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Comparing the
Infrastructures of Ancient
Rome and Present-Day
America
By Sofia Diaco, Ryan Jamison, and Jurien Garrison
An infrastructure
is the basic setup
of a city.
What Is an
Infrastructure?
Government
Roman Republic:
 Included 2 consuls, a Senate, and a
tribal assembly.
 Consuls elected by the Senate, and
they serve as a check to power.
– Serve 1 term, command army,
supervise government.
 The Senate represents the wealthy
upper class.
– Senate included 300 members,
and they serve for life.
 The Tribal Assembly represents the
poor lower class.
United States:
 Includes 1 president, a Senate, and a
House of Representatives.
 President elected by the people.
– Serves 1 four-year term, and can
choose to serve another term if they
get re-elected.
 Includes 3 branches.
– Executive, Judicial, Legislative.
– Serve as a check to power.
 Members of the Senate serve 6-year terms.
 Members of the House of Representatives
serve 2-year terms.
As you can see, both Senate houses have similar setups.
Roads
Rome:
 Romans built roads to enable
transportation around the
empire.
 "The Greeks are famous for
their cities and in this they
aimed at beauty. The Romans
excelled in those things which
the Greeks took little interest
in such as the building of
roads, aqueducts and
sewers." -Strabo, a Greek
geographer.
United States:
 The US has roads going pretty
much everywhere, enabling
transportation all around the
country.
The United States, as you can clearly see,
has many more roads than Ancient Rome.
Maintaining the Roads
The problem with building roads is the cost
to upkeep them. In Ancient Rome, the
initial cost of the road was paid for by the
government, and then the cost to
maintain them was paid for by the local
government. In the US, the government
pays for the roads with money from taxes.
Aqueducts
Rome:
 The Romans built
aqueducts, usually
underground, so they
could channel water
into their city.
United States:
 The US has aqueducts
as well, and they are
used for the same
purposes.
On the left is
a picture of an
aqueduct in
Rome, and on
the right is a
picture of an
aqueduct in
the United
States
Sanitation Systems
Ancient Rome
 Pipes made on a potter’s
wheel were used to bring
fresh water into the city,
and waste out of it.
United States
 Groundwater or surface
water is used for
drinking, and sewers and
septic tanks are used for
storing waste.
Sewers back in Ancient
Rome were similar to
those of the United States.
Now, they are just more
advanced.
Arches
Ancient Rome

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Used bricks that were
fired in a kiln.
Marvelous buildings that
still stand today were
constructed.
Example: Coliseum
United States


Uses bricks and various
other types of materials.
Example: The Gateway
Arch in St. Louis.
Arches are a construction
design that are useful. The
weight of the structure can
be held without creating a
giant wall, and less
materials are needed to
build it.
Conclusion
Without Ancient Roman advances, the
United States would not be where it is
today. We would have no way to get
around the country, no way to get water,
no way to remove waste, and our
architecture would not be as beautiful as it
is today. The United States is following
Rome’s footsteps, and we need to make
sure it does not lead to the fall of our
country.
Works Cited
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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/507905/ancientRome/26620/Demographic-and-economic-developments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_aqueduct
http://rome.mrdonn.org/builders.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medicine_in_ancient_rome.htm
http://www.infrastructureinstitute.org/education/tutorial/t_roman1.html
http://www.csoonline.com/article/217014/4_Things_the_Roman_Aqueducts
_Can_Teach_Us_About_Securing_the_Power_Grid
http://smartin.bol.ucla.edu/rome/society.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Map_of_Roma
n_roads_in_Italy.png/256px-Map_of_Roman_roads_in_Italy.png
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-maps/usa-road-map.jpg
http://www.hdg.de/eurovisionen/html_eng/th5_1.html
http://www.wayfaring.info/images/The_Pont_du_Gard_Roman_Aque.gif.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A23968876
Images Cited
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http://www.traditioninaction.org/OrganicSociety/Images_1100/A_014_RomanSenate.jpg
http://runawaydinosaur.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/house-of-rep.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Map_of_Roman_road
s_in_Italy.png
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-maps/usa-road-map.jpg
http://www.kmkz.com/jonesj/gallery/Pont%20du%20Gard,%20Roman%20
Aqueduct.jpg
http://wigwags.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/monocacy_aqueduct.jpg
http://cache.wists.com/thumbnails/2/c0/2c0c6e62679b75a0542177955f548
565-orig
http://techyum.com/sewer.jpg
http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/image/glossary/arch.jpg
http://web.mit.edu/civenv/idr/images/Infrastructure_Collage.jpg
http://www.convention.co.nz/Site/Designs/Images/jade/ami-road-map.gif