Roman Empire

Tyrian Purple was the most expensive and rare dye of the ancient world principally because only a small amount of dye could be obtained from each moUusk, roughly 0.12 mg (95). It was always considered a color of distinction and restricted to regal and ecclesiastical uses ia the Eastern Roman Empire, the heir to the throne at By2antium bore the proud name Porphjro-Genitur, bom to the purple. The Hebrews used purple ia many decorations of the Tabernacle (23). 

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the ancient water supplies petered out. In early medieval times, people were content to conduct local water in wooden pipes to public cisterns. The first wooden pipelines for water were laid at Liibeck about 1293 and in 1365 at Nuremberg. In 1412 the Augsburg master builder Leopold Karg first used wrought-iron pipes in conjunction with wooden pipes to supply water. Because of their propensity to corrosion, they seem to have proved a failure and a few years later they were exchanged for wooden, lead, and cast-iron pipes. 

The diffusion of waterpower was initially slow— perhaps due to its relatively high capital costs, its geographical inflexibility, and the abundance of manual labor in both the classical Mediterranean world and m China. Only in the declining days of the Roman Empire, for example, did watermills become the standard means of grinding gram m some areas, displacing animal- and human-powered mills. 

Knowledge of how to tap the energy of wind and water was passed by both the Romans and Han Chinese to their successors. In the conservative eastern realm of the old Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire), little was done to develop either wind power or water power, although Byzautinc vessels did make increased use of lateen sails after the eighth century. On the other hand, the western part of the old Roman Empire, perhaps due to labor shortages, saw a very significant increase in the use of both wind and water power, especially between 900 and 1300. 

In 1784 this freelance diplomat joined the court of Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, and rapidly rose to become head of the ineffectual Bavarian Army. For his contributions to building up Bavaria s defensive strength, in 1793 he was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire and took the name Count Rtimford, since that was the original name of the... 

The constant is called the modulus of elasticity (E) or Young s modulus (defined by Thomas Young in 1807 although the concept was used by others that included the Roman Empire and Chinese-BC), the elastic modulus, or just the modulus. This modulus is the straight line slope of the initial portion of the stress-strain curve, normally expressed in terms such as MPa or GPa (106 psi or Msi). A... 

The discovery of silk in China occurred many centuries BC, and by the time of the Roman empire, silk fabric was a prized trade commodity. The caravan routes across Asia became known as the Silk Roads. It is estimated that nearly 90% of the imports into the Roman Empire consisted of silk goods. 

Hippocrates mentioned elder as a purgative around 400 B.C. Pliny (circa 2379 A.D.) recorded the use of elder by the Romans. Pedanius Dioscorides, a first-century army surgeon who traveled throughout the Roman Empire, also wrote about the medical value of elder. Elder was widely used in the early Italian medical schools. 

Nummedal, Tara E. "Adepts and artisans alchemical practice in the Holy Roman Empire, 1550-1620." PhD thesis, Stanford Univ., 2001. 

Nummedal, Tara E. "Practical alchemy and commercial exchange in the Holy Roman Empire." In Merchants and marvels commerce and the representation of Nature in early modern Europe, eds. Paula Findlen and Pamela H. Smith, 201-222. New York Routledge, 2002. 

In The Business of Alchemy, Pamela Smith explores the relationships among alchemy, the court, and commerce in order to illuminate the cultural history of the Holy Roman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In showing how an overriding concern with religious salvation was transformed into a concentration on material increase and economic policies, Smith depicts the rise of modern science and early capitalism. In pursuing this narrative, she focuses on that ideal prey of the cultural historian, an intellectual of the second rank whose career and ideas typify those of a generation. Smith follows the career of Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) from university to court, his... 

Smith, Pamela H. The business of alchemy science and culture in the Holy Roman Empire. 1994 reprint, Princeton (NJ) Princeton Univ P, 1997. xii, 308 p. ISBN 0-691-01599-6... 

Smith, Pamela H. "Alchemy, credit, and the commerce of words and things Johann Joachim Becher at the courts of the Holy Roman Empire, 1635-82." PhD thesis, Johns Hopkins Univ, 1991. 

Cook, Harold John. Review of The business of alchemy Science and culture in the Holy Roman Empire, by Pamela H. Smith. In Studs Hist Philos Sci 27, no. 3 (Sep 1996) 387-396.. ... 

FIGURE 38 Lead coffin. Lead coffin (first—third centuries c.E.) from Jerusalem, Israel. Lead, widely used in many ancient civilizations, was one of the first metals to be recovered from its ores. Lead objects date back from as early as the seventh century b.c.e. In Mesopotamia molten lead was used to fasten bolts and shafts into masonry. In Syria it was made into rods used as currency, and in Greece it was cast into coins. During the Roman Empire the use of lead become so widespread that the health hazards caused by lead exposure are suspected to have been one of the factors affecting the fall of the Roman Empire. Since it is very resistant to corrosion, lead was also used by the Romans, for making coffins as the one illustrated. 

The ancient Egyptians used lead as early as the fourth millennium b.c.e. Later, the Romans developed and expanded the use of lead during the Roman Empire to impressive levels, so lead is often referred to as the Roman metal. The large-scale use of the metal most probably caused considerable environmental contamination of food, drink, and the atmosphere (Nriagu 1983). 

Roman and later period may have been very limited, and confined to places in the Near East where there is a good supply of natron and suitable sand (Freestone et al., 2008). In the absence of any archaeological evidence, however, the actual locations of any major sites of Roman glass making remain unknown - a fact which, given the ubiquity of glass in the Roman empire, is little short of astonishing. 

Caley, E.R. (1964). Orichalcum and Related Ancient Alloys Origins, Composition and Manufacture with Special Reference to the Coinage Of The Roman Empire. Notes and Monographs No. 151, American Numismatic Society, New York. 

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