Roman technology

8/27/2018

Click on the following link to read the article "Discovering Roman Technology."
www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/tech_01.shtml

In a detailed paragraph, describe at least 3 of Rome's technological advances. In addition, you will be expected to write a reflection telling what you think about these technological advances and why you think this. (Do not plagiarize.)

Blog entries due Wednesday, September 12, 2018. Late entries will not be accepted. Blog entries will not be posted until after September13th, at which time you will need to respond to 2 other entries. Peer responses will be due on Monday, September 10th.

25 Comments

Dylan Louie

9/6/2018 08:40:33 pm

One of the technological advancement was the manuballista. It hurled a bolt with iron tip that could sometimes go 50 meters per second. It would pierce through armor and instantly kill a person. Another technological advancement was their armor. The Romans had armor made of chain mail and armor made of overlapping iron plates that could only be only penetrated by a ballista bolt or anything else stronger. One final technological advancement is how they built roads. They built roads over mountains and still kept the road in a straight line. They also built roads going in the right direction like how they knew exactly where to go without any maps or compasses.

Rome had many technological advances and think they are really impressive. I was amazed how they made how they made a ballista that could instantly kill a person. It is also kind of scary that it could kill a person with armor. I wonder if a gun would as much damage than a ballista or more. I wonder how heavy the armor the chainmail armor was or was it light. I also wonder if you can run in the armor made of overlapping iron. What I thought was really impressive is that they knew what directions they were going even without a map or compass.

Jocelyn Lew

9/7/2018 05:07:17 pm

The Romans created many things and in their days that was advanced technology. The romans created many weapons and materials for war. On of their weapons for war was the manuballista. The manuballista was a catapult that was hand cranked. It was really strong and used in war because it had an iron tip and a bolt that would be thrown across the battlefield. It would fly 50 meter in the air and it can penetrate through armor which would kill someone instantly.
Besides, making and inventing weapons, they also made plans and symbols for war. They had 12 symbols that represented somethings during war and that was the code system. They could show one out of a dozen symbols using flags. The sender and receiver would have the same water clock and same code book and might have numbers. If they were to send a message like VI than they would raise a flag or a torch if it was at night, but make sure that the receiver catches it moving. Raise the flag again, but make sure your clock is on. Then when your flag point at VI than lower the flag. The receiver should have started his or her timer during the second round of raising your flag. Then you should stop the flag when it came down and VI will reveal the message.
When I read the paragraph on Romans bathing, I found it quite interesting on how they bath and the purpose on why they bath. Romans don’t actually bath to get out clean and fresh, but for their own enjoyment and delight. Unlike us they would strip down in a public bathing area and do some exercise so they can sweat and get of some of the dirt. However, unlike these days in more civilized time, they had to pay to get in which was not that expensive, but there were also more affluent people which had their own luxurious bath. During our days, we use towels, but in ancient rome they used oil and rubbed it on their skin which is a little disgusting to more civilized people these day. Then they would scrape off the oil with dirt, sweat, and other things with a curved metal road also known as a strigil. Women also used the most uncivilized way of cleaning which was using a gladiator’s or athlete’s sweat to put into a face pack which is utterly disgusting to me.

Dana Kunza

9/8/2018 01:58:12 pm

Dana Kunza

Foods

The Romans were actually the first to make the three course meal. They cooked meat, fish, and eggs along with, apples,pears, apricots, turnips, coriander, and asparagus. They also ate kidney stuffed with herbs and the fishey custard. I am surprised on the food they ate. This was a long time ago and it sounds like they had a meal that I would have today. I would like to know if they had this on an everyday basis ?

Baths

The Romans were keen on bathing. The thing is they did not bath to keep clean. They did it for pleasure and recreation. To clean off the dirt they went through a ho room, like a sauna. They rubbed oil on their sin and scrapped of all the muck mixture of oil, sweat, as well as dirt. For that they used curved metal scrapped. It was called a strigil. Roman ladies collected all the gloopy sweat from gladiators, and athletes. They used that for a face mask. I did not really like how the ladies used the sweaty goop for a face mask. Maybe it would work great. But imagine collecting goopy sweat from random gladiator or athletic men and putting it all over your face. EWW!

Codes

The Romans also had a coding system in which they could only send a dozen fixed messages. But it is depending on the time they show a flag. The sender and receiver would have the same code book and identical water clocks. To send a message you have to raise your flag (or torch at night) and wait until the receiver raises their flag. The you put your flag down. Then you have to raise your flag again and start your clock. When you flag points to VI, you lower your flag again. The receiver should have started the clock when your flag went up and stopped it when you flag went down. This will determine what code you are trying to tell them. I think this idea is cool. Wouldn’t it be hard to know exactly when hey put the flag down. Then what if somebody is spying on you. I don’t understand the part of sending the messages. What I mean is if they can see each other why don't they just meet up. But other than that i think it is cool.

