Posted on 04/26/2026 9:51:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The excavation of the Villa della Pisanella in Boscoreale has yielded one of the most extraordinary archaeological finds of the Roman era: the world's only known intact Roman boiler, complete with all its pipes, valves, and accessories. This unique artifact provides a fascinating insight into the technological sophistication of the ancient Romans, highlighting their advanced engineering skills and meticulous craftsmanship...
The Villa della Pisanella first came to light in November 1868, when Modestino Pulzella, while laying the foundations for a new wall, discovered remnants of ancient structures. Further exploration revealed mosaics, but the work was soon halted by a neighboring landowner, Vincenzo De Prisco, who feared damage to his property. It wasn't until September 1894, nearly three decades later, that excavations resumed. This time, De Prisco himself initiated the work, having apparently set aside his earlier concerns.
This renewed effort led to the discovery of the famous "Boscoreale Treasure," a collection of exquisite artifacts that were regrettably sold abroad due to inadequate legal protections for cultural heritage. Despite this loss, the excavations continued, and in May 1896, the remarkable discovery of the Roman baths and the intact boiler was made. De Prisco subsequently restored part of the villa, converting it into a private museum known as the "Museo De Prisco." During this time, the Alinari Brothers, renowned photographers, captured an extraordinary image of the site, preserving its legacy for future generations.
(Excerpt) Read more at thearchaeologist.org ...
A point often missed when considering the destruction being wrought on western civilization NOW.
What city is it that just recently had FIRE HYDRANTS looted for scrap metal value? Chitcago? Dee-troit? Yeah, Detroit, 75 fire hydrants taken for selling on the “black” (brown?) market.
Baltimore’s neighborhoods (places I once drove through in the 1990’s to-from work) became “darker” as lamp posts were looted for scrap aluminum value; the darker the city became, the darker it got.
Does anyone remember seeing videos of the feckless “palestinian” hordes rushing into Gaza after the territory was ceded to the PA terrorist organization under the watchful eyes of then-resident Clinton and the Butcher of Bosnia Madwoman Albright? They destroyed millions (billions?) of dollars of greenhouses, tearing out plumbing, framing, solar panels and anything else of possible value - they are a scavenger, parasitic consumer class dependent on world food aid, primarily useful to the coming global caliphate to destroy Israel and her allies, not a farmer, agrarian producer group capable of creating a self-sustaining and ascendant civilization.
The great pyramids of Giza were once covered with a polished layer of white limestone. Scavenged, processed, probably all turned to dust by now for mortar to build structures which will fall apart in a few hundredths (at most) of the time the pyramids have loomed over a once verdant, productive region.
There WERE great antediluvian civilizations on this planet, of this I have zero doubts. A couple millennia on, our children’s children’s children will be arguing this as myth once again.
It only took one volcano and the wretched excesses of Cesarean political corruption and global overreach to bring down and bury the fruits of Roman technology and society like this boiler for 2,000 years.
I think islam will do this to the entire planet if we let it.
Wait...they had real Bosco?
It has been said if the library of Alexandria hadn’t been burnt down we would have been on the moon around the time Christopher Columbus was discovering America.
We are now losing a lot, even at the high end.
eg problems with replacing parts on F22 due to inadequate documentation/engineering drawings
I think I have the brand of hot water heater. The Now U.S. based manufacturer was one of the Founders of Rome.
Rheem-US.
Interesting article but it sure is lacking in details.
Would be fascinating if those valves were imaged so we could see exactly how they were constructed, for example.
I imagine very few people in those times had both the knowledge and the resources to be able to look around at the current state of technology and be truly innovative. It seems like they had a lot of the building blocks that could have been used to catapult them into something like mid 1800s England but nobody put the pieces together. I suppose the economics of manual labor also had something to do with it.
My first thought, reading your post: The Antikythera mechanism...
I didn’t know they had pipes either.
Good observation; and there’s also no evidence of lead poisoning in the relatively scarce Roman remains.
another article, photo of the hoard found:
https://www.teachercurator.com/roman-art/villa-pisanella-in-boscoreale/
an old pic of the boiler:
I’m thinking it had to have had something to do with alcohol ;)
Years ago I acquired a book from the 1800s. It had lists of famous Greeks and Romans, including life span. Eliminating soldiers who might have died of battle or accumulated injuries, I was surprised to see famous Greeks lived about 20 years longer. Most of the Romans died in their 50s while Greeks lived into their 70s. I suspect the Greeks ate the Mediterranian diet while Romans ate the Urban diet, and lived with the Urban germs.
Maybe conquering the Med wasn’t such a good idea in the long run.
At the time the Gaza greenhouses were destroyed, the destruction was described as the Gazans hating the Israelis so much they refused to accept this “gift”.
I read that the surface of the Pyramids was cut up to use as building blocks for Cairo. Perhaps some was also crushed for cement.
Djejefre (son and successor of Khufu) had his pyramid begun at Abu Roash. Left unfinished at his untimely death, it was carted off for construction during the middle ages and into early modern times. And the limestone facing blocks, which were carved with hieroglyphs during Herodotus’ time, were stripped after the muzzie infestation began. The attempt to dismantle the Giza pyramids began with Menkaure, the third and by far the smallest of the three large pyramids there. Work went on on for months, leaving an obvious scar. The estimate of time it would take to finish it was daunting, so the demolition work was abandoned.
The amazing thing about led pipes is the Romans knew lead was poison, but they used them any way.
I saw a documentary that mentioned the Romans did know that lead was poison, but as Pierrem15 said in a earlier post, the continuously flowing water, plus mineral deposits mitigated a lot of the risk.
It is amazing how the Romans engineered aquaducts and other structures to move water where it was needed. Truly amazing!
It could be an artifact of which data survived.
Alright, but apart from the boilers, what have the Romans ever done for us?
When I went to Pompeii there was a cast of a young women, she was pregnant. Her stature was about that of a 12 year old. The archeologist conducting our tour stated it was felt that Her diminutive stature was due to lead poisoning . We were told that lead pipes were used in wineries. The acidic nature of the grape juice desolved lead into the wine.
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