Three (more) Forgotten Roman Megaprojects

[@QuantumHistorian]

Hadrian's palace / villa near Rome is probably worthy of its own video. Not only was it an architectural feat of its own right, but it's an order of magnitude larger than already astounding sites like Diocletian's retirement home at modern-day Split. The substructure of vaulting arches alone would rival the Colosseum, let alone the temples and theatres suspended above it. By either size or magnificence, it would probably dwarf most ancient cities.

[@toldinstone]

It's an astonishing place. I've been thinking about making a Hadrian's Villa video for years. Perhaps next spring, when I plan to visit Tivoli...

[@Momruoy-v5j]

@@toldinstone you pos stop deleting my comments.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@toldinstoneDo you know the hack for visiting the Villa d’Este? A lot of people prefer to scoot to the bottom where the original entrance was and the fountains are low. This way as you enter the garden further, fountains get higher and higher, as they were intended. I tried it that way and liked it, just don’t look around much heading down. If you take the bus it goes through some crappy suburbs and abruptly you’re in tiny towns with old ladies who want to sit right next to you and discuss your shirt among themselves. 😂😂😂

[@CentralStoriesforboredom]

Roman architecture is so classy and mesmerizing

[@obsidianjane4413]

Until you remember it was built slavery and misery.

[@QuantumHistorian]

@@obsidianjane4413 eh, the slaves were more likely to be the overseers or skilled master masons than the brick layers sweating in the Sun. But yes, you are right that any grand outcome in a preindustrial society is based on the exploitation of someone down the supply chain. But why does that mean we shouldn't appreciate the grandeur of the outcome anyway? We need not agree with the socioeconomic methods of construction to be awestruck by the outcome. To not be able to distinguish between the two is a common cognitive muddle.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@QuantumHistorian Because of the reality of what the grand monuments represent. The first organized, industrial oppression in human history. To not be able to recognize such is a cognitive failure.

[@genoallmond9936]

@@QuantumHistorian Your statement was fine until that last sentence lol, no need to insult the person.

[@zinckensteel]

I have often been amazed at how much modern western architectural styling copies ancient designs almost verbatim - sometimes almost like they started with moldings of the originals.

[@QuantumHistorian]

It's not that I have a Pavlovian response to that rising beat and chisel sound, its just that I feel compelled to pour myself a glass of port and find the most comfortable armchair around as soon as I hear it

[@obsidianjane4413]

You are not alone.

[@jonnymmac]

Agreed. Opened up my 1st tall boy of the evening wondering about next months dig location.❤

[@TaeSunWoo]

This but with the bong

[@jonnymmac]

@@TaeSunWoo go light. Have to smoke it just right

[@talljohn5350]

How weird that I’m already drinking port when I came across this video and see this comment.

[@pablomerayomontes1944]

You can actually walk all around las Medulas and go into the tunnels, before mass tourism my dad used to freely go inside, now you need a tour. It is still very nice :)

[@Michigander269]

The hexagonal basin really blows my mind and I'm not even sure why to be honest, lol. It's not the grandest or most beautiful but for some reason that is captivating... Great video, thanks!

[@barath4545]

Yeah looks like some god was playing Settlers when creating the world and then got back to work :)

[@cmbaz1140]

Its the size and angles... It blows my mind.

[@bobfrog4836]

It's also impressively easy to find on Goggle Maps.

[@QuantumHistorian]

@@barath4545 you should check out the hexagon on Saturn for more divine hexagons

[@roderickvannoorloos1967]

Probably because Hexagons are the Bestagons!

[@marcodeangelis8327]

The construction of Portus was an awe inspiring feat. The construction of the port itself was impractical, but they did it nontheless. The canal bypassed some miles of navigation along the river, skipping a lenghty meander. What strikes me the most: they build a new road from Rome to Portus on the right bank, which is riddled with hills. They made it straight, ignoring and overcoming the terrain features (present day Via Portuense). In doing so, they discarded Via Ostiense, which went to old port of Ostia on the left bank, and was much easier to build, running through the bottom of the valley. They could avoid that with a simple bridge, but went for a whole new road.