Evelyn Yulianto

9/9/2018 09:17:58 am

Roads and Surveying
One of Rome’s many technological advances is their construction of roads. The Romans built tremendous roads throughout the empire for purposes, such as public transportation and to move the army quickly for battle. In fact, when the Roman empire reached its largest peak, there were 50,000 miles of roads in total. They built their highways out of heavy stones covered in gravel and mud. The roads were often constructed to form straight lines. Some roads were digged to make underground tunnels for roadways. Rome also advanced the technique called surveying. Surveying is to examine the features of an area of land and to construct a plan on how to divide the land. This technique was used by Roman engineers when building roads. I think the advancement of roads and surveying played an important role in our lives because it greatly developed our transportation. Roads also provide access to employment, social, health, and educational services. Surveying was also used to construct highways that we all use nowadays.

Food and Baths
Another technological advances from the Roman empire are the ways the Romans ate food. For instance, the Romans invented celtic cooking and introduced the three-course meal. They cooked meat and fish, and harvested fruits and vegetables. The Romans also traveled to different countries to collect new recipes. Bathing was created for purposes, such as to clean, and also for recreation and pleasure purposes. Rome also had lavatories, which used a system of pipes for drainage. To clean themselves, the Romans often went to a hot bath or a pool. I think food and baths are important because we use it in our everyday lives. Without it, we would suffer through many hardships such as starvation, hygiene, and health.

The Wonderful Wheel
Finally, one of the most important technological advance is the making of the wheel. The first wheels were made from wood and cement with the rims made outof iron. The Romans were one of the first people who created the wheel. The invention of the wheel was first used to move chariots, which was the main transportation in the Ancient Rome. The chariot’s wheels were about 8 inches wide and a pair of wheels could support two people. Then, the Romans later used the wheel to transport items such as food, water, and trading goods. In my opinion, I think the invention of the wheel was one of the most useful creations in history. This is because the wheel allows fast transportation across land. Without it, transportation would be a lot slower.

Timothy Wu link

9/9/2018 10:26:53 am

Roman Technological Advances

One of Rome’s advances that stands out to me is their armor. At the time, they had two types of armor. They were chain mail armor, possibly worn by auxiliaries, and heavy armor constructed of iron plates to help prevent anything as strong as a ballista bolt from getting through. I think that this type of advancement really helped Romans to become even stronger as an army. With the armor, they would be protected from a lot of threats during a fight. This meant it would be easier for them to defeat their opponents without getting hurt. This would probably save a lot of lives and time.

Another one of Rome’s advances that caught my attention is the roads they built. They built the roads to help move their army quicklier across the country. Their roads were constructed to go straight for miles. They’re also built on steep hills which go up and down. Building their roads in a straight line made it easier because they wouldn’t have to navigate which direction to go. I think that this advancement helped Rome to easily and quickly transport their army across the country safely. This will ensure that their army will be safe when traveling on roads.

Lastly, I was amazed when I read about how Romans had also advanced in their food and cooking. The Romans were the first to introduce the three meal course. They cooked a variety of foods including meat, fish, and eggs. The also harvested fruits such as apples and pears to create their own recipes. One famous recipe they made was kidneys stuffed with herbs and fishy custard. I think this advancement helped to attract others and make them want to trade with the Romans. This would allow them to get certain things they wouldn’t be able to on their own. For example, other groups around the area might want to trade their cattle for Rome’s recipes. This could help their economy in a lot of different ways.

Kyle Tam

9/9/2018 08:26:43 pm

Kyle Tam
9/9/18

S.S Blog Assignment

One of the Roman technological advances is the manuballista. The manuballista had to be hand-cranked and can hurl a bolt with an iron tip in the air at about 50 meters per second. It also whistled in the air with a terrifying punch. I think that the ballista is a pretty scary thing to be going against or be next to. I’m already scared when somebody is holding a knife dangerously, and the ballista is like a big knife you can shoot extremely quick. Since it is so powerful it was probably very useful for the Romans in battle.

Another Roman technological advancement is armour which was also superior. The armour had chainmail, which might have been worn by the auxiliaries, however, no one is quite sure, and was also made of heavy armour of overlapping iron plates that would stop anything short of a ballista bolt. I think that the armour is very strong, but it seems to be very heavy. I say this because the armour itself is made up of layers of heavy armour. However, it is great protection for the Romans, and it seems pretty hard to get hit by a ballista because the ballistas were probably hard to aim at people. Also if it could stop anything short of a ballista than it shouldn’t be that bad for fighting.

A third Roman technological advancement was their clever signaling and coding system. On Hadrian’s Wall there’s an alphabetic system based on two groups of five flags, that allowed them to send messages letter by letter. The sender and receiver had to have the same code book and identical water clocks, marked with numbers. To send your message raise your flag to tell the receiver, then lower your flag. Raise your flag again starting the clock then when your clock reaches to VI then lower your flag again. The receiver should have started to clock when you raised your flag the second time and lowered it the second, revealing your message. This Roman advancement makes me very confused. How would it reveal your message by raising a flag and starting a clock? Also, what if you didn’t have any messages then what would you do then? So I just think it is very confusing and that it would take me a long time if I had to learn this method.

Mia M.

