Roman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible for almost three quarters of a millennium (753 BC–476 AD).

Reproduced Roman-style wax tablet, from which the codex evolved. Courtesy of WikiCommons.

1. Book/Codex- First mentioned by Martial in the 1st Century AD. A codex (Latin caudex for “trunk of a tree” or block of wood, book; plural codices) is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper,vellum, papyrus, or similar materials, with hand-written content. The Romans developed the form from wooden writing tablets.

The Great Cameo of France, five layers sardonyx, Rome, ca 23 A.D., the largest of Antiquity. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Cameos- a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image.

Aeolipile. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Steam Engine – The earliest known rudimentary steam engine and reaction steam turbine, the aeolipile, is described by a Greek mathematician and engineer named Hero of Alexandria.Steam ejected tangentially from nozzles caused a pivoted ball to rotate. Its thermal efficiency was low.

Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison), with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). The invention of glassblowing coincided with the establishment of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, which enhanced the spread and dominance of this new technology.^[4][21] Glassblowing was greatly supported by the Roman government (although Roman citizens could not be “in trade”, in particular under the reign of Augustus), and glass was being blown in many areas of the Roman world.

Roman Surgery Tools. Courtesy of WikiCommons.

Surgery Tools-  A variety of surgical procedures were carried out using many different instruments including forceps, scalpels and catheters. These tools were discovered in Pompeii. You can learn more about these instruments (here).

*Information and Images courtesy of Wikipedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, and Britannica Encyclopedia.