Roman military engineering

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Roman military engineering was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of its contemporaries. Indeed,

Each

Panoramic view of Vercovicium on Hadrian's Wall, now known as Housesteads Roman Fort, England

Bridges

The engineers built bridges from timber and stone. Some Roman stone bridges survive. Stone bridges were made possible by the innovative use of

Siege machines

Although most Roman siege engines were adaptations from earlier Greek designs, the Romans were adept at engineering them swiftly and efficiently, as well as innovating variations such as the repeating ballista. The 1st century BC army engineer Vitruvius describes in detail many of the Roman siege machines in his manuscript De architectura.

Roads

When invading enemy territories, the Roman army would often construct roads as it went, to allow swift reinforcement and resupply, or for easy retreat if necessary. Roman road-making skills were such that some survive.

The Roman army built projects for civilian use. When soldiers were not engaged in military campaigns, the legions had little to do, while costing the Roman state large sums of money. Thus, involving soldiers in building works, kept them well accustomed to hard physical labour and out of mischief, since it was believed that idle armies were a potential source of mutiny.

Soldiers built many roads across the Empire. Soldiers were also put to use in the construction of town walls, the digging of canals, drainage projects, aqueducts, harbours, and even in the cultivation of vineyards.

Mining operations

Soldiers became skilled in conducting mining operations such as building aqueducts needed for prospecting for metal veins, in activities such as hydraulic mining, and building reservoirs to hold water at the minehead.

Reactive and extraordinary engineering

The knowledge and experience learned through routine engineering lent itself readily to extraordinary engineering projects. For such projects, Roman military engineering exceeded that of any of its contemporaries in imagination and scope.

One notable project was the

A second example is the massive ramp built using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth up to the invested city of Masada during the Jewish Revolt. The siege works and the ramp remain in a remarkable state of preservation.

See also

• Technological history of the Roman military
• List of Roman pontoon bridges
• Roman architecture
• Roman aqueducts
• Roman engineering

Notes

External links

• Traianus - Technical investigation of Roman public works