9/10/2018 05:42:20 pm

One of Rome’s invention was there road building. This helped their army move quickly across the country. They made their roads so straight you could see traffic 50 yards in front of you. However this can be quite dangerous because this may temp you in going very fast in a car. Back then you may only go 20 mph with a galloping horse. You will most likely end up meeting up with another person down the road. When you build a straight road, it’s not that hards. You just have to plant to canes on the ground and then keep doing this in a straight line. But what was very impressive was their sense of direction, not using any maps or compasses. I think that the Romans were great at building straight roads. This is very impressive to me because it must be a struggle to make sure that the canes are in a straight line. If they are a bit off, it could ruin the whole thing! Another thing that impresses me is is that they have such a great sense of direction. For one they knew how to get from one city to another, that was 65 miles away.
Another advancement was they brought the three course meal to the Celtics. The Celtics only had one big pot on a potage that was used to serve the whole household. The Romans food included cooked meats, fish, and egg. Also they gathered all types of fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, apricots, turnips, carrots, coriander, and asparagus. There remains can still be found at the remanding bathrooms that the soldiers used near Hadrian’s Wall. I feel like a lot of their foods are similar to the food, fruits, and vegetables are similar to the foods that we eat today, however they must have been must a lot healthier than our own foods. They probably had to work a lot harder to get their foods. Going out to hunt for meats, fishing for fish, and gathering eggs. Growing and picking their own fruits and vegetables, will we go to the supermarket and go and buy the foods with money.
The Romans enjoyed bathing. They used lead pipes to carry water under to a whirlpool bath. Because of this the world pliming comes from the Latin word plumbum, meaning lead. The Romans bathed a lot but more for the pleasure, than for keeping clean. To cleaned the dirt off, the went through a hot room, like a sauna, and then they oils onto the skin, then, using a strigil (curved metal scraper) to scrape of the mixture of oils, sweat, and dirt off of themselves. The most likely used a slave to scrape their back. After Roman ladies used the extra sweat from athletes and gladiators for a face pack. I find this way a lot more efficient than what we do today, but I also find it more disturbing! Especially that the women used the extra sweat for a face mask and that they used lead pipes. This also surprised me that they bath for pleasure, not to get clean.

Sergio Guzman

9/10/2018 06:00:22 pm

I think one great invention is the wonderful wheel. The reason why this is a good invention is because this helps brings up water faster. Instead of aqueducts miners used this to bring water up to the surface. It is crazy how it could bring 150 liters in one minute. This is about one bathtub! The way you use this is by running on it like a treadmill. According to John and Henry Russell their duplicate was bigger than Rome’s. This is why I think the wonderful wheel is a great invention.

A second great invention is signals and code. This was located on Hadrian’s wall.This was able to send messages with flags. Rome also had codes. This was for emergency or important purposes. This was Rome’s version of morse code. This was also signaled by flags.This was a great invention for Rome’s army.

Lastly, the military had advanced inventions.First off Rome had an advantage because the had advanced weapons such as swords. But they also had more of an advantage than than that. Rome was the first to create armour for their soldiers. They also created the manubillista a bow like weapon.This meaning Rome won almost every fight they had.This is probably the best invention by Rome.

Stanley Roybal

9/10/2018 07:54:52 pm

The Romans have had many amazing upgrades and creations. In my opinion one of the best was their military upgrades. With their upgrades. they easily took down the Celts. Their armor was far superior to the Celts. Their long distance weaponry was superior, which consisted of manuballistas, which could hurl bolts with iron tips, and onagers, which hurled great rocks at the Celts and damaged everything it hit. I think that this is important, because there are many things we have today that was based off of Roman military defenses, like missiles (they are pretty bad when in the wrong hands, but can be used to defend the country). Another Roman achievement that partiality shaped our society was their invention of codes and symbols. It helped them communicate. One example is that on Hadrian's wall, was an alphabetical system based on two groups of ten flags which allowed people to send messages letter, by letter. (like prehistoric texts) The Romans also had a coded system which could only send about a dozen specific messages depending on when they showed the flag. That seems a little complicated to send a message, but still shaped the way that we communicate today. One of the most important( and probably by far my favorite Roman invention) was different types of food and bathing. The Romans were very fond of relaxing and taking it easy, while getting clean. It seems that the Romans had a very complex way of getting clean. Instead of filling a tub, they went through a hot room, very similar to a sauna room or a Turkish bath and then rubbed oil on their skin, and then scraped off a mixture of oil, dirt, and sweat using a tool called a strigil(that was kind of curved.). And now for the food part of the Food and Bath section of this article. The Romans cooked meat, fish, and eggs, and also brought with them different variations of fruits, roots, and vegetables such as apples, carrots, and turnips. There are still remains of the lavatories that they cooked in by Hadrian's Wall. I say that Romans invented things that shaped maybe even more than half of our society, from military enhancements, to food and luxury.

Fiona Cai

9/10/2018 09:32:24 pm

Three of Rome's technological advances were roads, codes, and signals. Rome created the roads so that the army could move quickly across their borders, many people believed that the roads were in a long straight line that runs on for miles and miles. The Roman codes are very fascinating because when they would send a message, they could only send one of a dozen fixed messages but it also depends on how much time they have. They sender and receiver would both have the same code book so that they could use it to read the written codes and they would also have the same water clock that has been marked by the same numbers so they know which number the writer is talking about. Some of the Roman's signals could be found on Hadrian's wall, on there you could find an alphabetic system which is used based on two groups of five flags that only allowed the sender to send messages letter by letter. I think that their codes and signals are very useful because you could send codes in secret and only the person who gets the message will be able to read them and for the signals I think that it is very much like ours today, for example when you use sign language you can only spell out on letter at a time instead of like writing, spelling out the whole word. The roads they use can be dangerous and better to the environment than today's roads because they just made a path by digging out a pathway in the dirt so they could get where they want to, but today's roads we use concrete that the Roman's also invented, but I find that digging a pathway is less harmful to the environment.

