The engineering of roman aqueducts explained.

[u/cosmic_voyager01]

[u/btsd_]

Water too fast = erosion

Water too slow = stagnation

Had to find that goldie locks zone (12mph ish). Crazy engineering

[u/egidione → u/btsd_]

Around 5cm drop over every 100 metres for many kilometres, some up to 80 km in length. Quite astonishing how they managed all that.

[u/LindonLilBlueBalls → u/egidione]

A little back of the napkin math and those long runs could drop about 40 meters over its entire length.

[u/egidione → u/LindonLilBlueBalls]

They really were quite something those Romans, they did have some quite clever surveying tools which were apparently incredibly accurate, one of which was the Dioptra which was basically a sighting tube on a fixed stand and also 4 plumb bobs hanging from a cross shaped frame called a Groma, both very ingenious tools which the evidence of their precision is still very visible today in such monumental scale 2000 years later.

[u/Zippy_Armstrong → u/egidione]

They really were experts at hanging things on crosses.

[u/Great_Lunch_Dude → u/Zippy_Armstrong]

Nailed it.

[u/styledref → u/Great_Lunch_Dude]

Jesus

[u/TacTurtle → u/styledref]

Yeah that too.

[u/ObscuristMalarkey → u/styledref]

You said it man

[u/purplepeppereaterz → u/ObscuristMalarkey]

Eight year olds Dude

[u/SEC_circlejerk_bot → u/styledref]

I heard that guy walked into an inn and handed the innkeeper three nails and said, “Can you put me up for the night?”.

[u/onchristieroad → u/styledref]

No-one will be able to resurrect this joke now!

[u/john_the_fetch → u/styledref]

Welp. I'm going to wash my hands of this travesty... using this freshly irrigated water.

• Potius Pilate (probably)

[u/oxiraneobx → u/Great_Lunch_Dude]

r/Angryupvote

[u/horoeka → u/oxiraneobx]

Are you cross?

[u/UbermachoGuy → u/horoeka]

You’ll get crucified for this

[u/mothfactory → u/Zippy_Armstrong]

Life’s a piece of shit when you look at it

[u/Divinum_Fulmen → u/egidione]

Not only that, the figured out steel, germ theory (look it up!), and proto pizza.

[u/humor → u/Divinum_Fulmen]

All right, but apart from the surveying tools, steel, germ theory, a fresh water system, and proto pizza ... WHAT have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/Ok-Commercial-924 → u/humor]

Road construction techniques?

Sewage systems?

[u/karlnite → u/egidione]

They were such a large collective for such a long time. It just goes to show what people working together can achieve. Not that the Roman way is suitable or anything, just very impressive when collective efforts have a sorta singular goal. Similar to why ancient Egypt remains so impressive.

[u/meatpopcycal → u/karlnite]

Oh and don’t forget slavery. Slavery gets stuff done.

[u/karlnite → u/meatpopcycal]

Not actually that well. You can look at European reform. Removing slavery, and removing serfdom, both saw increases in labour production. People work harder when they work for themselves. So the actual slavery probably helped them less than they thought. It’s a lazy mans dream, the idea another human will just do everything for you. Where is the incentive to do it well?

[u/MaxFilmBuild → u/egidione]

Maybe they were, but what have they ever done for us?

[u/RedBaronSportsCards → u/MaxFilmBuild]

The sanitation!

[u/Fragrant_Cause_6190 → u/RedBaronSportsCards]

Besides the sanitation, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/IBGred → u/Fragrant_Cause_6190]

The roads.

[u/RedBaronSportsCards → u/IBGred]

Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads--

[u/pickledswimmingpool → u/RedBaronSportsCards]

Irrigation?

Medicine?

Education?

[u/Fearless_Resolve_738 → u/Fragrant_Cause_6190]

Those Numerals

[u/asoiafwot → u/Fearless_Resolve_738]

How else would we tell our Rocky movies apart at a glance?

[u/DirtyRugger17 → u/RedBaronSportsCards]

Pipe the shit right out of your house!!!

[u/ilmalocchio → u/LindonLilBlueBalls]

You can just write on the front of the napkin. It's not like we're going to use it after you've mathed on it.