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

When they were finished, they had TWO roads, right?. Ostia was eclipsed, but that was more from the utility of the new port, Ostia would have continued to be used.

[@marcodeangelis8327]

@@uncletiggermclaren7592 yes, two roads when finished! Both still there: via Ostiense and via Portuense

[@DedalusStew]

Very interesting. In Romania we have quite a few similar walls (Trajan's Wall, Athanaric Wall etc) crossing the country. Although some were hundreds of km long, they were initially just wood and earth fortifications. They're called things like "Valul lui Traian" (Trajan's crest) as there's nothing left of them today besides a few ripples of dirt. I didn't know how widespread these have been.

[@hansnelsen3960]

Canteras Industriales de Beirzo is just down the road. Las Medulas is a half mile across I guess. I was amazed at the difference in scale between modern and ancient, a rather ordinary local quarry rivaling the biggest of the ancients. Not that the Romans did not create much of enormous scale, but of course ancient large scale and modern are of different orders, despite examples like the Pyramids. Modern infrastructure, just the sheer volume of concrete for example, so so much. It is the incredible design of the ancients that gets me

[@diegoferreiro9478]

Las Médulas is not the only example of Roman large mining projects in North West Spain. Not very far, about 50 km to the West, in the Lugo province, there is the Montefurado tunnel (literally 'drilled mountain'). This tunnel was originally 120 m long and had a huge 20m x 20m section (with 8 m below water level in normal condition); it was used to detour the Sil river, also with gold mining in mind. Sadly, it partially collapsed in 1934 and today remains about 50 m of tunnel. With the collapse of the mountain above off it went an eighteenth century fort that was built in top of it. The tunnel is in the Quiroga municipality while las Médulas are close to the town of Ponferrada, in the province of León, so a well planned visit could include both sites.

[@VLSG]

Rest in peace to the great academic, scholar and archaeologist Simon Keay, who dedicated much of his life and passion to uncovering the secrets of Portus Romae. For decades he has been the driving force behind the “Portus Project” aimed at revealing more of this incredible site. Been following his work for years until he passed away in 2021.

[@eclecticx]

Las Medulas is incredible, utterly awing to see in person. Just unbelievable how the Romans managed to do what they did.

[@sebastiamarques3274]

The name Las Médulas means literally "the bone marrows" in Spanish, which is quite fittingm since they crushed the mountains to extract the gold just like scavengers break bones to eat the marrow, although the real origin of the name is uncertain.

[@bamibrick6575]

Your intro is just perfect. Please never change it

[@arjenh7214]

Watching 15 seconds after upload, that's a record for me

[@Martial-Mat]

What an incredible achievement. Doubtless, the culmination of years of hard work. ;-)

[@arjenh7214]

@@Martial-Mat It has taken me a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and having no life

[@Martial-Mat]

@@arjenh7214 😁 Bravo - Rome salutes you!

[@cristhianramirez6939]

You surpass me as a romaboo, i admit it

[@fuoridalsentiero]

What an incredible video! The forgotten Roman megaprojects you highlighted are a fascinating reminder of the sheer ambition of ancient engineering. The detail you provided, along with the rich historical context, really brought these monumental achievements to life. It’s amazing to think how these structures shaped the ancient world and still leave their mark today. Thank you for shedding light on these hidden gems of history-this was an absolute pleasure to watch! We join your channel! Thumb up 👍

[@curtiswilson859]

Between this and Goldsworthy’s channel, we are entering a golden age of Roman KZbin content!

[@larsrons7937]

Very informative. I did know of all three megaprojects, but they are all indeed worth mentioning.

[@kyk1682]

Love your shit man. Thanks for everything you do, and thanks for putting in the effort to make this channel happen. Hope you have a great day!

[@Martial-Mat]

I really enjoyed this episode. The first segment really adds colour to the chapter in your book about gold in the Roman world.

[@peterhutley4254]

Absolutely fascinating. When I was young it would’ve been great to have known about some of these megaprojects , regards Pete

[@alpaktuna]

Really beautiful episode! Thank you.

