Roman Use Of Concrete Essay

Ancient Rome, like all great nations, had a rich cultural and economic heritage, which many of their outstanding achievements still signalize the last two thousands years, most famously the development of concrete and the arch, it came as an enormous boon for Roman people, particularly their housing and construction, together with made a palpable difference to the country’s infrastructure and helped the expansion of Roman empire. Although the discovery of both building materials was usually accredited to the Etruscans of Tuscany and the Greek, but actually Romans carried them to extremes, hence it is worth discussing all the innovative uses and revolutionary impacts in depth.

Next, let’s take a closer look at concrete first, an indispensable tool for engineers nowadays. In antiquity, Romans intelligently mixed lime mortar, water, rubble stone, with a local volcanic ash, then manufactured a new form of concrete called opus caementicium, it was in fact a relatively durable, inexpensive, light, strong substitute that enabled Roman to build solid foundations of the houses and harbor structures later on, it can be applied to pave roads and terraces as well. In addition, “one of the notable uses of concrete was to create aqueducts, pipes that brought fresh water from mountains into cities”(n.d.).

For instance, Romans built aqueducts by virtue of “using concrete, bricks, and the concept of the arch, Rome was able to provide many of its citizens with water”(n.d.). What’s more, arches would take on a powerful emblematic quality in Romans’ life, from the Arch of Constantine to the Triumphal Arches, these peculiarly shaped constructions were symbolic important, which these grand arches served as monuments that commemorated their military victory, as a result, they had a far-reaching effect on Roman army’s