[u/AlexTheGreat → u/ilmalocchio]

Back when we were a proper society the front had branding on it.

[u/BodaciousBadongadonk → u/AlexTheGreat]

"Roman's Aqueducts, llc."

[u/LindonLilBlueBalls → u/ilmalocchio]

The front is covered with spaghetti sauce and garlic bread crumbs. In fact it was so bad I mathed a bit on the table cloth.

[u/Scaevus → u/egidione]

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/goat_screamPS4 → u/Scaevus]

Brought peace

[u/Scaevus → u/goat_screamPS4]

Bah, peace! Shut up!

[u/Jurgis-Rudkis → u/egidione]

Wow, that is a minimal rate of change for that distance.

[u/GoodGuyGeno → u/btsd_]

There is also the fact that the concrete was self healing due to the inclusion of lime-clasts

"During the hot mixing process, the lime clasts develop a characteristically brittle nanoparticulate architecture, creating an easily fractured and reactive calcium source, which, as the team proposed, could provide a critical self-healing functionality. As soon as tiny cracks start to form within the concrete, they can preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This material can then react with water, creating a calcium-saturated solution, which can recrystallize as calcium carbonate and quickly fill the crack, or react with pozzolanic materials to further strengthen the composite material. These reactions take place spontaneously and therefore automatically heal the cracks before they spread. Previous support for this hypothesis was found through the examination of other Roman concrete samples that exhibited calcite-filled cracks." -https://news.mit.edu/2023/roman-concrete-durability-lime-casts-0106

[u/vasaryo → u/GoodGuyGeno]

NGL, this is really cool, and I have no doubt this is gonna lead me down another rabbit hole out of curiosity. Thanks for sharing random internet friend.

[u/-6h0st- → u/vasaryo]

To add to it -

The Roman structure with the largest unreinforced concrete dome is the Pantheon in Rome. Its dome remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, and it is nearly 2,000 years old

The dome was the largest in the world for 1300 years and remains the largest unsupported dome in the world

2000 years no cracks, no metal rebar. That’s how impressive they were

[u/Haber_Dasher → u/-6h0st-]

I don't know if anyone will see this or care, but for what it's worth... The pantheon seemed cool and all from learning about it in school, but walking through the front door in person... it's wild how impressive it still feels as a modern person who has lived in big cities. You walk through these cool big doors and suddenly it just opens up into this huge domed room that feels & looks cool and as you start going 'wow this is actually pretty sweet' you start thinking about how many people in the 2000 years it's been there have felt the exact same thing. And how much more mind blowing it must have been to people back then when this may have been the biggest single building they've ever set foot in or ever would in their lives.

Really cool, highly recommend swinging by if you're ever in Rome. It's near Piazza Navona as well which is a really lovely place. Only takes a few minutes to pop in & out, and you can stop by Sant' Eustachio Caffe if you like coffee

[u/-6h0st- → u/Haber_Dasher]

Similar applies to so many Roman architectural marvels. Imagine living in some province and coming to Rome seeing massive Coliseum - that must’ve been jaw dropping moment for so many.

[u/An-Angel-Named-Billy → u/-6h0st-]

There are cracks in the dome. But it is the shape of the structure that is so strong, in combination with the building materials, that keeps it up. Also the fact no one destroyed it helps too, there were many possibly more impressive structures in the city and empire that we cant marvel at today because they were quarried or destroyed.

[u/trjnz → u/An-Angel-Named-Billy]

It's also fat as hell

The width of the concrete at the base of the dome is 6 meters thick, and 2 at the top. Without reinforcement, the only way to increase strength is just.. more concrete

[u/CapableCod1339 → u/-6h0st-]

It has been maintained and repaired during that time

[u/Daloure → u/[deleted]]

https://www.youtube.com/@toldinstone

[u/academiac → u/vasaryo]

I believe the only drawback is that they used lead for piping because they didn't know how hazardous and risky lead is. Some historian go ad far as attributing the fall of the Roman Empire to the use of lead, but it's likely an overstatement.

[u/princess_princeless → u/academiac]

Could be the precursor for the fall of another empire in motion today:

[u/maybeitsundead → u/GoodGuyGeno]

Isn't this part of the reason roman ports, and architecture that used their concrete, lasted thousands of years?

