Ancient Roman Concrete

The Romans invented and revolutionised many innovations and technologies. Although, of all of these innovations and technologies, only one has survived unchanged for over 2000 years. Hydraulic cement-based concrete is certainly the most significant ancient Roman innovation that has come to be. Ancient Roman concrete was significant as it was cheap, and allowed the ancient world to build greater infrastructure. This in turn vitally helped revolutionise trade and many regions’ economy. Concrete also allowed long-lasting and important health systems, as well as security systems to be put into place for ancient Rome, revolutionising both health and safety across the ancient world. On top of this, to prove the significance of concrete, it is still

being used in almost every country across of the modern world.

The ancient Romans most significant innovation was hydraulic cement-based concrete as this allowed those in the ancient world to build great infrastructure, which in turn revolutionised empires and trade, greatly helping the ancient world’s economy. In fact, the Roman writer Juvenal stated that, “Bread and circuses,” were the only things that kept Roman citizens happy. However, without the significant innovation of concrete, stable arenas, which is referred to as circuses, would not have been able to be. This is because concrete played a vital role in building all of the admired arenas and infrastructure such as the Colosseum and Circus Maximus. The reasoning behind why this was so significant is because these arenas helped to prevent the everyday-people of Rome, the Plebeians, from becoming restless and rebellious. This was due to the Plebeians having such tough lives when compared to the rich Patricians. Providing free entertainment through gladiatorial fights in arenas was thought to help keep the Plebeians working for Rome. Concrete played a vital role in this, as without this innovation, no arenas would have been stable, leading to the everyday people of Rome to riot for being under-privileged and over-worked, stopping the income-flow coming into Rome. On top of this, without concrete, breads would not have been able to be given to all the Roman citizens. This is because without concrete, whilst most grain could be sourced from the many villa’s across ancient Rome, there was not enough to get the needed supply of grain to accommodate for all of Rome’s one million citizens. Because of this, concrete was needed to build roads. Many roads such as the, “Silk road which connected Rome to the rest of Europe,” were built, as sea-travel to neighbouring regions was said to be too inconvenient and costly. Once these roads were constructed, the Romans were able to trade, buying the necessary amounts of grain and breads, and selling products to earn great income. However, none of these sturdy and convenient roads could have been built without the use of the ancient Roman innovation hydraulic cement-based concrete. Given that keeping the everyday citizens of Rome happy through building sturdy arenas and expanding trade were vital for Rome’s economy and in turn the empire, it is evident that the ancient Roman empire would not have been as dominant without their innovation of Hydraulic cement-based concrete.

Hydraulic cement-based concrete was the most significant ancient Roman innovation as it allowed long-lasting and important health systems to be put into place, revolutionising sanitation across the ancient Roman empire.

This is because, before the significant innovation of Hydraulic cement-based concrete, clean water and sewerage were contained in nothing but a, “channel lined with stone, closed on top with … flat slabs and then covered over with earth.” At first, this system was thought to work very well and help with the health of the Roman empire. However, soon these early aqueduct structures began to collapse. Due to these aqueducts not being checked daily and no one knowing about what had happened, the Romans kept using these aqueducts. However, because these early aqueducts had collapsed, many bacteria could invade the water supply and Rome’s enemies were able to deliberately poison the water. However, on top of all this, one of the worst impacts that broken aqueducts caused was severe lead-poisoning. This was because many of the early aqueduct pipes were made from lead, and without these pipes being supported, they simply fell. Due to Rome’s water supply already being quite high in lead, the fallen lead pipes proved to be too much, causing much of Rome to become severely sick. Lead-poisoning from fallen aqueducts in Rome caused over, “30 000 residents to die each year.” However, if these early aqueducts were to have been reinforced with concrete, like all of the later

aqueducts, it would have been ensured that the lead pipes would have been supported and not break, thus saving the lives of many Roman citizens. Also, on the opposite side of bringing clean water supply into ancient Rome, aqueducts also brought sewerage out. However, if the significant innovation of concrete were to not have occurred, the construction of the sewerage system, the Cloaca Maxima, would have simply caved in on itself. This is what occurred to many of the earlier sewerage systems that were made before the innovation of concrete. This caused sewage to be out in the open, leading to many bacteria flooding the air, and many diseases spreading quickly across the empire. In fact, it is believed that many great sicknesses in ancient Rome were caused from collapsed sewerage. Without the innovation of concrete, Rome would have been constantly flooded with sicknesses and diseases, negatively impacting on the expansion of the Roman empire. Hydraulic cement-based concrete proved to be one of the most significant Roman innovations, as it enabled revolutionary health systems to be built across the Roman empire.

