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Rome might seem a lot more relevant to our era after you read this.

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Rome might seem a lot more relevant to our era after you read this.

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Romans have introduced a lot of methods, tools, concepts and innovations to steer modern era forward. I'll list five of the prominent ones below.

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Nowadays, newspaper is a strong source of information although it has been dethroned by internet. Romans introduced a sort of newspaper during Republican times.

This system was called Acta Diurna or 'daily acts' and originated as early as 131 BC.

This Roman invention had much the same purpose as modern newspapers, giving Roman citizens information about military victories, births and deaths, and even human interest stories, usually ones of Equestrial and Senatorial Classes.

The Acta were occasionally copied by scribes and given to regional rulers for information. Each would be taken down from public spaces after a few days and archived for future reference. At some instances, a preacher would announce them.

Later, Roman Emperors and Byzantine Kings (Basileios) used the acts to advertise court activities and royal or senate decrees.

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Temple of Iuppiter Optimvs Maximvs, constructed by Marcus Agrippa, right hand man of the "First Citizen" of Rome, Augustus

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Third. You can thank Romans for concrete blocks you live in.

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Third. You can thank Romans for concrete blocks you live in.

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Concrete is a crucial aspect of construction now. It used to be too back in Roman times.

Roman structures have lasted thousands of years, enduring sacking, harsh weathers, vandalizations and decay. Compared with the concrete of today, Roman concrete is extremely durable. Scientists found that Roman concrete had a remarkable ingredient, namely the volcanic ash. This leads to the formation of an extremely stable compound called calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate. Not only that, manufacturing Roman concrete would create a lot less carbon dioxide than modern methods of concrete production. But it does take longer to dry and is weaker than modern concrete. Thanks to the durability of this concrete, many aqueducts, temples, mausoleums and cathedrals from both Roman and Byzantine times survive.

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Many of us know Gaius Julius Caesar (Jül Sezar). The man is a giant in both the history of Rome and World. "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (Geldim, Gördüm, Yendim) ve "Et tu, Brute?" (Sen de mi, Brütüs?) expressions are timeless classics. But did you know that he also changed the Roman calendar into a modern one?

The Roman republican calendar contained 355 days. It was a lunar calendar, and to make up for the shortfall between the lunar calendar and the solar year, an intercalary month consisting of 27-28 days was added once every two years.

This was the duty of the Pontifex Maximus and his subordinates, a religious rank in "Cursus Honorum", Roman hierarchy. Over time, the added days became irregular due to negligence and corruption. As a result, by the 40s B.C., the Roman civic calendar had become out of sync with the seasons and the holy festivals; it was about three months ahead of the solar calendar.

To correct this, in 46 BC, Caesar introduced a new form of calendar system which had 12 months and used a cycle of three years of 365 days, followed by a year of 366 days (leap year). The Julian Calendar also moved the beginning of the year from March 1 to January 1.

The Julian calendar was more accurate and remained in use until 1582, when Gregorian calendar was introduced by the Pope Gregory.

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As the saying goes, "All roads lead to Rome." The road network of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire was of superb quality, stretching from Scotland to Jordan.

Roads are an important aspect of life even today. In ancient times, they were of incredible vitality. Roads would assure that armies moved forward in speed, trade flourished and easier policing since traffic is concentrated on one spot.

Roman roads as we talked about were exceptional. Lets talk about how those roads are made.
First, measurements would be made. After those were dealt with, the Roman surveyors marked the path of the future road using milestones. All trees, branches, and other obstacles that might interfere with the construction of the road were swept away. Marshes were drained and mountains would be cut through, if needed, though we have to state that it was only done in very mountainous and vital terrain like Cilicia.

The average width of an ancient Roman road was around 6 meters, although some large public roads could be much wider.

According to the writings of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect and engineer who lived in the 1st century BC. Roman public roads consisted of several layers:

Foundation soil – depending on the terrain, builders either dug depressions on level ground or installed special supports in places where the soil subsided. The soil is then compacted and sometimes covered with sand to provide a stable footing for the multiple layers above.

Statumen – a layer that was laid on the foundation soil, consisting of large rough stone blocks. Cracks between the slabs would allow drainage to be carried through. The thickness of this layer ranged from 25 to 60 cm.

Rudus – a 20-cm-thick layer consisting of crushed rock about 5 cm in diameter in cement.

Nucleus – a concrete base layer made of cement, sand and gravel, that was about 30 cm thick.

Summum dorsum – the final layer consisting of large 15-cm-thick rock blocks. But more often fine sand, gravel, or earth was used in the top layer, depending on the available resources at the workers’ disposal. This layer had to be soft and durable at the same time. Paved roads were very expensive and were typically reserved for sections located near and inside important cities.

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An Illustration of a Samhein Celebration.

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It might come as a surprise to see these two famous days to be linked with Rome. Lets dive into it a bit.

Like many cultures, the Romans celebrated a festival honoring the passing of the dead, the Feralia, held near the end of October each year.

The point is that The Celts also had an annual celebration honoring the dead, known as the Samhain, at which they lit bonfires, dressed up in costumes, and staged great parades.

Romans had a habit. They usually took many things from the people they conquered and subjected. So when both Gaul and Britannia, homelands of Celts were conquered by Caesar and Emperor Claudius respectively, they took elements of Samhain into Feralia from Celts.

When the Romans combined Feralia with the traditions of the Samhain, it became a mainstay of Celtic-Roman culture. So strong was its legacy that the Christian Church even moved its annual celebration of the dead saints and martyrs (All Saints Day or All Hallows) to November 1st, in order not to clash with the popular pagan festival. The Samhain-Feralia celebrations came to be known as Hallows Eve, which later became Halloween.

Christmas is a different story and kind of an awkward one as the holiday of those who murdered Christ is celebrated by Christians all over the world. Lets unravel it a little.

Saturnalia, the most popular holiday on the ancient Roman calendar, derived from older farming-related rituals of midwinter and the winter solstice, especially the practice of offering gifts or sacrifices to the gods during the winter sowing season.

The pagan celebration of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time, began as a single day, but by the late Roman Republic it had expanded to a weeklong festival beginning December 17. Due to the Julian Calendar, the end of the Saturnalia fell to 25th of December.

So how did this beloved Pagan festival turned into a bastion of Christ?

The Christian holiday of Christmas, especially, owes many of its traditions Saturnalia, including the time of year Christmas is celebrated. The Bible does not give a date for Jesus’ birth, some theologians have concluded he was probably born in spring or autumn.

But by the fourth century AD, Western Christian churches settled on celebrating Christmas on December 25, which allowed them to incorporate the holiday with Saturnalia and other popular pagan midwinter traditions and ease the conversion of pagans into Christianity without losing their beloved holiday.