Timothy Pengshung

9/11/2018 03:11:59 pm

Roman Technology
For the first technological advance, I will talk about the Romans’ coded system. Their coded system was made up of only a dozen signals, the text states. How this system worked was pretty clever. The sender and receiver had the same book with the same codes. For example, VII or 7 would be the code for “Danger: Enemy Advancing”. To send the code you would have a flag (or torch at night) and you would raise said flag until the receiver of the code noticed you raised your flag. They would raise their flag and you would lower your flag. You would raise your flag for the second time for however many seconds on a water clock and if you raised your flag for 7 seconds according to the water clock the receiver would know that the enemy is advancing. To be honest, I thought this system was confusing at first. I kept reading it and after the third time, I realized how it worked. I think that this system is clever because it is simple although the enemy would not know what the signal meant if they were near because they did not have the book with the codes.
For the second technological advance, I will be going to talk about the Roman odometer. When you rode along roads, the wheel on the cart you rode on would rotate every one Roman mile. For every rotation of the wheel, a stone would be dropped into a box somewhere on the cart. These stone were called calculus. At the end of the travel, you would count these stones and that would be about how many miles it took to get from point A to point B. I thought that this idea was cool, but I don’t really get the idea of odometers in the first place.
For the final technological advance, I will talk about the manuballista. The manuballista is a hand-cranked ballista that launches bolts with iron tips. These bolts would be launched at an astonishing 50 meters a second( according to Google, that’s 118.8 miles per hour!). If an enemy was to be hit by one of these bolts they would die instantly. I thought that the manuballista is a devastating weapon because it travels at about 120 miles per hour and would cause death to anybody. I also wonder how long it would take to crank up the manuballista as it travels at 118 miles per hour.

Kyle Cheung

9/11/2018 04:20:10 pm

The manuballista is catapult that could launch a bolt with an iron tip 50 meters per second. It is a roman invented weapon and to launch it you need to crank it up with your hands or it is hand cranked. It was used against the Britains in the spring of AD 43. The manuballista can packa big hit and also easily go through armor to cause instant death. I feel the the manuballista is similar to the bazoka because the bothe could cause instant death and shoots projectiles the only difference is the bazoka is not hand cranked. It depends if the weapon is good because I think it might take a long time to reload and hand crank that thing.

Roman amor is a heavy chainmail armor with overlapping plates that can repel bolts. People think that the armor was worn by the auxiliaries, but people are not sure. I think the armor is good for safety because i can repel a bolt. But for moving and fighting it must be hard because it is so heavy and it would be tiring.

Repeating ballista is a ballista the shoots super fast repeatedly. It is able to shoot eleven bolts a minute, which is almost four times the rate at which an ordinary ballista can be operated. If the romans used it would use a lot of ammunition and would scare the enemy because of all the bolts. I Would love to use this weapon because it sounds fun to shoot. The problem is it would cost a lot for ammunition and if you plan to reuse them the may break. I wonder if the romans took down a lot of people with that weapon.

Isaac Prasad

9/11/2018 04:58:41 pm

The Romans had different types of technology. For example they were the water wheel,the armor the soldiers used in battle, and the ballista. The ballista was used for the Roman soldiers while in battle. The ballista fired bolts that went on at a time automatically. The ballista shot 11 bolts in one minute. A ballista had sheer power and accuracy. The ballista was very powerful that it possibly could have scared their enemies. What I think about this technology is that it made the Roman soldiers very powerful. Why I think is because the Roman Empire we're very strong and they probably use this so they can expand their empire.
The second piece of Roman technology very strong chainmail armor. This chain mail could have been worn by auxiliaries. This armor had iron overlapped each other. Due to the fact of iron overlapping each other explains why the roman armor was heavy. This armor could have been strong enough since it was heavy. What I think of this Roman technology is very strong. I believe that this armor a lot of protection since it is made out of overlapping plates of iron.
Lastly the Romans made a piece of technology called the water wheel. The water wheel was for moving water. Instead of being 1 foot wide the Roman’s water wheel only about 8 inches wide. A slave would probably have to carry this job for multiple hours underground and at night. The Roman water is what I think is a great piece of technology. Since this water wheel can move water people can get their fresh water to their city. Why I think this is because it is a well way to get water.

carlysia martinez

9/11/2018 05:02:43 pm

Food and bath carlysia martinez

The romen introduced the three course meal. They also made fish,egg and brought them apples,pears and apricots. How did they make food ? and how did they introduced the three course meal? And how made the three course meal? The bath you can see the piping that carried the water. The pipe can carry the water under pressure. How did they make baths.They go into a hot room to rubbed the oil off of them. How did the hot room work? The oil the rubbed off are the sweat and the dirt.they also use something to take off all of the oil the tool they use a strigil so they can clean they backs. So they were the first to make the strigil. Why did the roman ladies collect sweaty gloop.

