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Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by basetop on Saturday April 27, 2019 @12:18PM (#19766251)
That's the exact opposite of what my history professor said. He said we only have a tiny fraction of roman documents and most of roman history has been "lost to history". Almost all the writings of romans has been lost and "roman history" is the surviving writings of caesar and a handful of other writers. Granted those writings are great works of art, but still, it's an extremely biased and unreliable account of history.

Now that doesn't mean that the romans crossed the atlantic. It just means we know so little of the past that it is embarrassing.

Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by thinkloop on Saturday April 27, 2019 @01:10PM (#19766501)
A good example is we don't even know the details of how Roman concrete was made (apparently much stronger than modern concrete), and it was used to build everything.
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by CitizenKane on Saturday April 27, 2019 @02:33PM (#19766926)
Not trying to just jump in an correct you, but there has actually been progress recently made in this area and we're starting to get a scientific understanding of what the Romans learned to do presumably through trial and error. Here's an article I found on the subject, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/04/why-roman-co...
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by meddlepal on Saturday April 27, 2019 @01:15PM (#19766524)
We know how to make Roman concrete. Way may not know the exact historical techniques but we know chemical and material science behind it and can produce it using different methods.
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by blago on Saturday April 27, 2019 @02:15PM (#19766848)
My understanding is that modern concrete is stronger (rebar), ancient concrete was more durable (Pantheon, 126 AD).
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by felipemnoa on Saturday April 27, 2019 @03:20PM (#19767146)
It is the rebar that makes it stronger but unfortunately it is also what gives modern concrete such a tiny lifespan. If you want something to last millennia it is better to build it the Roman way, without rebar.
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by pfdzm on Sunday April 28, 2019 @06:55AM (#19770428)
I respectfully disagree - the design goals are vastly different between ancient Rome and today. There is no reason one couldn't build something that would last milennia, it is simply not economically feasible (and you would have a hard time securing investors).
Re:Underwater Exploring Is Banned in Brazil (1985) by daniel-cussen on Sunday April 28, 2019 @07:00PM (#19774339)
> it is simply not economically feasible (and you would have a hard time securing investors).

So are Romans really behind us, or are we behind them? We seem bound by the forces of compound interest to never make something durable. But somehow they were capable of it.