Roman Engineering in Modern Life: Hypocaust

Hypocaust was the way to heat rooms and villas and in the public baths. A furnace outside of the building spewed hot air under the floors of the room. To do this, the floor was raised using mini columns. On of the challenges of creating this heated room was making sure the floor was thick enough to be walked on. The air would pass through box- like channels in the walls and leave through vents in the roof. The closer to the furnace, the hotter. Baths were usually the ones closest to the furnace. Today, our floors are heated and we have the luxury of air conditioning and heaters. The air conditioning and heaters use the same concept as hypocaust, cool or warm air in, and a vent to send other air out.The picture above is of the little columns used to raise the floor.

Picture Source:

Digital Image. Wikipedia Commons. Wikipedia Commons, 15 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. http://coomons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%20Flavia_Solva_hypocaust.jpg

Information source:

Corbishley, Mike. "Hypocaust." The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2004. 75-75. Print.

Beverley

Roman Engineering in Modern Life: A Day at the Baths

The baths were considered a necessary part of Roman life. Each city or town had at least one public bath house. Pompeii had three and by the 4th century, Rome had close to 1,000 baths! It was almost like a health club where people could relax and enjoy a massage or perhaps to lift weights. Other people came to actually clean themselves using the three stages. In the first stage, you left your clothes in a locker or on a shelf, just like today. Then you entered the frigidarium, an unheated room and most likely took a dip in the cold pool. In the second stage, the Romans were slowly getting used to the heat by entering the tepidarium, this room was warmly heated. Last, they would enter the caldarium, a steam room, where there was a hot pool to bathe in and open your pores. To clean yourself, you or your slave or the baths slave attendant would rub olive oil over your body then scrape of the dirt with a curved tool called a strigilis. After this process, you could go backwards through the stages to close your pores in the first room or socialize with friends as well as get a snack or play a dice game. Some wealthy Romans could afford to install their own bath, especially at their expensive villas in the country.To get into the bath house, adults paid a cheap price, while children were free. Nowadays, children aren't really present in health clubs and we don't take public baths. The picture above is of the Great Roman Bath.

Works Cited:

Information was found in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome.

Corbishley, Mike. "Baths." The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2004. 22-23. Print.

Roman Baths Picture:

Digital Image. Bath 360. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. http://www.bath360.co.uk/history-of-bath.html

Beverley

Roman Citizenship in Modern Life: Women

Women in Rome, just like women in America were expected to be faithful wives and loving mothers. However, unlike today, the Roman women had little schooling, sometimes none at all. Wealthy women who were single or who were widows controlled their own property and had much freedom. Wives of Roman leaders were frequently influencing the scene from the shadows. Many other women were slaves that had occupations such as a farm worker. It was actually pretty recent when American women earned the right to vote, and up until then, many women in America were expected to cook, clean, and sew, just like many other Roman women. Above is a Roman woman in the traditional tunic or cloak.

Works Cited:

Eyewitness Book: Ancient Rome

James, Simon. Ancient Rome. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Print.

Roman lady found on Wikipedia:

Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 15 Oct. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .

Beverley

Roman Engineering in Modern Life: Plumbing

Romans were definitely not the first to use a type of water delivery system, but they did however influence one of the things we take for granted, plumbing. The Romans had a very advanced water supply system, in fact, the most advanced until the 19th century. The aqueducts supplied water to many water ducts such as public fountains. Public fountains were available for citizens to fetch water in buckets for homely purposes. Lead pipes were used to transport water to private houses using gravity. Lead pipes were later believed to be a contributing cause to the decline of the Roman empire. Today, we have adapted to the idea of plumbing and transporting water long distance like the Romans did. The picture above shows Roman lead pipes leading to the Roman baths.

Works Cited:

The Eyewitness Book: Ancient Rome supplied me with this information.

James, Simon. Ancient Rome. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Print.

The picture was found on Wikipedia Commons.

Digital image. Wikipedia Commons. Wikipedia Commons, 5 Apr. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .

Beverley

Roman Language and Writing in Modern Life: Roman Numerals

An example of the Roman numeral system is a watch. Many watches have Roman numbers instead of our numeric system. The Roman numerals on a watch are: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII. The numeral IV, can also be written as IIII. In English, the numerals mean, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The picture above portrays Roman numerals on a pocket watch.

Works Cited:

Picture: Digital image. Online Batteries. WatchBattery, 1999. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. .

Source: Eyewitness Books: Ancient Rome

James, Simon. Ancient Rome. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1990. Print.

