Thanks wildbill. Of course, reading about rivers of water running downhill on a slide will just make me want to pee before I finish reading. ;')
Posted on 02/20/2015 11:37:37 AM PST by wildbill
The city of Arles, ARELATE, set up as a roman colony for veterans of Caesar's 6th legion on a low hill on the left bank of the Rhône near the river mouth, grew out to be one of the most important cities in the Western Roman empire, known as "Gallula Roma", the Rome of Gaul. Such an important city needed an aqueduct, and the most suitable area to provide the city with water was a 35 km long EW trending limestone massif to the NE, known as the Alpilles, with a maximum elevation of 492m. In roman times, the range was densely wooded and the water that drained into the limestone's reemerged in springs at the foot of the hills.
Springs from both the North and South sides of the range were used to feed an aqueduct system of 62 km long with a capacity of 45.000 m3 of water per day. The aqueduct system of Arles is complicated since it did not only provide the city with water; about half the water provided by the aqueducts was used to power a major factory, a series of 16 watermills that provided the city with flour. This mill complex, the Mill of Barbegal, was built on the steep Southern dip slope of a limestone ridge at the South side of the Alpilles. This ridge, the Chaînon de la Pène, is separated from a satellite massif of the Alpilles known as the Défend de Sousteyran by a narrow valley, which is crossed by a double aqueduct bridge after which the valley is named (Vallon des Arcs numbers 2 on the map below). The aqueducts cross the valley at it highest elevation.
(Excerpt) Read more at romanaqueducts.info ...
You must check this out
I got my picture taken under one of those aqueducts, driving from Tuscany to Rome. Wife wanted to stop and look at flowers - I wanted to stop and look at ancient Roman aqueducts.
LOL!
Good link. Thanks!
The English science historian James Burke examines Roman watermill technology such as that of the Barbegal aqueduct and mill, concluding that it influenced the Cistercians and their waterpower, which in turn influenced the Industrial Revolution, in the fourth of his ten-part Connections (TV series), called “Faith in Numbers.”
Excellent series. Made in 1976, the series is still relevant.
I saw this on “Ancient Impossible” and it was fascinating.
"You didn't build that! Muslims did!"
FMCDH(BITS)
Yes, the Romans invented the water mill, which was an early equivalent of the steam engine, at an early date, but they failed to develop their discovery to any extent, probably because they had slaves to do the heavy lifting and such things as grinding grain for bread.
So, basically, the water mill was developed in the Middle Ages, starting in the monasteries and spreading from there. Modern science and engineering mostly began in the Middle Ages, with the water mill, the plow harness and the deep plow, the saddle, and other discoveries essential to modern civilization.
See Lynn Thorndike’s books, especially the first two volumes of “A History of Magic and Experimental Science” (8 vol., 1923–58).
Brilliant piece of work. It should have been required reading in every school. The works of David Macaulay are also great for Jr. high students.
After The Plague reduced the number of people available for common labor perchance?
Long before.
Absolutely correct.
Muslims had all this stuff first.
Five hundred years ago they foresaw the problems global warming would cause, thus returned to wiping their arses with sand.
ancient peoples were not stupid.. they were very very smart... ..and in the past people knew that previous generations were damn smart that’s why they study them
it’s only the arrogance of our current generations that seems to forget this fact
I’ve always been enamored with Roman construction, politics, and military. It’s fascinating. Just the logistics of the ordinary day to day Roman family were extraordinarily done, and without computers!
Now with computers it takes twice as long, just 95% of that extra time is spent web surfing.
As an old-time computer programmer (RPG, COBOL), I thoroughly enjoyed that one as he showed the progression from the Jacquard loom to the then-modern (1976) 80-column punch card. The bit he did showing how Hollerith's machine was used in the 1880 census was a gem.
The whole series was fascinating, and I got a kick out of how often serendipity played a hand in the inventions.
One other thing. I always marveled at Roman engineering, but how in the Hell did they do all those calculations using Roman Numerals. Ever try something like multiplying or dividing DXXIX x CIV, etc. ???? - and sometimes there were fractions to consider.
Thanks wildbill. Of course, reading about rivers of water running downhill on a slide will just make me want to pee before I finish reading. ;')
I recorded that Connections series on my very first VCR machine. And still watch it every once in a while although the tape is getting a little sketchy.
I think the series is on sale at Smithsonian.com but costs over $100. It’s too bad it isn’t shown on Tv anymore because Burke really provided great insights on how much of our modern technology was built on the foundations of inventions of the past.
Yeah, I loved that series, and the sequels which basically were updates with some new material. For a Marxist, he’s remarkably entertaining. I think at least some episodes can be found on, y’know, the video sites. Then use http://www.keepvid.com to download them as a movie file.
I have (somewhere...) audiobook (cassettes) versions of a couple of his, abridged alas, but he reads them, and he’s one of the few self-narrating authors I can take for long periods. Great for long car trips.
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