Codes and signals

The romans had a signalling systems. The alphabetic system was based on five flag. How was it based on five flags? The flag send messages by letter by letter. It was like the system in england at the 18 century. Why do they send it by letter by litter. How can they send it letter by litter. They also used the same book for sending message.

Ricky Ma link

9/11/2018 05:34:57 pm

One of Rome's technological advances is in military weapons. An invention that helped win battles is a manuballista. It's a hand-cranked weapon that hurls a bolt with an iron tip which pierces right through armor and instant death. Another military advancement is in armor, the armor had overlapping iron plates which can stop a ballista shot. I'm amazed by these advancements in the military. It's shocking on how we can progress. The overlapping iron plates might even stop a modern day bullet! Another technological advancement they made was in transportation. They built roads that only go straight which was weird. They built the road over hills, but the thing is sometimes people can't see other people 50 yards or more away. So if both people are riding horses at high speeds, it won't end well if they are riding at each other. One impressive road construction was the road from London to Chichester. The Romans even knew where to go with no maps or compasses.. I didn't even know Romans had roads back then. It was quite shocking to me because I've always thought people a long time ago didn't have roads until the 1800s. A 3rd technological advancement was in code and signaling. They used flags and code books to tell them which code to message. They used the Roman numerals to stand for things like VI is for send medical help. These codes were copied by England and France in the 18th century. This also shows how Romans had given us many ideas in pretty much everything. The sender and receiver also had the same code books and water clocks. The water clocks were used after they see their fort or base's flag go up. When the flags go up again, the receiver starts to clock, and the sender points to the position in the water clock. I find this code very clever, but not always useful. The enemy can use the code against the Romans. For example, the enemy invades a Roman fort that had the code flags and water clock stuff. The enemy can do VI to send medical help, and they get free medicine and kill the Romans that delivered the medicine probably.

Joshua perez

9/11/2018 05:56:11 pm

Codes and signals The Romans had clever signalling systems. On Hadrian's Wall there was alphabetic system that was used based on two groups of five flags, which allowed them to send messages letter by letter, and was similar to the system developed in England at the end of the eighteenth century.The Romans also had a coded system that they used only to send a dozen fixed messages,depending on the flag.The sender and receiver would have a code book that was identical and water clocks that were also identical, marked perhaps with numbers. They will raise their flag to send VI messages. (or flaming torch at night), Then they will wait until the receiver to raise his flag , then lower your flag, and raise it again, starting your clock as you raise the flag.Then when their flag points to VI, lower your flag again. The receiver should start the clock when the flag went up for the second time, and stopped it when the flag went down; the number VI will reveal the message.The idea of using codes like this was taken up by the French, also at the end of the eighteenth century.Military Might.The roman army invaded Britain in A.D 43,they brought technology with them that must have astonished the Celts.The roman weapons were far better.The manuballista was a hand cranked catapult that could hurl a bolt with an iron tip. The bolt went 50 meters per second making a terrifying punch.It mostly killed soldiers.The roman armour was superior.It was made out of chain mail, might have been worn out by assistants.Also romans will have heavy armour made of overlapping iron plates that would stop anything short of a ballista bolt. The Romans also brought with them prefabricated forts.Roman technology was not only for the roman army.Food and Baths.The Romans brought them a whole way of life that in due course the Britain's adopted enthusiasm.The romans are the one who introduced three course meals.They cooked meat and also they brought fruit with them.They brought recipes.They even brought one for the kidney.Remains of the flushing lavatories that roman soldiers used at Housesteads on Hadrian’s wall,ant at the baths there is a lead pipe that transport water from a whirlpool. The romans were good at bathing. They mostly did it for pleasure or recreation.To clean themselves they would go into a hot room (like a sauna).They would rubbed themselves with oil.Last but not least they would start scraping themselves with a curved metal scraper called a strigil.

Mallory Boncacas

9/11/2018 07:05:00 pm

2. Roman technology was not entirely concerned with military action.Instead of buying food from the store the romans had to get and cook their food.The romans had britons that adopted with enthusiasm.But,they still remain of flushing lavatories that Romans soldiers used at housesteads on hadrian’s wall.With a bathtub you can still see a lead pipe that seems to have carried water under pressure to a sort of whirlpool bath.The most business for bathing was pleasure and recreation.so,it can be clean not dirty.To clean off the dirt they had to go to a hot room full with other baths.for Ex,they used sauna and turkish bath.The items they use to clean was oil,sweat,skin,using a curved metal scraper called a strigil.People this year tried it out and it made a remarkable effect.Back then Romans girls or womens used to collect the sweaty gloop from athletes and gladiators and use it in a face pack.

3. The waterwheel was built by Henry and John Russell.They made the wheel at Dolaucothi.The waterwheel was about twelve feet high and one foot wide.In the outside it look like a treadmill but its not really a treadmill.The roman wheel was only about eight wide inches.To carry it,it will take hours.The Russell brothers also built other stuff like the wonderful wine pressma roman fire pump,and to put out a small fire.It took almost four hundred years so they can occupy.The Romans use to fail about making stuff.But the hardest thing the russels did was the waterwheel.

