Rome's Contribution to Our Society

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Aqueducts: In the Roman Empire, aqueducts were used to carry water. They looked like bridges built on arches. Aqueducts were built in zigzag patterns to slow down the water and collect impurities.

When water reached the cities in the Roman Empire, it would collect in a cistern, a reservoir on very high grounds. A network of lead pipes would be connected to the cisterns. Public fountains, baths, and private villas would all be connected to this network and have water supplied to them.

Today, aqueducts are still in use around the world. Even some of the aqueducts built by the Romans are still in use. In the United States, Los Angeles uses an aqueduct system very similar to ancient Rome's.

Bridges: Upon the arrival of the Roman Empire new techniques in bridge building were introduced and revolutionized with the formation of arches. The roman architects at the time used the arching shapes which allowed the downward force from the top of the bridge arch to equal the force that was being pushed up from the ground in the bridge’s foundations. The bridges they built reached to 26 different modern countries like Turkey and Portugal. the oldest bridge is the Turkish Karamagara Bridge that was built in 5th or 6th century that also features pointed arches.

Roads: 'All roads lead to Rome' is a very true saying. In the Roman Empire there was around 50,000 miles of roads. These roads provided opportunity for travel, trade, and communication. In the Roman Empire, roads were mainly designed for military exploitation. An example of this being used in a more modern time is the Champs Elysees. This road was originally planned as a military stately, so that the French could see the enemy coming. The roads in the Rome were made from stone, concr...

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...riginally Roman religion was centered around many gods. They believed that the gods ruled their lives and spent a large amount of their time worshipping them. Eventually Rome’s main religion became Christianity, specifically catholic.

Knowledge: Many philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists helped shaped what we know as facts/theories today. These include Xenophanes (theory of extensive geological change), Anaximander (theory of evolution), and Leucippus/Democritus (atomic theory).

Calendar: The Julian Calendar was first introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. Similar to our calendar today, it had 365 days, 12 months, and an extra day added every four years. However, the Julian Calendar was not perfect; it had an extra 11 minutes. This is why many countries decided to switch over to the Gregorian Calendar, a refinement of the Julian Calendar, that we use today.

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