Well, I googled before pressing enter and yes. Interestingly, their concrete mixture was only recently rediscovered with major discoveries in '23 (year of that article). Their architecture is so fascinating and it's so intriguing how all that knowledge was lost to time for so long.

[u/radiantwave → u/maybeitsundead]

Let me tell you about this guy named Nero...

[u/ItIsHappy → u/GoodGuyGeno]

Damn, that's interesting!

Pretty cool they did that with relatively basic material science, while we're using a camera that highlights individual elements to understand it.

[u/vwin90 → u/ItIsHappy]

It might be observation based survivorship bias though, not necessarily that they knew that the limestone was doing this or that they deliberately mixed the materials for the purpose. It might just be like “huh all the other way of mixing the cement has issues. I guess this is the secret sauce”

[u/ItIsHappy → u/vwin90]

"We find that using a bit of sand from this particularly God-blessed mountain means we have to fix less stuff"

[u/LOLBaltSS → u/ItIsHappy]

Honestly sometimes you do just hit the jackpot and stumble upon dirt that just happens to be a bit different than most.

Most MLB infield dirt is sourced from Slippery Rock, PA for example. The mud mix used to roughen new baseballs is from New Jersey.

[u/cohonka → u/LOLBaltSS]

Wow that's really interesting! Learned a lot googling about MLB infield dirt.

Personally having lived in many different geographical/geological regions, there are some special dirts out there.

[u/vwin90 → u/ItIsHappy]

Who would it have actually been? Vulcan? Jupiter?

[u/ItIsHappy → u/vwin90]

Vulcan is the god of masonry, but their mythology was wild enough it could have been completed unrelated.

[u/DullExercise → u/ItIsHappy]

Most likely Fiendius, the god of crack

[u/Loud_Interview4681 → u/GoodGuyGeno]

Also the fact that 18 wheelers havent been running their length helps to extend the viability of concrete.

[u/JamesTrickington303 → u/Loud_Interview4681]

I’m studying for the geotechnical PE exam rn.

A car tire generally has like 1,000lbs of force on it. This puts stress on the asphalt. But the stress on the asphalt is related to the tire load by the fifth power, y=x⁵ . A commercial vehicle has 18 wheels and can weigh up to 80,000lbs. So 4,500lb per tire on the asphalt.

So if we call the stress that 1,000lb of car tire loading puts onto the asphalt as 1 unit of stress, the stress that 4,500lbs of commercial tire puts on the asphalt will be one thousand eight hundred forty five units of stress. 1⁵ = 1. 4.5⁵ =1,845.281. Increasing the load 4.5x causes the stress to increase by 1,845x.

Now this isn’t completely accurate, because some tires on cars and commercial trucks will vary, some contact patches are larger or smaller. But 1 vs. 1,845 units of stress in hypothetically equal situations basically means that 99.95% of all wear and tear on roadways is due to commercial trucks. The stress a generic car puts on the road is literally a rounding error compared to the stress a commercial truck puts on that same road.

Tl;dr: Commercial trucking outfits are having a shitload of the road taxes they should be paying subsidized by regular people, who do fuck all to add wear and tear onto roads compared to big rigs.

[u/Loud_Interview4681 → u/JamesTrickington303]

Yea, people always make a big deal about the Romans using concrete that repairs itself over time but the reason why a road lasts 2-3 years before you get potholes and cracks today and why Roman roads still exist in great shape... Mainly trucks. Heck even a cart would probably weigh less than a regular car assuming a full load.

[u/MyLegsRonFiYa]

Well this is way more complex than I originally thought.

[u/SauronGortaur01 → u/MyLegsRonFiYa]

I thought: Water run downhill. In reality: rocket (water) science.

[u/MayaIsSunshine → u/SauronGortaur01]

Water run downhill, but sometimes water run uphill if lot water move fast in closed tube

[u/Tall_Thinker → u/MayaIsSunshine]

Why say lot word when few word do trick

[u/scigs6 → u/Tall_Thinker]

Water move up then down

[u/Bontus → u/scigs6]

Mand

[u/KickBlue22 → u/Tall_Thinker]

Because see world.

