Building

The Romans were known as great builders and many of the buildings they made are still around today, 2000 years later!

They had their own distinctive style of architecture (which had been adapted from the Ancient Greeks). This was noticeable for using pillars for temples, and using arches and domes such as on aqueducts, viaducts or triumphant arches.

The Pont du Gard, carried water 50km to the city of Nimes in France

Aqueducts were used to carry water into towns and were built with a very small slope so the water would gradually flow downhill, and these often covered distances of over 30 kilometres. The towns also had sewers.

Very straight roads were built as the quickest way between two towns. These roads were built using many layers of stone and rubble, making the roads very strong and long lasting. The roads had a hump in the middle, so that rain could run off the surface.

The routes of these roads still exist today and are used as the course of modern roads, and are easily recognised as they are very straight. Every mile a stone would be placed along the road, which were called “milestones”.