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Achievements of the Roman Empire
I. Roman Legal System
Roman
One of Rome’s primary contributions to
Western Civilization was its legal system.
Roman law focused mainly on defining the
rights of Roman citizens.
The legal
concepts developed by the Romans are
the foundation of many of the laws that we
currently use in the United States and
Europe.
Initially,
Rome did
not have a
written
code
of
laws. This
resulted in
inequitable
treatment
of various
classes of
Roman
citizens by
Patrician
judges.
The Plebeians, who felt that they were
being taken advantage of, called for the
laws of the country to be written down so
that everyone could see them.
group of laws
called The Law
of Nations,
which articulated
laws that were
true for all
people.
As a result of Plebeian
demands, Rome’s first codified
laws were carved onto bronze
plates and placed in common
areas where all Romans could
see them.
These laws were
called The Twelve Tables and
were written in approximately 451 B.C.
The Twelve Tables were used as the
foundation for all later Roman law.
One shortcoming of The Twelve Tables
was that they only dealt with Roman
citizens and not foreigners. Since Rome
was rapidly expanding, there was a need
for laws to help resolve disputes between
citizens and non-citizens. Over the next
400 years, Rome developed a
Roman law laid the foundation for many
of the laws we have today.
First, Roman law called for the right for
all citizens to be treated equally under the
law. The Twelve Tables forced judges to
treat all Roman citizens equally, rather
than using bias to give certain citizens
preferential treatment. However, not all
people were treated equally under Roman
law: slaves were not recognized as Roman
citizens and thus had a different and
harsher code of laws.
Second, Roman law developed the
concept of innocence until proven guilty.
In Roman law, accused citizens were
assumed to be innocent when brought
before the judge. This means that if they
were not actually proven to be guilty, that
they would not be punished. This was a
radical change in the legal system and one
which is at the heart of the American
interpretation of justice.
Third, laws that are unfair or
unreasonable can be changed. Roman
judges were allowed to write about the
laws that they used to decide cases.
Through their writings, laws could be
identified as unfair or extreme. When it
was decided that certain laws were not fair,
they could be removed from the legal
code, or changed to be more reasonable.
Similarly, the American legal system has
been amended (changed) over time so that
it continuously becomes fairer for the
American people.
II. Roman Architecture
Architecture is the art and science of
building structures. The Romans were the
absolute architecture masters of their time;
inventing new building techniques and
creating structures that passed the test of
time and are still being used today.
Roman Roads
One of the greatest
architectural
achievements of the
Romans was their network
of roads. They built roads
out of concrete (which
they invented), stone, and
sand. The construction of
these roads was so precise that many of
them were still being used during the
Middle Ages, and some are still in use
even today.
The Romans built about 50,000 miles
worth of roads – that’s enough distance to
go around the world twice! This huge
network of roads had some serious
benefits for the Romans. First of all, it
allowed their military troops to quickly
move from Rome to any of the borders of
the empire, making them an even bigger
threat to their enemies.
Secondly, it
facilitated the flow of goods across the
empire, allowing for a strong economy
because of trading.
The Roman roads are a cultural
reference point, coining the phrase “all
roads lead to Rome.” During the height of
the Roman
Empire, this was
literally true.
tricky problem: how to get water to all of
the people in the cities. At this time, indoor
plumbing didn’t exist. If someone wanted
to get water, he or she had to walk to a
body of water and carry the water to the
place where it needed to be used. Talk
about hard work!
Roman engineers solved this problem
by inventing the aqueduct. Aqueducts
used a combination of gravity, arches, and
pipes made out of rock or clay to move
water from one place to another. One
aqueduct moved water into Rome from
over 57 miles
away!
Aqueducts
moved water into
holding tanks that
Roman
Plebeians and
slaves could
gather water from
and take home.
Some of the
wealthiest Patrician citizens even had
aqueducts deposit water straight into their
own personal tanks at their homes.
The Colosseum
One of The New
Seven Wonders of the
World, the Colosseum
is one of Rome’s most
famous buildings. The
Colosseum was the
ultimate sports arena
where Roman citizens could watch
gruesomely bloody fights for free.
