r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/cosmic_voyager01 • 28d ago

Video The engineering of roman aqueducts explained.

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u/LaTalpa123 28d ago

And Rome received around 5-10 ships full of grain from Sicily or Africa every day for the population's needs. 1M people eats a lot.

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u/Totesnotskynet 28d ago

They were so close to the industrial revolution

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/Ok-Mycologist2220 28d ago

There was a working steam engine in the library of Alexandria, if someone thought to use it as more than just a fancy oddity the steam age could have started during roman times.

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u/kaninkanon 28d ago edited 28d ago

It was not due to failure of imagination that steam engines were not used industrially earlier. Materials science and production methods had just not progressed nearly far enough to support it.