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Description

Narration

1

Images of water, Roman ruins, snow covered mountains are being shown.

Lands that were once Roman are today divided among more than 40 nations. From the Atlantic, to the Euphrates. From the Sahara to Scotland. More than 2 million square miles.

2

Roman feet are walking on the roads made by the Romans.

Romans built a stunning network 53,000 miles of paved roads connecting the empire. Roman roads put end to end would have circled the earth twice. And they were so well built many survive to this day with the original paving stones.

Like the American interstate system, Roman roads made it possible to defend a huge territory. The endless byways also accommodated tax collectors, traders, and messengers as they traveled from exotic Egypt all the way to the hostile Scottish moors. A fast courier could travel nearly 200 miles in a day. The army could reach anywhere in the empire in a matter of weeks. The march from Rome to Spain was said to take just 27 days.

3

A Roman woman is riding a horse by a house. A chariot is going across a road. The ruts from the chariot are shown in the road.

The phenomenon of Roman roads explains much about how Rome spread her influence around the world and even across the centuries to our own time. From the ruts carved into ancient roads by chariot wheels 2000 years ago, we get the modern railway gauge for American and European trains.

4

Someone is posting on a tree a paper with information on it.

Wherever three major roads crossed, news was often posted for travelers. The Latin word for such a crossroads was tri via or trivia. Literally a three road junction.

5

A man with glasses is talking to the camera.

Roads also carried Roman culture throughout the empire. We think of the spread of Roman culture akin to the spread of blue jeans and McDonald's. I think we're looking at it very much the right way. Why is it now that we have football being played in Europe? Or just look at the way the NBA is able to export itself. Michael Jordan as Virgil. I think there is a certain amount of connection here. That's the best analogy I think for the spread of Greco-Roman culture and people could resent it in just the same way they resent Americanization now.

6

A Roman farmer is working in a field. Jeremy Paterson, a historian is talking to the camera. Roman men are sitting around a table eating.

How you felt about the domination of Roman culture probably had everything to do with your lot in life. The majority of Roman subjects were farmers whose lives may have changed little under Roman rule. The Roman Empire and Romanization, this use of Latin language is the creation of city cultures, straight roads, Roman dress, the toga, and so on, is in fact very superficial. Beneath it, in many societies remained a local native culture.

And when the Roman Empire breaks down, for example in Roman Britain, what very quickly re-emerges is that native culture that has always been there. On the other hand, if you were wealthy and lived in a provincial city like Bulla Regia or Londinium or Triar, you were in a position to enjoy the vast luxuries of empire.

7

Romans are on a busy street doing many things such as working, shopping and walking.

Buildings, roads, bridges, commerce and protection, all courtesy of the conquering Romans made life in a provincial city quite a bit more comfortable and healthy.

8

Images of Roman technology are being shown as the narrator describes them.

Romans enjoyed a technology boom unprecedented in ancient times. Their ingenuity brought the world everything from a two cylinder pump used for firefighting, to sophisticated weaponry, a rotary flour mill, water powered machinery, pipe organs, pad locks, lightning rods, and even elevators.

9

A stream running through a Roman Aqueduct is showing.

But of all the wonders Rome brought to the world, to the common man, perhaps the greatest luxury of all was fresh, clean running water. Spectacular and brilliantly designed Roman aqueducts brought a continuous flow of water out of the mountains and into town. Sophisticated engineering built an ingeniously simple structure graded ever so gently so gravity did all the work. Thus millions of gallons moved hundreds of miles to the spot where they'd be used all without need of fossil fuel, electric pumps, or human effort.

Some ancient cities had two to three times as much water per person as many cities today. The aqueduct was a feat of engineering so impressive Romans themselves imagined we might marvel at them long after their builders were gone. Will anyone compare the idle pyramids to these great aqueducts, these indispensable structures? Anonymous.

Public baths, fountains, and even the wealthiest homes were provided with clean running water. Sewers channeled waste into rivers or seas providing a level of sanitation not matched for nearly 2000 years, and still not met today in some parts of the world. On the whole the provinces thrived under Roman rule.