Roman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years, if the Byzantine Empire is included.
The Roman Empire had one of the most advanced set of technologies of its time, some of which was lost during the turbulent eras of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Gradually, some of the technological feats of the Romans were rediscovered and/or improved upon, while others went ahead of what the Romans had done during the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era. Several Roman technological feats in different areas like civil engineering, construction materials, transport technology, and some inventions such as the mechanical reaper, were surprising achievements until the 19th century, and some, such as the arch, have remained untouched to this day. The Romans achieved high levels of technology in some part because they borrowed from and absorbed the culture of the established (hellenised, phoenician and others) people of the Mediterranean basin.
Read more about Roman Technology: The Energy Constraint, Craft Basis, Engineering and Construction, Roman Military Technology, Technologies Invented or Developed By The Romans, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words roman and/or technology:
“Ce corps qui s’appelait et qui s’appelle encore le saint empire romain n’était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire. This agglomeration which called itself and still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“Primitive peoples tried to annul death by portraying the human body—we do it by finding substitutes for the human body. Technology instead of mysticism!”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)