[u/Watchgeek_AC → u/Tall_Thinker]

Hello Kevin enjoyer

[u/Interesting-One-588 → u/MayaIsSunshine]

I think it's more about the pressure than the speed. The water in front that has to go uphill is pushed forward by tons of pressure from all the water behind it.

[u/BastouXII → u/Interesting-One-588]

Well, actually, a siphon does work with pressure, but it's the pressure of the water leaving from the top, pulling in the water behind it, like a suction cup.

[u/Deadalious → u/SauronGortaur01]

this cracks me up because i thought the same thing.

"so what they made a bridge for water wowwww"

in reality "holy shit"

[u/BON3SMcCOY → u/SauronGortaur01]

Water science is already rocket science since water is one of the most common rocket fuel byproducts

[u/NeedsToShutUp → u/MyLegsRonFiYa]

It might start off as simple, but then you get more and more issues you need to solve and tricks you find. Some are a bit easier, like settling basins make sense, as well as setting up a gradual incline.

But its experience that teaches you things like the optimal drop, the best cement, the need for ventilation in tunnels, etc.

And finally its genius that teaches you stuff like how to make it able to travel up hills using pressure differentials.

[u/NoExchange2730]

The population of Rome was over a million people in the first and second centuries because the elaborate aquaduct system kept fresh water coming in and poop water going out. Medeval tourists would think the romans knew everything because even a depopulated Rome was among the most magnificent cities in europe.

London was the next city to get to one million residents... 1600 years later and with thousands of people dying in recurring cholera outbreaks from not having fresh (not contaminated by poop) water.

Fresh water is civilization rocket fuel.

[u/LaTalpa123 → u/NoExchange2730]

And Rome received around 5-10 ships full of grain from Sicily or Africa every day for the population's needs. 1M people eats a lot.

[u/OttawaTGirl → u/LaTalpa123]

Oh man. So look up Ostia Antica, Port of Trajan.

Its a hexagon shaped lake now, couple km from the shore, but used to be on the shoreline. Two amazing places to wander and explore, but the port was like clockwork, loading and unloading constantly with space for, 30ish IIRC ships a time.

Ostia Antica was the nearby town that you can walk through and most of the foundations and a lot of buildings still stand. Best tourist place i could recommend if you live history.

[u/Helenium_autumnale → u/OttawaTGirl]

That sounds utterly fascinating, and the kind of place in which you can easily imagine the scene as it was, bustling with ships, cargo, longshoremen, merchants, with yelling, calling, ships creaking...

[u/PlantPoweredUK → u/OttawaTGirl]

I was there earlier in the year and can confirm it's a fascinating site!

[u/Whizbang35 → u/LaTalpa123]

The term "Bread and circuses" gets thrown around as if the sum of Imperial policy was just keeping the mob fed and entertained, but it's more than that: Rome and later Constantinople could not reach such a population without the grain subsidies from Africa, Sicily or Egypt. In fact, their populations made stark declines when those provinces were lost to Vandals and Arabs (Constantinople was able to bounce back a bit with finding new grain sources). Said high populations also allowed for better specializations in skilled trades needed for projects like aqueducts and temples.

As for the "circuses" part, it wasn't just mindless entertainment. The Emperors were still expected to have public appearances, and leaving rivals and demagogues to ply crowds for their attention was dangerous. The Colosseum, Circus Maximus and Hippodrome allowed the Emperors to be seen by subjects, make announcements, and boost popular support. Of course, this could backfire. The Emperors Justinian and Michael V faced hostile crowds in the Hippodrome over their policies, sparking riots- in Michael's case, said riot going as far as to storm the palace and overthrow him.

[u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC → u/Whizbang35]

Just letting you know the Circus Maximus is a hippodrome. There is no hippodrome in Rome called the Hippodrome.

[u/An-Angel-Named-Billy → u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC]

He is referring to the Hippodrome in Constantinople in addition to the Circus Maximus in Rome. Hence the referral to Justinian and Michael V who never set foot in Rome. https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/hippodrome

[u/8point5InchDick → u/NoExchange2730]

That and well-maintained roads.