[@CraftClash]

Great video, didn't know about any of these.

[@krasberg]

Glad to see wiki helped you with pictures.

[@cougar2013]

Walls worked then and they work now. Love the channel Dr. Garrett!

[@hanzzarkov7690]

I'm in constant wonder of where we'd be with without someone ensuring we remained capable of referring to the works of Pliny the elder. Among others of course. I cant imagine how much has just ceased to be.

[@transideo]

i love this channel sm

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

Thank you.😊

[@VINTERIUM..EXPLORIUM.1]

Nice Work & Video 👍

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Those mines in the Rio Tinto district (Spain) have been worked more or less continuously since at least the Early Bronze Age. Perhaps even earlier, as we keeping finding older archaeological sites, gold seems to have been present very far back in human history. In addition to its rarity and beauty, it’s soft and very easy to work, even with the most primitive tools. And, of course, being a noble, inert, element, it lasts forever, buried underground or beneath the sea. The landscapes in this region might look like our natural rocky Western deserts, but really, they’re completely modified by human activities, mostly hydraulic mining.

[@alexanderdavid8441]

Incredible content

[@geolauf]

My family is from ponferrada, near las medulas. A flabergasting place. Much recommended

[@whyjnot420]

It never ceases to amaze me how often people seemingly ignore Portus while focusing on Ostia. It is one thing if someone is talking about Caesarea Maritima and doesn't mention Portus, but with Ostia... Its right there a stones throw away.

[@barath4545]

Yeah and someone back then missed the marketing ball on branding it as well - Why not Portus Maximus? :)

[@whyjnot420]

@@barath4545 Food for thought: Being able to leave things out, e.g. the country name on postage stamps, is more of a assertion of dominance than saying you the superduperuberturbo revision 1 mk. A version. If you can get away without using a definite article, all the better. Though both this and the first thing I said rely on other people agreeing with you and going along with it. addendum: The Brits invented postage stamps, thus the only country that doesn't need to include the nations name, is the UK.

[@brettk9316]

The Romans were incredible will never see another empire like them ever again! Even the British empire couldn't hold a candle to them!

[@donde2k]

That hexagonal basin is quite aways inland now, eh?

[@Atrahasis7]

Land reclamation tech came a long way I guess, I was reading Caesar first Britain expeditions to Britain last year and Thanet was actually an island back in the day.

[@RevisitingHistoryChannel]

Super interesting!

[@pymusmaximus]

J attends avec impatience l'épisode sur Le Pont du Gard, que j ai reconnu à la fin. J habite à côté et c est vraiment un ouvrage très " puissant ", quand on se trouve à son pied, la puissance de Rome vous écrase. Merci pour votre travail.

[@jinsai8064]

It seriously hurts every time i hear an ancient ruin was destroyed to have something built there or to make room or just for shits and giggles

[@blacksage2375]

When it comes to Rome most of the destruction was completed centuries ago if not a 1000 years or more. By the same token you can't build a damn flower garden without hitting three ancient villas and two tons of potsherds (and maybe a few denarri if you're lucky) which has played all sorts of havoc with say building a subway. So unless you serious want to argue a place real people still live should be abandoned... something gotta give.

[@earlysda]

I'm grateful for progress. Who knows, the Romans may have destroyed old Estruscan sites?

[@EmporerBlock]

More like this

[@Gersemi_Trader]

What about Tomis, modern day Romania. Two or three layers of long walls from coast to the danube river. This area had many long walls

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Roman engineering always amazes me, they didn’t even have calculus yet. Most of it wasn’t re-discovered, or re-invented, until the Industrial Revolution was well underway. They even used metal-reinforced concrete, as we do today. Their surveying and hydraulic engineering knowledge was incredible, too. A model steam engine was actually made by an Alexandrian Greek (Heroon, I think?) during this period, if the Romans had realized its full potential, the Industrial Revolution would likely have begun in Classical times. The world would have been so different today!

[@diannewheatleygiliotti8513]

Thanks!

[@andyburgess2381]

Great video

[@elliottferris5929]

The exact location and what happened to the lighthouse of Portus it is still a mystery today.

