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ENGR110 ROMAN ENGINEERING

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ENGR110 ROMAN ENGINEERING

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    1. ENGR110 ROMAN ENGINEERING www.mech.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENGR110

    2. LECTURE OUTLINE Brief history of the Roman Republic/Empire Roads Surveying Aqueducts and bridges Mining Buildings Military engineering Agriculture Mechanical power Review of key points

    3. Map of the Roman Empire 2nd century AD

    4. BRIEF HISTORY Roman history consists of two periods: The Republic, 509BC-27BC: “The Age of Conquest” The Western Empire, 27BC-476AD: “Pax Romanus” (1st 200) Rome was, first and always, a military power: Rome existed in a state of continuous warfare and conquest. Military conquest brought cash, labour, materials, and knowledge to Rome. This enabled them to consolidate their conquests, and also to embark on further expansion.

    5. INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT GREECE The Roman Empire existed on a foundation of Greek culture & knowledge (particularly in science and engineering) Rome profoundly respected the Classical and Alexandrian periods of Ancient Greece. Wealthy Romans were educated by Greeks in the Greek educational style. The key to Roman success lay in planning, organizing, administration, and stability -- rather than innovation. Engineering played a very important role in this. The Romans were far more liberal towards their conquered societies than the Greeks: granting Roman citizenship to some, and significantly increasing the standard of living of most with Roman engineering and administration.

    6. [Film clip]

    7. THE ROMAN ENGINEER Role in the military: weapons, transport (roads, bridges, etc), sanitation, defence (fortification) Role in civil life: ensuring stability (e.g. by preventing disease/famine, etc.), raising quality of life for citizens (roads, water supply, sanitation, etc) Most Roman engineers received their training in the army, and therefore (by default) tended to be well-educated, and well-placed in society The Roman Architectus (Engineer/Builder) was an extremely well-respected and highly-ranked member of civil society

    8. ROADS Romans built 300,000km of road in total, including 90,000km of paved viae (highways). The roads were for the legions and made possible high speed troop movement -- also trade, communication, postal service. Roads were raised above the surrounding ground and were typically 1-2 metres thick. The roads included a layer of concrete (pozzolana) one of the few true inventions of the Romans. The roads (famously) were straight: bridges, cuttings, and tunnels (up to 1km) were used

    9. Roman roads: construction method (Source: Man the Builder, p.163)

    10. Roman roads: paved surface (Source: Man the Builder, p.162)

    11. Roman roads: The Appian Way (Europe’s first highway) (Source: Man the Builder, p.151)

    12. SURVEYING

    13. AQUEDUCTS & BRIDGES Aqueducts were used to supply water to most Roman cities (Rome had eleven) Water was used for public fountains, industries, public baths, public latrines, etc. Only a few (very rich) private houses had piped water. The arch was used extensively in both aqueduct and bridge construction (as opposed to Greek column/beam methods) Bridges were part of the roading network Hydraulic concrete was used for bridge piers

    14. Aqueduct: Pont du Gard, France

    15. Aqueduct: Segovia, Spain

    16. Arches: the voussoir (keystone arch)

    17. The problem, a gorge in Turkey

    18. The solution

    19. Roman bridge in current use

    20. Roman bridge, Turkey

    21. Bridge over R. Tagus, Spain

    22. MINING Metals only obtainable through mining were an important part of Roman engineering. In Roman mines extensive shafts, timbered galleries, and huge caves were excavated all using human power Metals mined included: gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and iron. Ingenious systems were devised for de-watering mines

    23. Source: The Story of Engineering, p.54

    24. BUILDINGS Typical Roman domestic dwellings called insulae (apartment houses) were often brick and had their problems Public buildings had far more stringent construction methods and were often very sophisticated, e.g. baths The very large public buildings were a triumph of the voussoir arch taken to its ultimate limits

    25. Buildings: Insulae

    26. Buildings: baths (Source: Artful Methods, p.74)

    27. Buildings: Not a Roman building

    28. Buildings: Aerial view of the Colosseum

    29. The Colosseum Begun AD70 by Vespasian Opened AD80 by Titus Top storey added AD82 by Domitian

    30. Roman vault

    31. Buildings: the Colosseum from the ground

    32. Buildings: the Colosseum (cross-sectional view)

    33. The Pantheon – exploiting concrete

    34. Pantheon details

    35. MILITARY ENGINEERING:VERY IMPORTANT TO ROMANS Roman artillery: Onager (Source: Artful Methods, p.57)

    36. Roman artillery: Dartgun (Source: Artful Methods, p.57)

    37. Roman fortifications: temporary (top) and permanent (bottom) (Source: Artful Methods, p.59)

    38. [Film clip]

    39. Sanitation: Ruins of latrines used by the legions in Britain

    40. Roman military town plan

    41. MECHANICAL POWER The Romans relied almost exclusively on human power Eventually, this reliance meant that labour shortages severely affected growth, i.e. prevented further expansion of Empire Some animal power was used, and also (very occasionally) water power Alternatives sources of power suggested by De Rebus Bellicus, but never taken up...

    42. Mechanical power: Roman harness (Source: Artful Methods, p.79)

    43. Mechanical power: Human vs. Horse

    44. AGRICULTURE & DESERTIFICATION Engineering failure – energy crisis! But also: Agricultural collapse in Italy Desertification of Spain North Sahara: grain basket of Roman Empire Slash & burn agriculture of the Huns (and other groups) leads to migratory pressure and invasion of parts of the Empire.

    45. REVIEW OF KEY POINTS Rome was, first and always, a military power. Military conquest brought cash, labour, materials, and knowledge to Rome. This enabled them to consolidate their conquests, and also to embark on further expansion. The key to Roman success lay in planning, organizing, administration, and stability -- rather than innovation. Engineering (in terms of such things as: armaments, fortifications, roads/bridges, aqueducts, mining, and buildings) played a very important role. The architectus was a highly respected member of society. Roman reliance on human labour as the main source of mechanical power eventually limited growth (energy crisis)

    46. QUESTIONS: Is our civilization, like the Romans, dependant on continuous growth? If so, what could limit the growth of our civilization?

    47. Roman arch design

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