James Young link

9/11/2018 08:04:19 pm

Military Might

In 43 AD the Romans conquered Britain and they used technology that should have amazed the native Celts. The Celts could not compare to the weapons the Romans had which included spears, missile launchers, and amazing swords. One example of a weapon was the manuballista which was a catapult that was cranked by hand and would launch a bolt with a metal tip. Another weapon that would launch things is the ongar which would fling rocks. The Romans also made top quality chain mail armor that might have been for the assistants, but no one really knows. Another kind of armour they had was very heavy armour and was very protective because it had multiple layers of iron plates. They also had a strong weapon named the ballista that goes through the heavy armour they made. They also made a automatic ballista that fired 11 bolts while a regular one could only could fire one in that amount of time. With all this fire power the Romans needed defense so they used forts that were easy to assemble. I believe the technological advancement of the military was essential to Rome and helped them defeat any enemy in their path. I think that the military was essential for the Romans because without the incredible military the Romans would not have been able to take over like they did. Without this technological advancement overall the Romans wouldn’t have been the strong empire everyone knows today.

Codes and Signals

The technology advancement of signals was so unbelievable a system developed in the eighteenth century in England was practically the same. The Romans were very intelligent making systems were you would signal others. On the historic wall, Hadrian’s Wall had two collections of five flags that the alphabetical system was established on. This would let the Romans dispatch messages to one another by one letter at a time. The technological advancement of codes were so developed that the codes were used by the French and were used at the ending of the eighteenth century. A coded system where the Romans could have dispatched narrowly one out of twelve fixed letters whether they showed a flag for long or not was used by the Romans. The messenger and the person who receives the message have the same code tome and had indistinguishable clepsydras. To send dispatch VI put a flag or a flaming torch in the air and wait for the person that you are sending it to, to put their flag in the air to show that they know that your flag is there. After they acknowledge your flag lower it and then raise it, commencing your clepsydras. As your flag is in the direction of VI put your flag down and the person who is getting the message should have known to start their clock when you put it up the second time and stopped their flag when you brought it down. The number that shows up shall show you a note. I believe that this technological advancement is one of the most important advancements because without it no one would be able to communicate from far distances. Rome would be horrible without this because if someone was getting attacked their would be no way to communicate besides riding horses to deliver messages which would take days and would be too late if one of the Romans enemies were attacking.

Food and Baths

Cooking by the Celtic was most likely only one course that was supposed to be shared among everyone in the house. The Romans were not like this and they brought 3 course meals to the table. The Romans had fish, meat, eggs, fruits, and vegetables in their meals. With this great food they brought many recipes such as kidneys stuffed with herbs and the custard. I think that the food sounds amazing and looks even better in the pictures I have seen of Roman foods. The Romans must have been really great cookers because all the food I have seen online that are Roman recipes look delicious. The Romans even had lavatories that flushed back then that were used by many Roman soldiers. In Bath you are able to look at the lead pipes that held water in them, and the reason why plumbing is named plumbing is because the Latin term for lead is plumbum. They were also determined to bath a lot, but it was mostly for a good feeling more than to be clean. The thing the Romans used to keep clean was a steaming room and when in it you rubbed oil on yourself. After they put the oil on themselves they scraped it off with a tool called a strigil and it is surprisingly effective. The last part of this was that ladies collected this oil from gladiators and athletes, put it on their face, and took it off to cleanse their face. I feel that this time was just as advanced as us with our plumbing systems and our bathing systems. I feel this because most of their pulubing work and bathing work is just like ours. I also think that it is awesome how they take their showers but nasty because it is a new way and I always think new ways are awesome. I think it is nasty because the ladies grab the other people’s filth and put it on

