THE ROMAN

CIVILIZATION
 AFTER THE ASASINATION

Following the assassination of Julius Caesar, Octavius,

his great-nephew and designated heir assumed power. After
avenging Caesar’s death, he ruled the Western Roman
Republic, while Mark Anthony ruled the Eastern parts. After
defeating Mark Anthony and Cleopatra the Queen of Egypt,
Octavius became the sole ruler of Rome, ending the republic
and starting an empire.
 THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS
(31 BCE – 14 CE)

He famously said the he “found Rome a city of clay but left it a city
of marble”. He reformed the city’s law, secured the empire, initiated vast
building projects and secured the empire a lasting name as one of the
greatest, if not the greatest, political and cultural powers in history.
The Pax Romana (Roman Peace), also known as the Pax Augusta,
which he initiated, was a time of peace and prosperity hitherto unknown
and would last over 200 years (Mark 2008)
 ROMAN
TECHNOLOGY AND
SCIENCE
 Given the large overlap between the Hellenistic and
Roman civilizations, it is sometimes hard to disentangle
which civilization took some technological steps. In a sense
it doe not matter, as Rome rose to power within a Hellenistic
context, and carried forward the Hellenistic culture a further
few centuries.
ROMAN TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Some of the greatest technological achievements of the

Roman period were in construction engineering. They created the
first form of concrete, a step that took place in southern Italy in the
2nd century BCE. This material (which used volcanic lava as its
base) was crucial to Roman architectural innovations such as the
arch and the dome. These allowed Roman engineers to span much
larger spaces than ever before.
 ROMAN PANTHEON
Huge stone bridges, the first of
their kind, were thrown across
rivers; multistoried aqueducts
marched across valleys; and
awe-inspiring buildings such as
the Pantheon in Rome, and
much later the Cathedral of S.
Sophia in Constantinople, used
domed roofs to enclose larger
areas than any other building
until the 16th century.
 ROMANS ARE SKILLED
ENGINEERS

They built road systems that ran for hundreds

of kilometers across all sorts of terrain that
connected their cities. Advanced surveying
techniques and tools which they adapted from
astronomical measure angles were used during the
construction of these roads.
 The Romans seem to have been the first to use mechanical
means for the ubiquitous task of grinding corn, which previously,
had always been done by hand. Dating from the second century
BCE, heavy millstones have been found which would have ground
grain with the aid of animal power (Take from Time Maps;
https://www.timemaps.com/civilizations/ancient-rome/).
-END-