The wonderful wheel
The Roman waterwheel
A waterwheel was built by Henry and John Russell in an attempt to copy the remains of a wheel at Dolaucothi in Wales, which appears to have been used to pump water out of the gold mine.
The reconstructed wheel was twelve feet high and one foot wide, and when I got it going by walking up the outside like a treadmill, I was able to lift a bathful of water - 150 litres - every minute. According to the experts this is about twice the amount the Romans would have lifted. However, I'm a heavy chap and was only just able to lift this much water. A puny British slave of 1800 years ago certainly would not have been heavy enough.
'The big cogwheel rotated exactly once every Roman mile, and at this point a small stone - a calculus - dropped into a box.'
A Roman odometer
Therefore it seems likely that the Roman wheel was only about eight inches wide, rather than a foot. Also I could only operate the wheel for a couple of minutes before collapsing for a rest, whereas the slave would probably have been expected to carry on for hours, even in the dark and underground.
Roman latrines
The Russell brothers also built the most wonderful wine press, a Roman fire pump, with which we managed to put out a small fire, and weirdest of all a Roman odometer, to measure the distance travelled along a road. Each time the four-foot wheel turned, it engaged once with a cogwheel carrying 400 teeth. This meant that the big cogwheel rotated exactly once every Roman mile, and at this point a small stone - a calculus - dropped into a box. So at the end of the trip count the calculi and you know how many miles you have covered!
I am amazed at how efficient the Romans were as engineers and organisers. They were not brilliant innovators, and in the 400 years that they occupied Britain they failed to make many technological advances. However, the might of the Roman empire stemmed from the brilliant use they made of the technology they brought with them. And for me, pride of place among the technology must go to that waterwheel at Dolaucothi and those latrines on Hadrian's Wall.
NextPrevious
Published: 2001-06-01
Bookmark with:
What are these?