Roman construction technology

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Reconstruction of a Roman crane in Bonn

The roots of the technical and organizational issues in Roman construction technology in the Roman Empire go back to Hellenistic knowledge. The Roman officer Vitruvius describes in his work De architectura libri decem (22 BC) the techniques and mathematical foundations adopted by the Greeks. The principle of separation into the planning ( ratiocinatio ) and the executing part ( fabrica ) is also described. He emphasizes that the work can only be carried out by specially trained technicians, while the concept is accessible to "all scientifically trained". This division is probably the basis for the division into architect and builder that is still common today .

The first " building regulations " have been handed down from the year 150 AD . At that time, regulations were issued which, among other things, regulated the minimum thickness of walls and the permissible height of residential buildings.

Technical elements

In building construction , many technical and structural elements were taken over by the Greeks, such as the domed design of bridge arches and domes. In order to get bigger and more stable shapes, these were refined, e.g. B. by the invention of groin vaults or by using particularly light hollow bricks in the upper area of ​​domes.

Various types of mortar were used to connect the stone components, which were supported by the use of dowels. From the 2nd century BC With the opus caementicium, a kind of concrete was used as a load-bearing building material. From the year 79 BC. There is evidence of the first fired bricks, although this technique was adopted by the Greeks. As a screed , opus signinum was used, which was mostly mixed with small bricks.

There were also wooden structures, especially in the north ( Germania , Gaul ), which of course are no longer preserved today. Among other things, there is evidence of a large wooden Rhine bridge (presumably between Andernach and Koblenz ) during the time of the German invasion under Caesar (55 BC).

In residential Gaius Sergius Orata managed 80 v. A significant improvement in comfort by successfully implementing an idea adopted by the Cretans for the first time : underfloor heating ( hypocaust ) . For this, warm air was directed into cavities under the floor and later also into the walls. This technique was later used in Roman baths and in the great imperial thermal baths .

Flushing water in toilets was also known to the Romans; it was widespread in public complexes and in the villas of the wealthy patricians .

The water pipes , which often transported many kilometers of spring water into the populated areas, were partly built in the form of trenches, but partly also led over often very large aqueducts and elevated lines. Trenches were either lined with stone and concrete (with wooden formwork already being used) or they were lined with hewn stones to prevent the water from seeping away. In addition, the water-carrying canal was covered with large stone slabs to keep evaporation and dust to a minimum. Since the Romans had no pumps for their water pipes, a steady, as even as possible, gradient had to be maintained. Therefore, these aqueducts have many turns to follow the terrain; But they also need bridges again and again to be able to overcome valleys and ditches. The prerequisite for the successful construction of a water pipe was an exact height measurement of the terrain along the planned route. In order to overcome valleys in particular, it was also possible to build pressure lines that functioned on the principle of communicating vessels . A well-known example of this is the Aspendos aqueduct (Turkey).

Pedestrian crossing in Pompeii

In road construction in the 5th and 4th centuries were v. First gravel roads were built ( Via Appia , Via Latina ). Only from around 295 BC One began to pave the streets, whereby the technique was essentially taken over from the Etruscans . The Via Appia was also given the appearance it still has today and became a model for road construction for the next centuries. It was not until the 1st century AD that gravel roads were increasingly used again, which were more comfortable for travelers due to the smoother running of the cars. During this time, road bridges , dams , cuttings and even tunnels began to be built in order to achieve the most direct connections possible between the places.

It should also be mentioned that the Romans, especially in the big cities like Rome or Pompeii , built pedestrian crossings so that pedestrians could get better from one side of the street to the other. This was achieved by increasing the paving stones in step length.

The foundation of Roman roads consisted of several layers of clay, stone, gravel and sand. The finish was formed by the actual surface, which consisted of approx. 50 × 50 cm stone slabs made of basalt or lava. The road was often accompanied by a “sidewalk” made of clay, an earth wall for defense purposes and a moat for drainage. In addition, there were milestones at a distance of one Roman mile (approx. 1.48 km), on which the distance to the nearest town and the name of the builder were indicated.

By Sextus Julius Frontinus probably date the first mathematically sound documentaries over the course of water pipes. In his book De aquaeductu urbis Romae he describes the creation of site plans for the lines, from which the location of aqueducts, their spans and the crossed mountain slopes emerge. Maps were also made for the streets in order to maintain an overview and to simplify administration.

The Mensor (= "surveyor") used for measurement of , inter alia, surveying instruments Groma (for staking right angle ) and chorobates (for leveling ).

Outstanding technical structures

Network of the main roads in the Roman Empire
Pont du Gard

Quote

  • "It is not allowed to put the name of any person on a building, except that of the emperor or the person at whose expense the building was built."

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Roman Stone Arch Bridges  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Aqueducts  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Grewe: 'Der Römerkanal-Wanderweg', p. 17, ISBN 3-921805-16-3 , online