Roman Citizenship in Modern Life: Social Classes

Like many other cultures, Rome divided into three classes: Roman citizens, non-citizen provincials, and slaves. The citizens divided themselves even more into the Senate, which was controlled by the emperor, consuls, government officials, and equestrians, rich men who served in the army and the administration. In modern life, Americans are also divided into classes such as the middle and upper classes. However, now, we do not have slaves, although we do have a lower class also called the working class. And just like today, people could change their rankings in Roman society, for example, many Roman citizens had slave ancestors. Roman slaves were sometimes oppressed but many others were treated well and even had the power to the civil service for a while. Nowadays, we can switch jobs or get elected to change our position in society.The picture above depicts a scene from the Roman slave markets.

Works Cited:

Eyewitness Books: Ancient Rome:
James, Simon. Ancient Rome. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Print.

Slave Market picture:

Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. .

~Beverley

Roman Language and Writing: Latin

The five most unique words derived from Latin that I identified in the text were:

1. Aqueduct

2. Arena

3. Arch

4. Sculpture

5. Architect

Word origin source: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Text book: World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. McDougall Littell, 2006. Print.

Beverley

Roman Art in Modern Life: Sculptures

Sculptures are a very prominent and significant form of art used in ancient Roman times and today. Although the Greeks were the first to create statues based on realistic forms, the Romans adopted that style and used it often. The Statue of Liberty, is a very popular sculpture from modern times. The statue has the face of Lady Liberty and her robes are made realistically like the actually folds of a dress. The Romans were also very precise in their sculptures, such as their intricate facial expressions and the lines of the body. The picture above portrays the Statue of Liberty in New York.

I used World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times.

World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. Mc Dougall Littell, 2006. Print

Picture source:

Digital image. Destination 360. Destination 360, 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2009. .

Beverley

Roman Architecture in Modern Life: Domes

My second example for Roman engineering in modern life is a dome. A dome is, when used in buildings, a large, half-sphere shaped roof. Domes are used are just one of the architectural styles that the Romans used. Nowadays, many buildings have domes, such as the US Capitol. In Rome, the Pantheon has a 142 feet in diameter dome that is still the largest masonary dome in the world. The picture to the above left is the dome on the Pantheon in Rome.

Works Cited:



World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times supplied the information posted above.


World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. McDougal Littell, 2006. Print

I also used About. com: Europe Travel.


"The Pantheon in Rome- Know Before You Go." About.com: Europe Travel. The New York Times Company, 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. http://goeurope.about.com/od/rome/a/pantheon.htm.

Pantheon Picture:

Digital image. Wikipedia Commons. Wikipedia Commons, 20 Sept. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2009. .

~Beverley

Roman Architecture and Engineering in Modern Life: Aqueducts

My example for Roman architecture is the aqueduct. Aqueducts are bridge-like structures designed to bring fresh water to cities and towns. Romans incorporated arches into the aqueduct as seen in the picture above. In modern times, highway bridges are often built on arches. Also, aqueducts was the early form of irrigation, although it was used for transporting fresh water for farming reasons only.

I used World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times as a source.


Works Cited:


World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. McDougal Littell, 2006. Print.
Picture source:

Digital image. History Link 102. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. .


~Beverley

Roman Law in Modern Life: Stoicism

Romans promoted the idea of Stoicism, the importance of virtue, duty, and endurance in life. These were values that the Romans thought highly of. The belief of Stoicism helped create a strong sense of citizenship in Rome. The country provides protection and security for its citizens and in return, the citizens are expected to be active and participate in society to strengthen their country. Today, the Stoic idea of public duty still stands in America. Some examples are voting and recycling. The picture to the left portrays Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the most important Stoic philosophers in Roman times. Cicero was a scholar and politician.
I used my social science textbook for this information, World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times.




Works Cited:


World History: Medieval and Early Modern

Times.McDougal Littell, 2006. Print.
Picture Citation:
Digital Image. The Romans. Taylor and Francis. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. .

~Beverley

Roman Art in Modern Life: Mosaics

The name of my source is World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. The publication information is: World History: Medieval and Early Modern Times. McDougal Littell, 2006. Print.

Parrot Mosaic:

Digital image. ILM Projects. Ilmkids.com.

Web. 11 Oct. 2009.

http://www.revelationmosaic.com/non_flash_images.html

The mosaic to the right depicts how Roman art has evolved over time, from earthy tiles to our own colorful tiles. The mosaic to the the left is a Jewish Roman mosaic from Tunisia depicting the personification of Roma. However, the ideas are still the same. Making art out of many small, colored pieces of tiles or pieces of glass. The Romans originally used mosaics for floor art and are still found in churches and government buildings around the world.

Roman Mosaic:
Digital image. About.com:Archaeology. New York Times, 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2009.

<http://archaelology.about.com/od/romanempire/ss/paradise.htm>.

~Beverley