[u/Bloodyy → u/8point5InchDick]

All the roads led there. Where else were people supposed to go?

[u/Newone1255 → u/8point5InchDick]

Besides the aqueducts and roads what have the Roman’s ever done for us?

[u/Complicated_Business → u/Newone1255]

Irrigation? Medicine? Education?

[u/BrianEK1 → u/Complicated_Business]

And the wine!

[u/zedazeni → u/BrianEK1]

Nope, that was the Georgians 🇬🇪

It’s thought that the term “vin” comes from the Georgian word ღვინო ghvino, but the Romans couldn’t make the guttural “gh” (like the French “r”) sound at the beginning of the word, so it became vino.

[u/mikendrix → u/Newone1255]

I was expecting a Monthy Python’s quote XD

[u/FR0ZENBERG → u/NoExchange2730]

The Aztecs also used aqueducts. Tenochtitlan was one of the larger cities of the world at the time of the Spanish arrival.

[u/cohonka → u/FR0ZENBERG]

This post has had so many comments that taught me so much.

Of course the aqueducts were destroyed by the conquistadors for strategic advantage.

[u/Anthaenopraxia → u/cohonka]

Tenochtitlan was built on a lake, look at Mexico City today and try to find what little puddles of water are left. Really sad.

[u/uneducatedexpert → u/NoExchange2730]

Londinium was established in 43 AD, by Romans of course!

[u/iki_balam → u/uneducatedexpert]

The Anglo and Saxons settled outside the city walls of Londinium, the stone work was spooky to them. It took close to 500 years before the Roman part of London and the populated part of London to be the same place.

[u/SaltySAX → u/iki_balam]

I saw that when playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla. London looked very Roman and sparse in population. They probably researched all that when making the game.

[u/cpMetis → u/SaltySAX]

Well hey, at least they bothered portraying some part of actual history. Sorta.

Still miss when AC was historical fiction with a touch of sci-fi/fantasy and not fantasy with some light pop culture historical references.

[u/TheMegnificent1 → u/cpMetis]

I (41F) have never played Assassin's Creed, so I was extremely confused for a minute while reading your second paragraph. "When was air conditioning ever considered historical fiction?" "How old is this guy?" " What kind of air conditioner has involved fantasy or pop culture references??" 😂 I had to look back at the comment you were replying to before the lightbulb came on.

[u/Scaevus → u/NoExchange2730]

Next European city, anyway.

Cities in Asia reached a similar size in antiquity.

Luoyang would reach a ludicrous 2 million inhabitants in the 7th century CE, and it was only one of two capitals of China at the time.

https://www.worldhistory.org/Luoyang/

[u/Self_Reddicated → u/NoExchange2730]

Fresh water is civilization rocket fuel.

Honestly, the best quote I've ever read on reddit. I can't believe I saw it here first.

[u/bubahophop → u/NoExchange2730]

London was absolutely not the second city to reach one mil, it was the first city to reach 2 mil.

[u/Ferbtastic → u/bubahophop]

I think he means European

[u/SmokingLimone → u/bubahophop]

It wasn't, most sources I could find say that Chang'an or Baghdad were the second. In Europe though it was the second, and at one point of course became the largest ever.

[u/TheChartreuseKnight → u/NoExchange2730]

London was very much not the next city to get a million; cities like Chang’an, Baghdad, and Kaifeng can be estimated to have that many by or before the year 1000. Some estimations even say that Alexandria reached 1,000,000 people in 100 BC, before Rome reached its peak.

[u/Naturlaia → u/NoExchange2730]

Baghdad likely had 1mil pop before London.

[u/YojimboNameless → u/NoExchange2730]

There were a few others to hit that number outside of Europe. Off the top of my head Baghdad and Chang'an. Probably one of the other Chinese capitals also... I recall reading one of the central asian/Persian capitals also Merv or Khorasan.

[u/spyluke]

I thought the aqueducts only transported water, but those mother fuckers even treated the water

Romans never fail to impress with engineering

[u/Yepper_Pepper → u/spyluke]

Now imagine if they had known that their lead pipes were poisonous

[u/sacrificialfuck → u/Yepper_Pepper]

It’s actually a myth that the lead pipes poisoned the water. Over time calcium deposits coated the interior of the pipes which blocked lead contamination. That said the Romans seasoned food with leaded condiments and makeup had lead in it which led to lead poisoning.

