The ancient Romans were known for their extraordinary engineering and building skills, standing as a will for their expertise with their prestigious aquadects. These permanent structures were made possible by a unique material, known as a poseol concrete, which played an important role in their incredible strength and longevity.
The most famous Roman structures are Pantheen, which is a building of about 2,000 years old, which still holds records for the world’s largest dome, made of unnatural concrete. The mystery of the durability of these structures has long been attributed to the structure of their concrete-pozolana, which has been mixed with a volcano, lime, a volcano found in the Italian city of Pozuoli. When combined with water, these materials form a remarkable strong concrete.
However, recent research has shown that the story behind the Roman concrete is more complex than before. In 2023, an international team of researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that not only the materials used in Roman concrete were slightly different from the previous beliefs, but the technique of mixing them was also unique.
“Ever since I have started working with ancient Roman concrete for the first time, I have always been thrilled with these characteristics,” MIT Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Admi Messic Said in a news release“These are not found in modern solid yogas, so why are they present in these ancient materials?”
The first was disregarded as evidence of dirty mixture practices, or bad-quality raw materials, new studies suggest that these small lime clasts gave the concrete a self-healing ability to be already identified. “The idea that the presence of these lime clasts was attributed only to low quality control, always harassed me,” says Masi.
“If the Romans tried so much in creating an excellent construction material, then why would all the detailed recipes that were adapted to many centuries, why would they make so much effort to ensure the production of a well -mixed final product? There is much more for this story.
