Fresco with a worksite scene, Stabiae, Villa of San Marco |
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Artefacts offer evidence of parts of machines not always easy to imagine in their complete form, while literary sources, with the exception of a few passages of Vitruvius' De Architectura, provide little technical information.
Yet, in the 1st century AD, Roman inventors and engineers had long been capable of creating complex equipment and developing considerable theoretical deliberations. Essentially, the application of constructive geometry and mechanics progressed hand in hand.
Along with precision instruments, the remains of construction cranes, hydraulic equipment to collect and distribute water, and heating systems found in Pompeii offer an eloquent insight into a civilization capable of building and profitably using highly complex machines and technical systems.
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