[@codymoon7552]

It was probably taken apart in the middle ages

[@elliottferris5929]

@@codymoon7552 historians would have known..taking apart such a landmark would have been impossible without the consent of a very important one like a bishop or a pope...

[@Sarnarath]

You forgot the Roman Space program.

[@cjthebeesknees]

One patrician on an extra large ballista?

[@ancsi7474]

Do you know about the Devil's ditch / Csörsz árok on the Pannonian plains? Ok it's only a ditch but it's 1200 km long section of the Roman limes.

[@plumtree1846]

I wonder what type of labor force was used on these megaprojects? Was it slave, conscripted, skilled or a mixture? The gold mines must have been brutal.

[@QuantumHistorian]

A very good question, that digs deep into rather uniquely Roman social structures. Risky labour would be slaves, quite literally worked to the death in ways not dissimilar to the worse caribbean plantations of the 18th century. But the most skilled workers were also slaves or freedman - it was the in between layer that was free labour (day labourers at the lower end, well paid contractors at the higher end). This apparent contradiction makes sense if you forget about American slavery for a second and place yourself as a Roman aristocrat with access to a large supply of both slave and free labour. Who do you use for the terrible, dangerous jobs nobody wants? The slaves of course! But who do you invest years of training and technical skill into? The free labourers who might switch employers at any time, or the slaves (and freedman) who are (duty) bound to keep working for you for the rest of their lives? Obviously, the latter offers a better guaranteed return on investment over the long time. Hence the sandwich structure of slaves being right at the bottom, free labour doing the temporary menial work, and slaves (and freedman) doing the high level overseeing.

[@hamaljay]

I wonder how many nobles lived vicariously in these mines.

[@Momruoy-v5j]

​@@QuantumHistorianthat's a myth about 18th century plantations... they cost alot of money to own so they wouldn't be worked how you described.... its very basic history and very obvious to people with higher than double digit iq.

[@QuantumHistorian]

@@Momruoy-v5j Lol, go read something about, eg, the French sugar plantations in that Caribbean and the death rate amongst the slaves there, then you can come back and apologise for being so aggressively wrong. It's ok, I'll wait for you to learn how to read first.

[@Momruoy-v5j]

@@QuantumHistorian wow how convenient that my comments keep getting deleted... well done your myths and propaganda will go further than the truth.

[@fanroche8573]

Went to Portus a couple of years ago, Now you have to purchase a ticket on line - we got in free as it was a hassle. Unfortunately the basin is privately owned

[@cjthebeesknees]

The basin, privately owned. Rolls foul off the tongue. Same sh*t, different millennia.

[@Chuck8541]

FYI, you can watch this channels vids at 1.8x speed, and it sounds like a normal speaking voice.

[@kaloarepo288]

There is a proposal to build a canal near where that Thracian Wall was that would bi-pass the port of Istanbul and shorten the route through the Dardanelles and Bosphorous and free up that whole congested sea-lane.

[@Dorgpoop]

I'm not sure that will ever actually go ahead. There were some serious concerns that it could contaminate Istanbul's freshwater supply, and also making your largest city into an island is just going to make it a logistical nightmare for all the utilities and infrastructure.

[@teslaoliveira2195]

Super!

[@Boydar]

Humanity is astounding

[@cjthebeesknees]

Glory to Man.

[@TheHylianBatman]

I half-expected you to say that the port at Portus was still in use!

[@emil3f]

Wow

[@Garris_Shrike]

Las médulas is not "forgotten" at all tho. It is a major touristic destionation and a source of pride for the inhabitants of the area.

[@remko2]

From what I've understood Hadrian's wall was more about border control then about defence, I mean, they would not man the wall as shown in the pic you showed, the garrisons of the forts would go out and meet and destroy any threat in the field. The wall is too narrow to have a fighting space along the top, and mosts forts are located behind it, not on it The fortlets, some of which have their gates opening upon a cliff side seem to have been mostly there to regulate traffic through the wall, with the turrets warning the forts behind of any threat approaching. The wall of course would slow down any incursion by just being there

[@unclerojelio6320]

Please cover Sicily.

