Roman Buildings

 

 

►Roman Buildings:             The Romans used concrete (an ancient Roman invention!) to build the dome of the pantheon a temple dedicated to all the Roman gods, which even today is still one of the largest single-span domes in the world. The collosseum was built of concrete, faced with stone, as were most amphitheatres. 

 

►Roman Roads:     The Romans built thousands of miles of wonderful roads, to connect every part of the empire back to Rome. 

Up until about a hundred years ago, people were still using these roads, as roads! In recent years, instead of building new roads, modern engineers simply covered many of the old Roman roads with a coat of asphalt.

 

►Roman Aqueducts:       As cities grew, the ancient Romans needed more fresh water. To solve this problem, they built aqueducts. These were massive construction projects.  An aqueduct, properly speaking, is the entire conduit - from fresh water spring to town.  (CONDUIT—A natural or artificial channel through which fluids can travel).

 

Where aqueducts had to cross valleys, some were built above ground, on arches.  Most of the time, they were underground conduits, and sometimes conduits lying right on the ground.  These conduits could be made of clay or wood, covered or encrusted with stone.  The pipes inside the conduits, that carried the water, were made of lead.