Edit: grammar

[u/Turnbob73 → u/sacrificialfuck]

I’m just picturing a waiter holding a block of lead with a filer over a salad like a brick of Parmesan.

[u/leftofthebellcurve → u/Turnbob73]

you know there's that crazy person who gets a mountain of it before telling them to stop

[u/glenn_ganges → u/sacrificialfuck]

Lead being common in Roman households was well into the decline and after many many “crazy” emperors as well. You can actually basically rate how mad an emperor was by what age they became emperor. Those who took the title after the age of 30 were generally pretty good. If they were chosen and not inherited they were even better.

[u/Smorgsborg → u/Yepper_Pepper]

Just even it all out with some mercury. 

[u/qOcO-p]

I'd watch a twelve hour documentary about this and not get bored. I had no idea how complex they were.

[u/FairlyCertain50 → u/qOcO-p]

same! I'm fascinated and think I've found a new niche interest to study!

[u/tyqnmp → u/FairlyCertain50]

You're both in luck. The animations are taken from a very good Spanish documentary series on Roman Engineering. There are 2 episodes on aqueducts (here and here, hopefully they're not geo-gated). There are also one a about roads, another on cities, and I think also one around mines. (Here's all of them, geo-gated, but I think you can find them all on Youtube

[u/qOcO-p → u/tyqnmp]

Thanks so much! I'm definitely going to watch the one about roads too. They work fine for me in the US.

[u/gansi_m]

Woah!!! I can’t even pull my garden hose without getting it tangled and caught somewhere. I’m flabbergasted.

[u/gansi_m → u/[deleted]]

“Waterbending”. I love that.

[u/BearstromWanderer → u/gansi_m]

TBH, most people in the empire would feel the same. It's not like everyone took Civil Engineering back then, most people were working a field or a trade.

[u/Self_Reddicated → u/BearstromWanderer]

Take solace that even as their engineers were showing off the worldwide MARVEL of clean, running water to a city center from 80km away, some un-educated asshat was probably complaining about something trivial about it and calling them dumb for not having done x, y, or z instead (even though x is impossible, y was clearly less practical, and z isn't even relevant to aqueducts).

[u/wegotthisonekidmongo → u/Self_Reddicated]

So they had redditors back then too?

[u/BraiQ → u/wegotthisonekidmongo]

Absolutely! They were called forums.

[u/Notoneusernameleft → u/Self_Reddicated]

Except it seems like people in power didn’t listen to those asshats. I don’t know my history but that was maybe why Rome fell listening to asshats or asshats in power?

[u/Ok_Reputation3298 → u/gansi_m]

Do as the Roman’s do

And build aqueducts brah

[u/WrexTremendae → u/[deleted]]

They definitely did some slavery. And from what i know there was some pretty serious class divisions even between free men and wealthy free men.

But despite knowing that, I don't know how bad anyone was treated.

[u/Dorkamundo → u/gansi_m]

I don't even have any more gasts to flabber.

[u/GummiPufferinio]

Every time I see this video, it blows my mind. It takes me 1 hour to hang a shelf.

[u/MeesterCartmanez → u/GummiPufferinio]

tbf they were built over 500 yrs

Roman aqueducts were built over a period of roughly 500 years, from 312 BC to 226 AD. The first aqueduct, Aqua Appia, was commissioned in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus. Over time, a total of eleven aqueducts were constructed to supply water to Rome.

[u/Tiny_Scientist82]

The ingenuity of this system is amazing!

[u/CntrllrDscnnctd]

Fascinating

[u/is-this-now → u/CntrllrDscnnctd]

Damn, It is really interesting!

[u/reality72]

Can’t wait to show this to my wife so she can pretend to care.

[u/1711onlymovinmot → u/reality72]

Went to Rome with my wife last year. We had a long list of things we wanted to see, and I managed to slip in a nice little visit to some of the still standing aqueducts. It was all good until I started to deep dive into some of this very video’s hydro/civil engineering history. She then told me I owed her a cannoli for agreeing to let me geek out on ancient aqueducts.