[@QuantumHistorian]

That's... kind of vague? What about Sicily? There 10 centuries of Roman presence on that largest and most densely populated of Mediterranean isle

[@Martial-Mat]

With what?

[@userequaltoNull]

​@@Martial-MatFettuccini

[@Martial-Mat]

@@userequaltoNull 😁

[@cjthebeesknees]

Anomalous terrain or landmarks/structures that are less known and interesting.

[@barath4545]

Whenever people go to Split, Croatia, I usually say, "Oh visiting Diocletian's retirement home, I see?" Most people don't get it but those that do are keepers :)

[@faithlesshound5621]

What we were told about the extensive mining of gold which went on for centuries leads me to doubt the claim that the quantity of gold in human hands has remained the same throughout history. The Law of Conservation of Gold must be a matter of faith, not fact.

[@hamarbiljungskile8953]

So, number 2 is Rammas Echor?

[@awogbob]

Would you ever do a video on this concept: (Its early so I might struggle articulating it clearly) Basically, modern man and society seems to have a strong affinity for the roman empire in terms of its democracy, industrialization, city planning, architecture, etc etc. Before the industrial revolution, how did other societies view or understand themselves in relation to the roman empire? Or has the intertwined nature and legacy of rome always been present in every era? I dont know if this is historically accurate but I get the sense lots of modern people see rome as "almost a modern civilization" and the the dark ages until the industrial revolution as a step backward. I dont personally hold this view, but was there a time when a person living in 1111 for instance may have seen Roman culture as inferior to their society, perhaps on moral, religious or even technical grounds?

[@RolloTonéBrownTown]

7:21 does anyone know if this is how it possibly looked, or is this just fanciful? The idea of a tower/column thing standing boldly at the mouth of the harbour is, frankly romantic.

[@DrDinoNuggies]

I don’t have an answer, but yeah, it would literally be *romantic* lol

[@RolloTonéBrownTown]

@@DrDinoNuggies well said Doc! 🤓

[@1TakoyakiStore]

Did I miss something? There's a giant badge preserved in concrete near the mouth of the Tiber to this very day?

[@ingo_8628]

Hinterland! Thats funny!

[@avishalom2000lm]

So the Romans did "mountaintop removal" too. Makes me wonder what future archaeologists will make of Appalachia.

[@grumbogee1772]

can you do a video on the beef between nicki and cardi b?

[@redjacc7581]

cool

[@R3TR0J4N]

i once asked chatgpt for loss historical significance in Spain then recieved thrice that in rome. im like damn

[@markgarrett3647]

How they ran the mine shows you why the Romans had a hard time innovating and industrialising.

[@TonyBullard]

4:37 Is this some kind of ancient fist fight?

[@1893Mauser]

Probably guards turning away groups of forign travelers

[@Scoupe400]

AI robot?!

[@j.d.5626]

Romans return all gold and silver to Spain !!. Ridiculous right ?? Now Mexicans/Peruvians apply the same logic please

[@masterchafer]

Do you talk like a malfunctioning robot in real life or just on your videos?

[@nc8507]

Damn, never been this early for Toldinstone before.

[@andydufresne8034]

In historic drawings, the hexagonal harbor is always shown along the coastline. Today, it's a mile or two inland. Can somebody please explain this.

[@leonardo.1024]

the hexagonal part was actually set back a little way, and there has been considerable sediment deposition by the Tiber over the last two thousand years and change. in fact, part of the reason for Portus was due to sedimentation, and that was its doom as well.

[@andrejdespotovski4788]

Amphitheatre sounds wrong, I keep hearing the P and H.. Isn’t it amfi?

[@leonardo.1024]

in italian, yes. In english... sometimes.

[@cjthebeesknees]

An opulent word, rolls off the tongue.

[@Nickerer]

Can you do a video or series maybe about how shows like game of thrones basically take a lot of their plots from ancient history? For example the “black watch” and the ice wall = hadrians wall. I think that would be fun.