The name Colosseum comes from the
Latin word colossus, which means
The Aqueducts “gigantic”. It took almost a decade to build,
As the Roman could seat up to 50,000 people, and was
Empire expanded 157 feet high. The Colosseum was made
out of stone and concrete and had
and cities grew,
elevators that led up to trap doors in the
engineers in
Rome were faced arena floor to move in gladiators and
animals for dramatic fights.
with a new and
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III. Roman Art
Roman artists developed many unique
styles of art. Even though they were
influenced by the Greeks, Romans had
their own differences. A major reason for
the differences was Roman’s purpose of
their art. The Romans wanted to educate
people with their art, and because of this,
they tried to create very realistic art that
showed people’s flaws.
Mosaics
One unique
art form created
by the Romans is
called
the
mosaic.
A
mosaic
is
a
picture that is
created
by
grouping together
many
small
square-shaped tiles made out of stone,
glass, or clay to create an image.
The richest citizens of Rome had
mosaics in their houses. Mosaics were
often created
on the floors
of a home,
palace, or
place of
worship. They
would
frequently
depict scenes
from
mythology or
history.
special paintings are created. To make a
fresco, Roman artists would put a fresh
coat of lime plaster on a wall. While the
plaster was still wet, they would paint with
a water-based paint onto the wall. When
the plaster and paint dried, the painting
would actually be part of the wall, not just
something added on top of it.
The
most
famous
frescoes today come from
the Roman town of
Pompeii. Pompeii was the
site of a horrible volcanic
eruption that killed the
2,000 citizens of the town
and covered everything in
a thick layer of ash. This
ash preserved much of
Pompeii, including the
beautiful frescoes found in
the houses of its wealthier
citizens.
Bas-Relief
Bas-relief is a special
type of sculpting where the
images stick out of a flat
surface. Roman sculptors
used the medium of basrelief to give dimension and
movement to pictures of
battle scenes and crowds
of people. An image of two
soldiers locked in battle
became more realistic and
animated when carved into
bas-relief, making it an excellent medium
for story telling.
Rome
Frescos
Roman artists excelled at the creation
of a special type of mural painting called
fresco. In Latin, fresco means “fresh”.
This comes from the way that these
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taller buildings. Roman inventors also
changed the shape of arches, making
Every time that you look around, you them a little flatter on the top, so that they
can see something that was first seen in would be more efficient.
the Roman Empire. From concrete, to
indoor heating, Rome invented a lot of City Living Technology
Roman citizens liked to be comfortable
technology that we still see in the world
in
their
today.
homes.
War Technology
Roman
The Roman army inventors
was very good at developed
defeating its enemies. two very
Rome was able to important
conquer such a large technologie
territory because of the s that made
strength of its army.
city living
One invention that more
the Romans used was comfortable
the catapult. Catapults and cleaner: indoor heating and sewers.
used twisted ropes and
Indoor heating was only available in the
springs to toss heavy rocks and missiles at homes of rich Romans and in the public
enemy armies. These catapults could baths. Slaves kept large fires burning in
throw at over 100 miles per hour!
furnaces to heat rooms. This heat moved
through gaps in the walls and under the
Building Technology
Romans were easily the master floors to keep everything toasty and warm.
builders of their day. We can still see the Who knew heated floors were an ancient
roads and buildings that they constructed invention?
One of the biggest problems with living
today!
in
a
city is disease. Deadly diseases can
Romans used three new technologies
start spreading if a city does not have a
to really make their buildings last:
way to get rid of human waste. The
1. Concrete
Romans invented an important technology
2. Domes
for keeping their citizens healthy: sewers.
3. Arches
The Romans invented concrete, which Underground drains and pipes moved dirty
we still use today to build roads, sidewalks, water and waste out of the city. These
and buildings. This cement was weaker pipes were flushed by water from the
than what we use today, but strong enough Roman baths, so they were quite clean.
Sewers and drains were also installed
to last thousands of years.
The Romans also created domes, in the most famous stadium, the
which are a curved circular ceiling. Domes Colosseum. When audience members
are important because they allowed the watched bloody fights, they would
Romans to create large rooms without sometimes throw up. Sewers allowed for
the vomit to be flushed away so that the
support columns to hold up the roof.
Although arches had already been Colosseum remained clean.
invented, Romans were the first to use
them to support heavy weights and make
IV. Roman Technology
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