Technological Advancements In Ancient Rome

After the age of the First Civilizations, Rome, along with China and others, started into a new era of second- and third-wave civilizations. As the Roman population grew rapidly in numbers, so did the city itself expand with new technological innovations and advancements. Rome went from being a city-state to an empire over the course of about 500 years, before the current era, as technological advances grew with the Agricultural Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and further into the future. In the Roman Empire, aqueducts and roads were technological achievements in civil engineering and construction that “considerably enhanced human potential for manipulating the environment” (Strayer 82). Roman roads were very important to the development of the Roman state and were built through the expansion of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. They provided efficient means for the movement of armies, civilians, and trading goods. The public road system of the …show more content…
This reliance upon these water resources restricted the potential growth of the Roman civilization. The Romans constructed many aqueducts in order to bring water from distant sources into their cities and towns, supplying public baths, fountains, and private households. Aqueducts also provided water for mining operations, milling, farms, and gardens. They allowed the movement of water through gravity, being constructed along slight downward angles within stone, brick, or concrete. Some of these were buried beneath the ground, while others made their way around or tunneled through peaks. Where valleys or lowlands intervened with the aqueduct, water was carried on a bridge. The Roman civilization’s aqueducts supported a large water supply for public amenities that had become a fundamental part of Roman