Asael Acosta

9/11/2018 08:12:36 pm

Military
The Romans had conquered many people and had one many battles before it was split and fell. The actual key to their military success was the fact that the Romans were always ahead of their foes in terms of their weapons and armor. In terms of simple hand held weapons, the Romans had their soldiers equipped with superior swords, spears, armor, and other technologies such as catapults. However, it was really the quick fort building, armor, and catapult technology that they had that really put them ahead of their foes whom the used it on, such as the Celts who at one point attempted to take control of Rome. The catapults that the Romans used most modernly relative to their times were crossbow like in appearance and with their appearance also came their incredibly high accuracy and the damage that they did upon contact. The bolts that would be fired from these catapults would travel at 50 meters per second. To put into perspective how fast that is, it travels faster than some of the fastest fast balls played in baseball! The bolt would easily tear through any armor someone was wearing and cause instant death. Other catapults that they had fired giant rock projectiles that would crush the people they landed on instead of piercing through them. As for the armor technology that the Romans had, they would normally wear overlapping sheets of iron plating that would be capable of stopping anything from killing the wearer of the armor short of a ballistic bolt. Auxiliary soldiers were described to wear chainmail armor during battles. And lastly, the quickfort build technology that they had also proved incredibly useful during combat as the Roman soldiers could easily assemble giant pieces of material that would easily fit together to create quick cover for the soldiers. In my opinion, these technological advancements in military were very much ahead of their time as according to the source used to describe these advancements, enemies of the Roman empire were very much afraid of these weapons, meaning that they more than likely did not have access to these advancements or any access to anything similar. I also find the ideas, just the ideas, that the Romans used to advance themselves over their opponents very genius and I find it very unlikely that anyone could come up with ideas like these, let alone make them so useful.
Codes and Signals
Due to the large amount of power and war time that the Roman empire had, it would have been ideal for the Romans to create some form of a communication system that the Romans could use to their advantage for medium distance communication. Systems such as the flag communication system that the Romans had created applied particularly to Hadrian’s wall. They would use a flag communication system that would integrate the usage of water clocks and flags being lifted and lowered at specific times. This would allow for certain numerals to be labeled in the water clocks depending on how they timed thee flags being raised and lowered. To visualize just how this would work, imagine that a soldier was wounded on one side of Hadrian’s wall, but medics were only on another or weren’t present at the given time, they would first raise their flags (or torches, depending on the time of day it was) to alert others of an oncoming message and wait for someone else to raise their flag in acknowledgement that the first flag now has their attention. Afterwards, the first flag/torch would lower and when raised again, the receiver of the message would start a water clock that had numerals at varying depths of the upper part of the clock and once the sending end of the message would lower their flag/torch, the receiver of the message would stop their water clock and analyze what numeral it was. They would then look into their codebooks to find out the meaning of the numeral and notice “Hey, these people need medics quickly!”. They would then send the necessary people, supplies, or in this case medics, to the location of the messenger flag in order to give them what they need. This system of using flags as a form of communication was later adopted by the French during the late 18th century. I feel that this technological advance was very intricate as it wouldn’t have occurred to anyone in a warzone to use more orderly methods to communicate with fellow soldiers on the field, especially with places such as Hadrian’s Wall, where these code systems would be used the most. There’s also the sheer simplicity of the system, communications would only last a matter of minutes, more than likely seconds. This made the system incredibly effective, so effective in fact, that the French adopted it 2000 years after the empire fell. Keeping this in mind, this would be an important technological advance that would be critical to the Romans during the time of the empire. That’s why I love the simplicity and genius of the Roman flag and torch code sys

Natalie Gamboa link

9/11/2018 09:04:55 pm

The two like the most is the wonder wheel, and food and bathes. The reason why i like the wonder wheel is because it looks and sounds very cool. The wonder wheel was invented by Henry and John Russell, in a way to pump water out of a gold mine. The reconstructed wheel was about twelve feet high and one foot wide. The wonder wheel carries about 150 litres of water every minute. According to the experts this is about twice as much the Romans would have to lift. When the Romans built a wheel it was eight inches wide unsted of one foot wide. The slaves would have to use the wheel in the dark and underground. The wonder wheel is not the only thing that the Russell brothers built. Some of the other things that the Russells brothers built is a wine press, a Roman fire pump, which we managed to put out a small fire, and a Roman odometer which is used to measure the distance travelled along a road.The reason why I like food and bathes is because it's part of their lifestyle. The romans cooked meat, pears, apricots, turnips, carrots, coriander, asparagus. The also cooked fish and eggs and brought them with apples. The Romans are the ones who brought us the three course meal. The Romans do shower but they just have a different way of showering. One of the way that is shower is that they put oil on their body and they rub it all over their bodies and then scrape it off and then its a mixture of oil, sweat, and dirt. The thing they use to scrape off the oil is called a strigil.

Hao Wei wang

9/11/2018 09:51:55 pm

The weapons of Rome are very good. There is a kind of manuballista in Rome that is a hand-cranked catapult that can be thrown with iron tips. The bolt blows through the air at a speed of 50 meters per second, with a terrible impact; it passes through the armor, causing an instant death.
Roman armor is also superior， they have two chain mails, which may be worn by auxiliary equipment, although no one is certain, and heavy armor made of overlapping iron plates can block any short-circuited guns.
The Romans have a clever signal system. On Hadrian's Wall, a letter system was used based on two sets of five signs, which allowed them to send information verbatim, and at the end of the eighteenth century, the French accepted the idea of Roman code.
The progress of Rome is mainly because they have strong weapons and armor. Roman armor is heavy armor made of iron plates，the weapon is also very strong，This made Rome's technological progress

Haiqing Wu

9/11/2018 10:10:07 pm

Foods and Baths:
Roman technology was not entirely concerned with military action. The Romans brought with them a whole way of life that in due course the Britons adopted with enthusiasm. A mess of pottage to be shared by the household. The Romans cooked meat, fish, and eggs, and brought with them apples, pears, apricots, turnips, carrots, coriander,and asparagus.
There are still the remains of the flushing lavatories that the Roman soldiers used at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wal, the word plumbing comes from the Latin word plumbum.
I discovered that most of the business of bathing was for pleasure and recreation, To clean off the dirt they went through a hot room in the baths, like a sauna or a Turkish bath,thing was for pleasure and recreation, rather than for keeping clean.

Codes and Signals:
The Romans had clever signalling systems, on Hadrian's Wall an alphabetic system was used based on two groups of five flags. The system developed in England at the end of the eighteenth century.The Irishman Richard Lovell Edgeworth is supposed to have invented a telegraph system.

Roads and Surrevying:
The Romans built tremendous roads. Roman roads are straight, but I really had this rubbed in on the A68 north of Corbridge. The road goes in a dead straight line for miles over the rolling hills. Roman world did more than say 20 m.p.h. and they built their roads up and down steep hills - sometimes as much as 1 in 6.

