Innovations of Ancient Rome

First invented by the Romans was the aqueduct. It's a man made stream to bring water to a city. It is slightly slanted downward in the direction of the waters designated destination to allow it to flow. The water source, therefore, must be at least slightly higher than the destination.

Another important invention of Ancient Rome; the water pump. Without it we would be using buckets in a well to get our water.

The way our road systems work today was actually invented by Ancient Rome. Without them, even the way we go places would be immeasurably different.

The written Vulgar Latin language was created in Ancient Rome, it was used by commoners and was more "slang". Comically, most of our knowledge of this form of Latin comes from graffiti.

The first known graffiti was found at the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii. Nope, it's not just trains in Atlanta, People have been defacing properties since before Jesus.

Also invented by Rome was the heated bath. Imagine having to bathe in luke-warm water. Or in the winter months showering in freezing water. Heck naw man. And thank you Rome.

Romans also invented the welfare system. Strange that a system invented thousands of miles and hundreds of years away is helping those in need today, isn't it?

Catholicism was created by the Romans. Every mass attended in history happened because Rome made Catholics. It's no wonder the Vatican is in Rome. Nor is it a secret or special reason we call them Roman Catholics.

The humble sock, by Rome. It was invented to protect and cushion the feet of soldiers. Marching with leather rubbing your feet is the perfect recipe for blisters, and sore feet will distract you from battle. Not good.... Thus, socks.

They invented rings denoting marriage. Anybody who has ever purchased a promise, engagement, or marriage ring, Romans did it first. Does this make Romans hipsters? Probably... That's ironic.

Yup... you guessed it. Romans invented these too. The Jack. A simple game you, your parents, and your grandparents may have played as a kid was actually invented by ancient Rome. Pretty sweet, huh?

Nails Were most likely invented by a roman. Nails have been recorded in history as early as building king Soloman's temple. Around 1590 the first nail mill was invented, it was a large building designed to give the nailsmith a larger place to work giving him the ability to mass produce them. They were even used to excute criminals.

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You can thank ancient Rome for the mile. The mile was invented as a unit of measurement to distinguish the distance from two vastly distant places. In Rome it was called the mille passuum, or literally "1000 paces".

Every time you bump up the thermostat, you're using a thousand year old concept. Central heating. You thought it was modern? Tell that to the many Romans whose homes had been heated by it many hundreds of years ago.

The paddle boat is a roman invention. It consists of a boat with a rotating cylinder on the back with wooden slats that act like paddles, propelling the boat as they were rotated in the water.

Rome invented a stronger and lighter concrete that could be cast into walls and arches. Most concrete was too heavy to be used this way, but Rome accomplished it by mixing volcanic ash and lime into theirs as an aggregate.

The modern calendar was created in Rome. It bares the name of one of their emperors; "Julius Caesar". Some of the months are even named after Roman gods; E.G. January is named after the two-face roman god Janus.

The construction crane, while not "invented" by Rome but Greece, was vastly approved upon by Romans. It was used to aid the building of their incredibly large structures which the now forms of concrete invented also by Rome made possible. It was called the Polyspastos.

Lastly comes the sewer. It was invented by Rome to transport waste out. It cut obliterated the rate diseases spread back then because a lot of the ways they were spread was now being removed from the city via underground tunnels. In latin, it was called cloaca maxima