Hydraulic cement-based concrete was the most remarkable ancient Roman innovation as it allowed long-lasting security systems to be put up across the ancient Roman empire. In fact, before the notable Roman innovation of concrete, security in Rome was not very strong, nor did walls help to prevent invasion. However, when concrete was invented by the ancient Romans, this all changed. Instead of house walls only being made from wood and plaster, they were able to be reinforced with concrete. This helped to prevent many robberies, as it is recorded that in Pompeii and some other parts of ancient Rome that thieves were able to use a drilling device and hefting of heavy rocks to break into a house through a wall. However, the innovation of concrete proved to be significant as it essentially stopped thieves from being able to break into houses through walls. This is due to ancient concrete being very durable, and much harder than any wood or plaster. On top of the use of concrete for the walls of houses themselves, the innovation of hydraulic cement-based concrete helped to keep ancient Rome’s enemies from invading the Roman empire. For example, before the notable innovation of concrete, walls such as Antonine Wall were simply made of wood and solid turf. Wood was seen to be a strong material at the time, however it was not nearly as strong as ancient concrete. This is why the tribal confederation, the Picts, were able to “repeatedly break through and breach many ancient walls such as Antonine Wall.” This was due to these walls only being made of wood and turf, which could not hold as strong as concrete, meaning that when the Picts used enough force, parts of the wall would simply break off. However, with hydraulic cement-based concrete, ancient Roman walls were made to repel against over four times the force that of regular ancient wood and turf. In fact, it can be seen that Roman walls made from concrete, were much harder to breach or penetrate, than walls made without concrete. For example, Hadrian’s wall which was made with stone and concrete was able to to stay in it’s original shape and not be breached. However, Antonine Wall which was made next to Hadrian’s wall was able to be easily breached and destroyed, due to it being made from nothing but wood and turf. The significant innovation of Hydraulic cement-based concrete greatly helped security in Rome, helping to keep many aspects of the Roman empire, free from invasion.

To prove the great importance of the Roman innovation, hydraulic cement-based concrete, it is still being used worldwide today.

If the ancient Roman innovation of concrete, were to not have been significant, it would not have continued to be used across the globe. In fact, ancient Roman hydraulic cement-based concrete was so notable that modern day scientists are trying to, “replicate the exact formula for which ancient Roman concrete was made.” This is due to ancient Roman concrete being so sturdy and strong that aspects of it have lasted over 2000 years without deterioration. Without the innovation of Roman concrete, many of the modern world’s infrastructure would not be stable, causing havoc across the globe. Also, advancements in construction, health, and even safety areas would not be possible, as almost every piece of infrastructure, from sewerage and water pipes, to building and security walls, would not be able to remain as safe to use. This is because the modern world relies so heavily on concrete, with around five billion tonnes of concrete being used around the world each year,becoming the single most widely used material in the construction industry. In fact, around 76% of all first-world infrastructure is reinforced with concrete. Without this substance, much of the modern-world's infrastructure would not be as tall or sturdy as what it currently is, as it would simply deteriorate or break. Hydraulic cement-based concrete is certainly the most significant Roman

innovation, as it has become near to a necessity for the modern-world.

Hydraulic cement-based concrete was certainly the most significant ancient Roman innovation. Without this form of concrete, the ancient Roman empire would not have been so superior when compared to other ancient civilisations. Ancient Roman concrete greatly helped to keep the people of Rome from rebelling, as well as allowing ancient Rome to trade, boosting their economy. Also, ancient Roman concrete allowed many health and security systems to be put into place across the ancient Roman empire. Furthermore, the Roman innovation of hydraulic cement-based concrete was so significant that it is now used in almost every country across the modern-world.