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Hailey Hamrick

Professor Scott

Ancient Arts and Cultures

11, April 2019

Roman Inventions

Have you ever looked down and thought, I wonder who invented this object? The answer

to your question is most likely the Romans. The Roman Empire has had one of the largest

impacts on our world today. From Roman inventions, arts, literature, and architecture skills, they

have had a great success with inventing things that are still around to this day. There are some

inventors who have to try thousands of times to get it right, and when they do get it right

sometimes the invention does not stick around for a long time. The Roman Empire has impacted

our everyday life by their marvelous creations of architecture, arts, and literature.

First of all, our architectures do not get enough credit. They impact our lives more than

you think because we are living in houses and apartments, working in tall buildings, schools, and

various building styles. Although, the Roman architectures should get even more credit. Roman

roads were very popular. Andrews states that “Roman Roads were the key to Rome’s military

might”. They helped the military be successful. Another important and reliable invention of the

Romans was concrete. Concrete was the first step into hundreds more inventions for the Romans.

After concrete, they began to experiment more. They created the barrel vault and dome, which

are curved unique ways in which the Romans began to build their buildings, using this technique.

Arches were another dominant way of how they built their works. Arches are very common in

today’s world. Greeks did not build arches commonly. The Etruscans, lived North of Rome, used
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arches in great quantity. Eventually, the Romans began to mimic the Etruscans designs. Culture

and Values volume I states “The Romans use arches regularly for civic projects such as bridges

and aqueducts.” Aqueducts helped the Romans carry hundreds of gallons of water a day. They

were an incredible invention and they very especially a huge advantage to their everyday world.

Culture and Values Volume I explains the importance of aqueducts by saying “The system of

aqueducts throughout the empire, one of the most impressive feats of Roman engineering, had

immense public-relations value”. There are still some aqueducts that are used today, although

they are not as common as they were. The aqueducts creation kicked off their engineering career.

Another form of the Romans design was arts. According to Culture and Values Volume I,

“Greece became a province of Rome in 146 BCE, and all things Greek became fashionable and

highly sought after.” In this time era, statues became a popular development. In these sculptures,

a lot more detail came into play. The Romans showed more strengths in their arts by the small

details on the projects were examples of personality and how the artist viewed the object. The

Romans arts found a considerable amount of success with music as well. Roman arts were also a

success with music as well. The beginning of music was used for formal events. Traveler

musicians came alive in the Imperial period, performing background music for entertainers.

Instruments were a need in order to perform for entertainers. The Romans had a big impact on

instruments, changing and improving them as years went on. The Romans changed instruments

such as the trumpet. Many people loved the music that the Romans produced and took part in.

The famous emperor Nero was a fan of the Romans playing music.

As a result of being inclined with their minds, the Romans were also wonderful with

literature. Although, the Romans were not the only ones contributing to the literature world
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during this time era. Wasson reports, “However, Roman literature cannot stand alone. They owe

a debt to their neighbor, the Greeks (more specifically Athens)”. The Romans used the Greeks

ideas with making heroic poems. Mostly the upper-class went to further education in Athens.

To conclude, Romans have shaped our lives still to do this day. Their minds and work

ethic are fascinating. They have created many other things that were not mentioned. The Roman

Empire may have fell in 476 but their legacy still lives on forever. The Roman Empire’s

inventions are important because they are still relevant today by aritchure, arts, and literature.
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Works Cited

Andrews, Evan. “8 Ways Roads Helped Rome Rule the Ancient World.” ​History.com​, A&E

Television Networks, 10 Apr. 2014,

www.history.com/news/8-ways-roads-helped-rome-rule-the-ancient-world.

Reich, John J., and Lawrence Cunningham. ​Culture and Values.​ Wadsworth, 2013.

Wasson, Donald L. “Roman Literature.” ​Ancient History Encyclopedia​, Ancient History

Encyclopedia, 11 Apr. 2019,

www.ancient.eu/Roman_Literature/.

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