of the sea and is submerged becomes a single stone mass, impregnable to the waves." was a historian in the first century (0-99AD). He was born in 22 or 23 AD and died in the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Very little of his work still remains, but one text on natural history is still available. This quote is often used whenever is mentioned. – C.Soltesz

Ancient Romans made world’s ‘most durable’ concrete. We might use it to stop rising seas. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/07/04/ancient-romans-made-worlds-most- durable-concrete-we-might-use-it-to-stop-rising-seas/ By Ben Guarino July 4, 2017 at 7:00 a.m. EDT Abridged by Carmen Soltesz April 28, 2020 Ellipses […] indicate where material has been removed.

Two thousand years ago, Roman builders constructed vast sea walls and harbor piers. The concrete they used outlasted the empire — and still holds lessons for modern engineers, scientists say. A bunch of half-sunken structures off the Italian coast might sound less impressive than a gladiatorial colosseum. But underwater, the marvel is in the material. The harbor concrete, a mixture of volcanic ash and quicklime, has withstood the sea for two millennia and counting. What's more, it is stronger than when it was first mixed. The Roman stuff is “an extraordinarily rich material in terms of scientific possibility,” said Philip Brune, a research scientist at DuPont Pioneer who has studied the engineering properties of Roman monuments. “It's the most durable building material in , and I say that as an engineer not prone to hyperbole.” By contrast, modern concrete exposed to saltwater corrodes within decades. The mystery has been why the ancient material endured. “Archaeologists will say they have the recipe,” said Marie Jackson, an expert in ancient Roman concrete at the University of Utah. (Pliny the Elder once wrote an ode to concrete “that as soon as it comes into contact with the waves of the sea and is submerged becomes a single stone mass, impregnable to the waves.") But it's not the complete picture: It's one thing to assemble the ingredients, another to know how to bake the cake. … In this instance, the key ingredient proved to be seawater. As seawater percolated within the tiny cracks in the Roman concrete, Jackson said, it reacted with the phillipsite naturally found in the volcanic rock and created the tobermorite crystals. … The Romans mined a specific type of volcanic ash from a quarry in . Jackson is attempting to recreate this durable concrete using San Francisco seawater and more abundant volcanic rocks. She has several samples sitting in ovens and jars in her lab, which she will test for evidence of similar chemical reactions. If her effort is successful, the concrete could yet have a role to play in human history — “if one was indeed interested in making sea walls” and “forced to protect shoreline environments,” Jackson said. (In one 2014 study, a team of European climate scientists predicted that, if the next 90 years follow the trend of the past 30, the cost of constructing barriers to hold back the sea might rise to as high as $71 billion per year. The alternative, coastal flooding, could do trillions of dollars in damage annually.) Modern sea walls require steel reinforcements; a future in which “large relic walls of twisted steel” dot the coast would be “very troubling,” Jackson said. The Romans didn't use steel. Their reactive concrete was strong enough on its own. “It's not just a historical curiosity,” Brune said. “It may yet have a part to play.” 1. How does the article confirm Pliny the Elder’s statement? 2. How does this impact the modern world?

Roman numeral

MATHEMATICS WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Roman numeral, any of the symbols used in a system of numerical notation based on the ancient Roman system. The symbols are I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, standing respectively for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 in the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. A symbol placed after another of equal or greater value adds its value; e.g., II = 2 and LX = 60. A symbol placed before one of greater value subtracts its value; e.g., IV = 4, XL = 40, and CD = 400. A bar placed over a number multiplies its value by 1,000. Using this chart, answer the following questions.

Arabic Roman Arabic Roman 1 I 60 LX 2 II 70 LXX 3 III 80 LXXX 4 IV 90 XC 5 V 100 C 6 VI 101 CI 7 VII 102 CII 8 VIII 200 CC 9 IX 300 CCC 10 X 400 CD 11 XI 500 D 12 XII 600 DC 13 XIII 700 DCC 14 XIV 800 DCCC 15 XV 900 CM 16 XVI 1,000 M 17 XVII 1,001 MI 18 XVIII 1,002 MII 19 XIX 1,003 MIII 20 XX 1,900 MCM 21 XXI 2,000 MM 22 XXII 2,001 MMI 23 XXIII 2,002 MMII 24 XXIV 2,100 MMC 30 XXX 3,000 MMM 40 XL 4,000 MMMM or MV 50 L 5,000 V

1. What is the Arabic value of /M/? 1 10 100 1000 2. What is the Arabic value of /CC/? 100 200 300 2000

3. What happens to the value of a Roman numeral when numeral of equal value is placed beside it? For example /I/=1, /II/=? The values are added together. The two values are multiplied. The first value reduces the second value to zero

4. What happens to the value of a Roman numeral when a numeral of smaller value is placed BEFORE it? For example /X/ =10, /IX/ = ? The value of the higher numeral is reduced by the value of the lower numeral The value of the higher numeral is increased by the value of the lower numeral The two values are multiplied.

5. What happens to the value of a Roman numeral when a numeral of smaller value is placed AFTER it? For example /V/ =5, /VI/ = ? The value of the higher numeral is reduced by the value of the lower numeral The value of the higher numeral is increased by the value of the lower numeral The value of the higher numeral is divided by the value of the lower numeral.

6. What is the value of /LIX/? 60 51 59 500

7. What is the value of /MMXX/? 2000 2020 20,020 1980

8. What YEAR is represented /MCMLXXX/? 2000 2020 20,020 1980