Theint Win

9/11/2018 11:04:09 pm

The Roman technology was not entirely concerned with military action. Romans were concerned over other matters such as roads, foods, and baths. The Romans were keen on bathing, but I learned that most of the business of bathing was for pleasure and recreation, rather than for keeping clean. I know that most people just take a bath to stay clean but that's not my case. I usually take several showers a day to improve my mood and I must agree that it is pretty pleasing to take a bath.

. Our life can be confusing without any guidance. In the same manner we would be lost if there were no such things as roads. Even Romans built roads that were able to help move the army quickly across the country. Even though the some of the roads require to climb fierce hills or go through blind summits it's better to have roads than nothing. If roads never existed it be harder to get around and, that could have effected Rome dreadfully.

The Romans introduced and created many things. One of the things Romans introduced was the three course meal. The three course meal consist of appetizers, main dish, and dessert. Romans ate many of the same foods that we eat today such as meats, fruits, and seafood.

Dennis Morishita

9/11/2018 11:07:28 pm

Military Might: The Roman army was very crazy when it came to war. The Onager also sounds pretty crazy and amazing at the same time. They also seemed pretty serious too like how their armour is “superior”. I chose this topic because it seemed pretty cool. I enjoy how the Romans take the army pretty seriously. It's cool how they seemed so amazing and fearced.

Codes and Signals: The romans had signals that were very clever and cool. On Hadrian’s wall they had an alphabetical system used in 2 groups of 5 flags to send messages letter by letter. They also used flags to acknowledge a message to be sent. I chose this because why not it’s cool how they give signals

Food and Baths: The romans introduced the 3 course meal. They cooked meat, fish, and eggs and brought fruit and vegetables. You can still see lead pipe where they bathed and the romans bathed for pleasure and recreation. I thought this topic was cool just cause i love food and taking showers.

Nicole C.

9/12/2018 12:02:21 am

One of Rome’s technological advancement is their military and weapons. Based on the article, they were strong and efficient, like the manuballista for example. It was a “hand cranked catapults” that hurled an iron-tipped bolt that shot through the air 50 metres per second. This bolt was able to pierce through an armor causing instant death. During that time, the Roman armor was considered one of the better kinds. It was made using iron plates, overlapping one another that could stop almost anything. The onager was another weapon; it was used to toss large rocks, and crush wooden buildings. The “repeated ballista” was also another weapon the Romans used. It fired bolts 4 times the speed it takes for an ordinary ballista to shoot, and not only is it powerful and accurate, it also automatically shoots. The Romans also used prefabricated forts, which were made with “dovetail and cross-halving joints” for instant defense. All in all, Rome’s technology such as their swords, spears, and machines were much better than others’.

The Romans used a signalling system, which allowed them to send messages through a distance, or a time in emergencies. On Hadrian’s Wall for example, they used an alphabetical system which was based on two groups of five flags, used to send messages letter by letter. In fact, this method was similar to a system from around the end of the eighteenth century developed in England, by an Irishman named Richard Lovell Edgeworth that made a telegraph system to get the racing results from Newmarket before his bookmaker, but unfortunately he never developed it. The Romans used a code system, where “they could send only one of a dozen fixed messages, depending on the time for which they showed a flag.” So, both the sender and receiver would both own the same code book, having the key or code meanings, and water clocks marked with numbers. For example, to send message VI, meaning “send medical help” one had to raise their flag, or flaming torch if it were at night, and wait until the other person, or receiver raises their flag to acknowledge, and only then, could you lower your flag. Then, to send the message, raise the flag again starting your clock in the process; when your flag points to VI, you can lower your flag again. While on the other end, the receiver should have started their clock the moment the sender’s second flag went up, and stopped it the moment it was put down, revealing VI, or the message. This idea was later taken up by the French, once again at the end of the eighteenth century.

Despite the fact that most of the Roman advances were military related, they did bring in a whole new way of life. For example, the Cleric's meals were probably “one-pot affair, such as a mess of pottage to be shared by the household…” but then the Romans came in and introduced the three-course meal, meaning breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Romans cooked asparagus, coriander, carrots, turnips, apricots, pears, apples, eggs, fish, and meat, they brought recipes too! Speaking of a “new way of life”, the Romans enjoyed bathing, simply because it brought “pleasure and recreation” as said in the article. To actually clean themselves, they went through a sauna-like hot room in the baths, and rubbed oil onto their skin and then scraped of the mixture of oil, seat, and dirt; to do so, they used a metal scraper called a Strigil. In fact, Roman women used to collect the mixture or “sweaty gloop” from the athletes or gladiators to use in a face pack.

After reading about all these advances, I am surprised to find that our society’s methods are kind of similar, like in the baths for example. Nowadays, we have bathtubs specifically for cleaning ourselves, and pools, hot tubs, or saunas for example simply for pleasure like the Romans. In the process of cleaning themselves, they used a metal scraper. We might not use a scraper today, but we do use a sponge, or other tools of that sort like back scrubbers. As for the signalling system, ours might I say, is more advanced or improved. Now, we communicate through the news if it were potentially dangerous and the whole nation’s (or more) concern; we also use alarms within small areas like one’s home or a school like the fire alarm for example to signify that we are to evacuate.

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Roman technology

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