[@apocolypse11]

If the romans would handle the Israelites back then. World peace could actually be a thing.

[@lisette2060]

Ever considered which societal step you would have been forced into, by greedy racist muslim slave traders and merciless Romans ? 😂😴

[@jamesMartinelli-x2t]

46 kilos equal 28 miles.

[@hdysicjegk]

Still the loudest intro in KZbin history lol

[@KoRL12]

is this an AI video?

[@gnulinux5108]

La cosa che più da fastidio anche in cultori o ammiratori dell'antica Roma è il fatto che chi faceva lavori sgradevoli come quello che poteva essere il lavorare nelle miniere d'oro non poteva che essere uno schiavo, magari frustato come da copione hollywoodiano. Lei pensa che i minatori attuali che magari estraggono il carbone, che è peggio che estrarre l'oro, siano degli schiavi e non dei lavoratori? Pensa che non gli dessero da mangiare, che fossero debilitati? Probabile che le antiche civiltà erano meno disumane magari della sua bella America democratica.

[@maxwalker1159]

!

[@ve6pte]

Did you AI your voice for the voiceover?

[@Martial-Mat]

No.

[@innersceptre4786]

It's Mr Peabody

[@toldinstone]

Nope. Even if I wanted to, AI couldn't handle all the Latin words.

[@Youtuber-k2p]

The AI voiceover is just appalling. The long pause in the middle of sentences makes it so disjointed. A pause should only be at where a comma might go or after a full stop.

[@Uruz2012]

It's a live person and that's more or less his normal way of speaking. You're not the first commenter to think this, lol.

[@cristhianramirez6939]

That's just his voice

[@anonimosu7425]

💀

[@nonyabisness6306]

just stack more bricks bro.

[@EGSBiographies-om1wb]

114th

[@spectre-8]

Am I the only one who watches on 1.25x?

[@Hrochnick]

The, video, is quite interesting, but, your way of, speaking, is quite grating, I'm sorry, to say.

[@suzmaca650]

Human voice is preferable

[@obsidianjane4413]

Garrett does his own audio. Yes. It is a very nice voice.

[@Martial-Mat]

It is a human voice. That's what Garrett sounds like.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@Martial-Mat Sadly, there is AI that can mimic human voice. But it still stumbles upon non-typical words. I think this is still Garrett. For the time being...

[@toldinstone]

Yes, still me - and I have no plans to automate anytime soon

[@yikemoo]

I got it, finally can put into words why I like this channel. There's this weird trend of channels that cover this stuff dipping their toes into the woo-woo. Its crazy to me how these people sitting at their desks, who rely on archaeologists for every single piece of knowledge they have about history, to tell you the second they disagree with a mainstream conclusion that archaeology is some vast conspiracy orchestrated to, I'm not even sure they know.

[@Martial-Mat]

We live in an age when people are crapping on hard-earned knowledge, even while standing on its shoulders to do so. Someone no doubt told them that all opinions are valid, and they mistook it to mean all opinions have equal weight. They disgust me.

[@yikemoo]

@@Martial-Mat When did this all go sideways? I know the public conversation was not like this when I was younger. If you talked like a crazy person, people pointed it out and quietly moved away from you. Getting someone of below-average judgment to realize that that's what they are.... impossible task.

[@Martial-Mat]

@@yikemoo The internet allowed these pigeon shouters to find each other, and when they did, it gave them an elevated sense of their own value.

[@BalmforthGG]

Worst narration ever

[@justin8894]

Shafts.

[@PictishPrince]

You assume about the wall of hadrian that it was not destroyed by my ancestors because it was well manned. that wall was only allowed to remain because it was below the land of the people. when antoninus tried to place a wall it was destroyed by them. the wall of hadrian was just there so we would know that they were in their land and not ours.

[@leonardo.1024]

do you know this from written sources? otherwise it sounds like historical nationalism. Are you sure you aren't the one assuming?

[@PictishPrince]

@@leonardo.1024 what is told down from the ancestors is told, what invaders write down as lies are lies.

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

Forgotten ... as they should be. Nothing these psychopaths with engineering skills did is worthy of memory.