astorian:
The Romans accomplished all kinds of great things, but… it’s not at all obvious to me that the Roman Empire was a hotbed of scientific and technological innovation.
Who were the great Roman astronomers?
Who were the great Roman physicians and what were the great cures they came up with?
Who were the greatest Roman inventors and scientists? Who were the Roman Newtons, Watts, Morses, Edisons and Bells?
Apart from concrete, what great scientific or technological breakthroughs did the Romans come up with? How was Marcus Aurelius’ Rome more scientifically, mathematically or technologically advanced than, say, Pericles’ Athens?
obligatory…All right… all right… but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order… what have the Romans done for us?
It’s bullshit. Hot baths were a Medieval staple . Not necessarily at home, but in public bath-houses.