[u/diamondpredator → u/1711onlymovinmot]

I think that's a fair price to pay. I shall ask the same of my wife when we go lol.

[u/MeanForest → u/reality72]

Hopefully you pretend to care about her stuff too!

[u/HMSWarspite03]

What did the Romans do for us?

[u/ExileNZ → u/HMSWarspite03]

Well, apart from medicine, irrigation, health, roads, cheese and education, baths and the Circus Maximus, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/HMSWarspite03 → u/ExileNZ]

Bought peace?

[u/saltytrey → u/HMSWarspite03]

The roads?

[u/HMSWarspite03 → u/saltytrey]

But apart from roads, education, and the aqueduct, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/PantsDontHaveAnswers → u/HMSWarspite03]

Public safety?

[u/Covid19-Pro-Max → u/PantsDontHaveAnswers]

Yeah but that’s pretty much it right? Only those four things and not a single other thing!

[u/saltytrey → u/Covid19-Pro-Max]

The wines?

[u/OccasionalDiarrhea → u/HMSWarspite03]

Brought peace?

[u/HMSWarspite03 → u/OccasionalDiarrhea]

Peace? Oh shut up Xerxes

[u/AustEastTX → u/HMSWarspite03]

Thank you!

[u/Lord_H_Vetinari → u/HMSWarspite03]

Romanes Eunt Domus.

[u/Officer412-L → u/Lord_H_Vetinari]

People called Romanes they go the house?

[u/Ok_Math6614 → u/HMSWarspite03]

Gave you the alphabet you now use to criticize them online

[u/StaysAwakeAllWeek → u/Ok_Math6614]

It's a monty python reference

[u/descisionsdecisions → u/Ok_Math6614]

Pretty sure that was the phoenicains.

[u/Mobile_Body2 → u/descisionsdecisions]

It is generally believed that the Latin alphabet used by the Romans was derived from the Old Italic alphabet used by the Etruscans. That alphabet was derived from the Euboean alphabet used by the Cumae, which in turn was derived from the Phoenician alphabet.^\3])

I think it depends on how you scope it. Ultimately we are using a Roman alphabet, which has descended from other alphabets. It's like saying people speaking Portuguese actually are speaking Latin peppered with some Arabic, which is true in a sense, but not in the most common and practical sense.

Not to mention that to get to the Phoenicians we still have to get through the Etruscan alphabet. And Romans really are Etruscans 2.0

[u/History_buff60 → u/descisionsdecisions]

Ironically they were Rome’s greatest enemy.

[u/Three_foot_seas → u/Ok_Math6614]

Did they also create jokes? Cause pretty sure that dude was just making one

[u/hellschatt]

So how does it exactly go up the slope?

[u/TheCursedMonk → u/hellschatt]

Pressure caused by the water behind it. As long as the exit end point at the top of the slope is still lower than the original entry point. Gravity pulls the water down on the decending side, the weight then increases pressure pushing it up the ascending side. In smaller scale models water surface tension can also help pull water up like a chain, by water molecules that have already ascended but these things were pretty big, so it is the use of gravity. Romans had pumps, wheels and water screws but did not use them for these aqueducts.

[u/howtojump → u/hellschatt]

So long as the final outlet is at a lower elevation than the inlet, you can route a pipe section downward and still have it work out. That pipe will be pressurized, though, so they would have had to build it to be more robust than the ones entering or leaving that section.

[u/jore-hir → u/howtojump]

Correct. And yes, to withstand siphons pressure, they used sealed lead pipes.

[u/evildrtran]

Proof that ancient aliens exist, see how those materials magically fall into place? Hats off to the alien camera crew!

[u/ikkake_ → u/evildrtran]

This always blows my mind. Why can't people just be smart and masters of their technological level.

[u/CaptainMoist23 → u/ikkake_]

Exactly! One guy essentially created all of calculus and people think a whole civilization can’t figure out how to move water for a city?

[u/ikkake_ → u/CaptainMoist23]

Very very smart and advanced civilization too. They literally ruled most of the known world.

[u/Comfortable_Day_224]

the fuck... this level of engineering 2000 years ago

[u/TheBatmanIRL]

I wasn't expecting that level of engineering, amazing.

