You can still see thousands of Roman artifacts today in museums all over the world.Īncient Romans pioneered advances in many areas of science and technology, establishing tools and methods that have ultimately shaped the way the world does certain things. Romans made their statues out of marble, fashioning monuments to great human achievements and achievers. Sculptural art of the period has proven to be fairly durable, too. So today, scientists study Roman concrete, hoping to match the success of the ancient master builders.
To make a concrete this durable, modern builders must reinforce it with steel. Seawater reacting with the volcanic ash created crystals that filled in the cracks in the concrete. Roman underwater structures proved to be even sturdier. Modern scientists believe that the use of this ash is the reason that structures like the Colosseum still stand today. The arches of the Colosseum are made out of cement, a remarkably strong building material the Romans made with what they had at hand: volcanic ash and volcanic rock. The sports stadiums we see today, with their oval shapes and tiered seating, derive from the basic idea the Romans developed. The game-loving ancients also built large amphitheaters, including the Colosseum. These arches served as the foundation for the massive bridges and aqueducts the Romans created. Ancient Romans created curved roofs and large-scale arches, which were able to support more weight than the post-and-beam construction the Greeks used. For example, they continued the use of columns, but the form became more decorative and less structural in Roman buildings. We can find traces of Roman influence in forms and structures throughout the development of Western culture.Īlthough the Romans were heavily influenced by ancient Greece, they were able to make improvements to certain borrowed Greek designs and inventions. From bridges and stadiums to books and the words we hear every day, the ancient Romans have left their mark on our world.Īncient Romans have had a tremendous impact on art and architecture. Though it has been thousands of years since the Roman Empire flourished, we can still see evidence of it in our art, architecture, technology, literature, language, and law. In today’s video, we’ll talk a little bit about three rare Latin words, old even for the Romans, and discuss the Romans’ view on such words-all in Latin, of course.Ancient Rome had a large influence on the modern world.
However, some later Roman authors, such as Aulus Gellius and Apuleius, showed great interest in so-called archaic words, words from the oldest period of extant Latin literature, drawing from authors such as Ennius. The great Roman magister dicendi Quintilian was of the mind that old words, and consequently rarely used in his time, do add a sense of dignity and freshness to language, but should be used judiciously and very sparingly. Caesar is, therefore, not unsurprisingly, one of the first Roman authors that many students read-even though the absence of rare words hardly makes Caesar an easy read for most Latin students.Ĭaesar was not alone in his view of rare words. Indeed, this quest for a simple and direct style has been lauded by Latin teachers for centuries. “tamquam scopulum sic fugias inauditum atque insolens verbum.” Caes. Julius Caesar is perhaps the most well-known proponent of avoiding rare words and using the most common words instead. Some authors took pleasure in using these, while others frowned upon this.
However, even the Romans had “old words”, words no longer in popular use. Latin is an old language, a very old language. Today we might think of it as one language, frozen in time.