Conquering rivers: Roman bridge building

[guy]

 

This is an excellent video that discusses Roman bridge building, especially in a military setting.

 

 

[caldrail]

Groan.... That video makes a whole load of mistakes. The most glaring is that Roman legionaries were all taught to swim. Simply not true. Vegetius suggested that Rome should do that in his De Re Miltaris because he thought it was a good idea based on a single precedent, but never Roman policy.

What is most apparent however is that the video focuses on engineering. That's a modern perspective, and I say that because the Romans were a deeply superstitious people with strong concerns about rivers being the home of gods that would be offended by bridges. I do agree the Romans had clever people among them and used their capability well, but that had more to do with common sense than advanced technology. The engineering skill was no more advanced than we see in other strong civilisations of the time apart from one or two ideas like arches (due credit there). 

For those studying history, never take videos at their word - always apply critical thinking.

 

[Aldarion]

Still, it is a fact that Romans were exceptional in terms of their military engineering. Army built those bridges, and also often built civilian infrastructure as well. And Roman marching camps, while far from unique in terms of having a pallisade, were noted as being unusually sturdy and well-defended compared to their Greek counterparts.

[caldrail]

Marching camps did not have a palisade. I used to think so before I looked into how they could guarantee the supply of suitable wood. They dug a ditch and rampart which was patrolled at night. They would have all been up all night finding enough trees to cut down, drag to the site, and erect. The two sticks they carried were for measuring. Military behaviour is nothing new