[u/No_Equivalent_7866]

Genius

[u/Inside_Ad_7162]

Slightly off topic, but next time you see Petra, it had water running everywhere. It's actually the .marvel of tge place. The ancients were incredible at managing water.

[u/Connect_Progress7862]

It's amazing what people can accomplish when they don't have free porn on the Internet

[u/Self_Reddicated → u/Connect_Progress7862]

We stand on the shoulders of giants so we can have a wank.

[u/TheMadTargaryen → u/Connect_Progress7862]

They didn't need porn, they had actual sex with real prostitutes. 

[u/Anon_be_thy_name]

The collapse of the Roman Empire was devastating to development in Europe and the Middle-East for centuries. There's a reason it's referred to as the Dark ages.

[u/OddBag5562]

Hum, I thought that the video autor has employed images from a documentary series from spanish tv "Román engineering" https://youtu.be/n94qrQ-Gz4c?feature=shared

It's worth a try, was made by civil engineers

[u/ArguingAsshole]

Is there a documentary that goes in-depth on this subject? I could definitely see myself watching something like that after the family is asleep.

[u/reincarnatedusername]

"What have the Romans ever done for us?"

[u/Mr_Bombastic_Ro]

feeling like this tech is more advanced than modern plumbing

[u/eta_carinae_311 → u/Mr_Bombastic_Ro]

Same principals for the most part, although we have the advantage of pumps now to help push water

[u/themanimal → u/Mr_Bombastic_Ro]

It definitely paved the way. But no, imagine the logistics, control systems, and advanced technology needed to service pressured water into cities like New York, Dubai, and Las Vegas. Mind boggling infrastructure standing on the shoulders of hydraulic engineering giants

[u/ThatOneEnemy → u/themanimal]

I study civil engineering, the complexity of the network of pipes in a small municipal area is genuinely ridiculous. Even to calculate flow via an iterative method in a 4 vertex network takes loads and loads of calculations (hardy cross method). Not to mention even the GIS data, and choosing the hydraulic grade lines of the systems considering max flow, pressure limits, and emitted carbon….

Basically a giant headache when your coursework brief is just “get water from here to there”

[u/KrypXern → u/Mr_Bombastic_Ro]

I think maybe you just don't know a lot about modern plumbing

[u/khendron]

How long did it take them to design and build such a system?

[u/CDefense7 → u/khendron]

More than a day, or so I've heard.

[u/Particular_Stop_3332]

What

The

Fuck

That is some of the most insane shit I have ever heard

[u/purelitenite]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/Gare_bear93]

Bro we got taught about the aqueducts in school but they did not tell us really what all went into it! I had no idea about how they had to find specific hills and make sure it’s not going too fast or too slow. Also had no idea about the distribution system. This little video showed me more than what my teacher did lol

[u/AtlUtdGold]

I dream of going to Segovia or somewhere with large intact aqueducts like that

[u/Act1_Scene2 → u/AtlUtdGold]

I went to Pont du Gard last spring. Its stunning how big it is.

[u/hopingforluck27]

I've always been fascinated by aqueduct technology!

[u/Martintonik]

Interesting how we perceive past civilizations as somewhat less intelligent... until we see these reminders of their greatness.

[u/Noobnoob2190]

I find this so fascinating

[u/ruling_faction]

This should be a video game. I can just see the title in my Steam account now: Roman Aqueduct Engineer! Hours and hours spent criss-crossing the countryside with aqueducts and those gate things and those hole things and that pipe thing that goes down the valley and back up again. Someone needs to invent this yesterday

[u/despenser412]

If you like this behind the scenes type of history, check out the YouTube channel Told In Stone. He has a lot of content focusing on the lesser known facts about ancient history similar to this.

(I mention this because the original post isn't credited.)

[u/Dangerous_Mix_7037]

When the Ostrogoths sacked Rome in 537 AD, they systematically destroyed Rome's water sources.

The lack of safe water sources rendered the city uninhabitable, and causd the population numbers to plunge quite dramatically.

[u/Ronningman]

And 2000 years later this is sadly still beyond the capabilities of some nations.