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29/01/2022

Long before American politicians on both sides of the aisle were arguing over health care and other government-subsidized commodities, the Romans were happily doling out portions of free grain to the city's poorest citizens. The policy, called Cura Annonae, advanced as the empire grew, eventually offering these portions to citizens outside the city. By the 3rd century C.E., the empire was no longer just distributing grain, but bread, olive oil, wine, and even pork.

29/01/2022

You think your commute is bad? Traffic in Ancient Rome started at the a.m. rush hour…and carried all the way into the night. To take it from 1st-century scribe Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis—which means taking it with a massive grain of salt, as Iuvenalis was a well-known satirist—the traffic literally caused in multiple deaths, as a result of insomnia due to noise pollution. And you thought 295 was bad…

29/01/2022

When it comes to bread, the Romans were revolutionary beyond inventing the water-powered mill. They also popularized yeasted bread for the first time in history and even formed baker's guilds that catered to wealthy citizens. High demands for white bread led to the invention of the first mechanical dough mixer. (Though, at the time, "mechanical" meant: powered by donkeys and horses.)

29/01/2022

Someone would have invented it sooner or later, but in fact, it's the Romans we have to thanks for indoor plumbing. Though they didn't perfect it (toilets were usually in kitchens and lead pipes often caused lead poisoning), they were the first to install a network of pipes in the home. The pipes were used to move waste, but were also used to move water in the hotter months as a way to keep cool indoors. The Romans are also responsible for inventing the sewer system, though most indoor plumbing systems didn't actually lead to the sewer.

29/01/2022

You might think the shopping mall is a uniquely American innovation. (Just ask the 42 million annual visitors to the Mall of America, in Minneapolis.) But the world's very first shopping mall dates back to the first century C.E. Trajan's Market—named after Trajan, one of the so-called Five Good Emperors—featured more than 150 individual shops and offices.

23/01/2022

If you've ever been stuck in the nosebleed seats at Gillette Stadium, blame the Romans. According to a report in Sports Illustrated, stadiums and arenas today are largely influenced by the stadiums and arenas of Ancient Rome. (It should be noted, however, that the design of Roman stadiums was a bit derivative of the amphitheaters that populated the landscape of Ancient Greece.)

23/01/2022

When it comes to raising children, modern parents face some of the same problems as ancient parents, especially since the trope of rebellious youth was present even in the Roman Age. Parents of wild teenagers will be able to relate to Cicero, whose son, Marcus, regularly skipped his university lectures to go out drinking and partying. From Rome's chariot races to free-flowing wine, it's easy to see how the young Marcus could be easily distracted.

23/01/2022

By the first century C.E., the Romans had already harnessed water power. Aqueducts and enormous waterwheels were often used to power mills that ground grain into flour, which was used to feed the masses. Despite the troves of knowledge, technology, and information that were lost following the fall of Rome, hydropower survived. That technology has morphed into the hydropower we know today, which is currently responsible for 71 percent of all renewable energy and 16.4 percent of energy overall worldwide.

23/01/2022

Because the Roman republic practiced separation of power in its government, the Senate, whose name comes from the Roman "Senatus Populus Que Romanus" (SPQR), existed to oversee elections, legislation, criminal trials, and even foreign policy. But after the Roman republic defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars in 146 B.C.E., the Senators focused more and more on protecting their own self interests—and quickly developed into extremely polarized partisanship.

23/01/2022

At 25,846 people per square-kilometer, Manhattan has the highest population density of any American locale. Even so, it pales to that of ancient Rome. Many experts estimate that, at the city's peak, 1 million people lived within the Aurelian Walls—resulting in a population density of 72,150 per square-kilometer. Small wonder ancient Romans were the first people to live in apartments.

07/01/2022

07/01/2022

07/01/2022

07/01/2022