The Advanced Tech of The Roman Empire

This may look like an ordinary clay jar, but inside it hides a mechanism 1,800 years ahead of its time. When you add a coin to the jar, it automatically dispenses just the right amount of wine or holy water. But how did a vending machine exist during the Roman Empire, long before the modern version was even imagined? While most people know the Roman Empire for its infrastructure and strong leadership, the Empire also quietly developed technologies so advanced they still impress us to this day. In this video, we're uncovering the advanced tech of the Roman Empire. All from completely automated doors to self-healing concrete that modern scientists only recently could explain. To understand how advanced technology was under the Roman Empire, we need to meet one man. Hero of Alexandria. An engineer, inventor, the Tony Stark of the Roman Empire, if you will. Hero was born Greek, but lived in Alexandria, a part of the Roman Empire at the time. His inventions were way ahead of their time, and it's hard to believe Hero isn't as well-known as Leonardo da Vinci. Some of his most astonishing creations are hidden in plain sight, just as seen in the technology behind this Roman temple. A priest walks up to the entrance. He pauses before the heavy bronze doors, then lights a small fire on an altar beside the entrance. Without a single touch from human hands, the temple doors slowly swing open. This isn't magic. It's a part of Hero's impressive design. Beneath the altar, water and air were sealed in a hidden container. When the fire was lit, it heated the air, which expanded and built up pressure. The pressure pushed the water through a pipe into a different container. As this container was filled with water, the increased weight pulled it down. The container was connected to two ropes, tightened around two poles. And when turned, the doors would open automatically. When the fire was put out, the air cooled, the pressure dropped, and the water flowed back to its original container through negative pressure. The doors slowly closed as the system reset itself. And if you think this was impressive, just wait until you see how the Romans could tell time by just using water and gravity. But first, let's see how the Romans almost entered the Industrial Revolution nearly 2,000 years before it actually happened. Rome changed human history forever. But this invention might have been their greatest missed opportunity. The steam engine. An invention so powerful it would later ignite the Industrial Revolution and reshape the modern world. And yet, the Romans dismissed it. Behind the invention, of course, was Hero of Alexandria. Among his many creations, the aeolipile stands out, and it was in fact the first documented reaction steam turbine in history. The machine consisted of a hollow metal sphere with one nozzle on each side, mounted on pivoting tubes. Beneath it was a sealed kettle lifted from the ground. The purpose was to heat the kettle from below. When the fire was lit, the water inside the kettle boiled and the steam rose up through the two pipes, all the way into the sphere. With nowhere to escape, the steam would have to go through the nozzles, forcing the sphere to spin. It worked. A functioning steam engine in the first century. Something that wasn't reinvented until 1712. But people saw it as a spectacle rather than a machine for work. Unknowingly, he had stumbled upon the core principle that would shape the world into the modern era. But the next invention on the list was completely unexplained for even longer, and scientists couldn't figure it out until 2023. There are multiple examples of modern concrete structures that have crumbled after just a few decades. Yet some of the most remarkable Roman buildings still stand nearly 2,000 years later. But how? The answer almost sounds like magic. They used self-healing concrete. MIT researchers worked to solve this mystery for years. And when they finally figured it out, they realized something incredible. What seemed like low-quality mixing of the concrete turned out to be very intentional and actually the key to its incredible lifespan. Because Roman engineers weren't just creating regular concrete. They combined volcanic ash, volcanic tephra, sand, quicklime, and water. But the materials used weren't the only unconventional part of the process. They mixed the concrete under high temperatures, a method called hot mixing. Water is the most common cause of weaknesses in regular concrete. But the Roman mixture didn't just resist water, it reacted with it. When cracks formed and moisture seeped in, chunks of lime inside the concrete dissolved and triggered a chemical reaction, creating a calcium-saturated solution that flowed into the cracks, essentially gluing the structure back together. When MIT researchers recreated the Roman concrete, they caused damage to the structure and added water to the cracks. The results were astonishing. The cracks completely healed all by themselves within only two weeks. This allowed Romans to break free from basic stone and brick structures, unlocking architectural design that seemed impossible for the time. Like the Pantheon, which is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. A building so advanced, modern engineers still study it today. The same self-healing concrete was used in Rome's vast aqueduct system, carrying something as essential as water over 400 kilometers across complicated terrain. Something else that's essential is time. But how did they keep track of time before electricity? Well, they of course used the sun. But this method of timekeeping had many flaws. To find the solution to this problem, we have to move even further back in time. Actually, even before the Roman Empire. But this invention turned out to be so influential, I had to include it in the video. It was Tisibeus, a Greek inventor living in Alexandria, who set out to solve this problem. One cloudy day, Tisibeus wondered what time it was and went outside to check the sundial. But without the sun, the sundial was useless. So Tisibeus came up with a better idea. He designed a clock so advanced, it would take history centuries to catch up. Although Tisibeus lived in Egypt before the Roman Empire ruled in Alexandria, his invention greatly influenced the Romans. Without the luxury of electricity, Tisibeus designed the first automated clock powered only by gravity and flow. The clock had two containers. The first container was filled up to give the second container a constant flow of water. As the level water rose, it pushed a float that moved a dial marking the current time on a chart. At the end of the day, the water would reach the top of the container. But instead of spilling over, the excess water would leave the container through a siphon, which reset the clock and made it track a new day. But to Tisibeus, this was a simple mechanic that only solved part of the problem. He knew that seasons would affect the length of sun time throughout the day. To account for this, the water would move through the siphon and spill over to a water wheel. With the smart use of gears, the time chart would rotate to adjust for a new day. This made Tisibeus' clock incredibly accurate for its time. If you want to learn more about this ancient clock, I'd recommend you take a look at Deconstructed's video, where they go into much more detail. By the way, I've made posters and designs for all the historical innovations seen in this video. For example, this poster breaking down the smallest Roman lock ever discovered, which you'll see later in this video. I hope these will work as a conversation starter for history fans out there. Everything's available now at lostintime.io, including old restored maps from hundreds of years ago. And if you join the newsletter, you'll get 15% off your entire order. Now, back to the video. Feeding some of the largest cities in ancient Europe took more than just farming. It took serious engineering. The demand for food led the Romans to create a factory, 1,500 years before the word factory even existed. In the south of France, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a massive flour mill complex, capable of producing up to 25 tons of flour each day. It had 16 water wheels, all lined up downhill, powered by flowing water from two aqueducts. This wasn't some clever village invention. This was industrial-scale food production. Maybe the first production line in history. The wheels worked in sequence, one powering the next, creating a continuous chain of motion. Each water wheel turned heavy millstones inside each building. Grain was poured into the millstones. The stones ground it into flour before workers backed the finished product and transported it to the city. It took an estimated 30 people to run the whole production. That's nearly 1,000 kilos of flour per worker, every single day. But not every Roman invention was huge in scale. This is a Coca-Cola cap. And no, Romans didn't invent Coca-Cola. But behind it hides a recent discovery so small, it's hard to believe they could make it without advanced machinery. In 2023, German dectorist Konstantin Fried made his biggest discovery to date. In a quiet field in Petershagen-Friel, three hours south of Hamburg, Konstantin discovered a lock. But not just any lock. A Roman lock. And it was made of gold. The mechanism was mostly intact, even after 1,600 years underground. Insert a key, turn it, and the internal mechanism would release a chain, very similar to how a modern padlock operates. That is impressive on its own. But when it's half the size of a Coca-Cola cap, it's just unbelievable that it was made without modern technology. This really shows the high level of craftsmanship the Roman locksmiths were capable of. All of that engineering, miniaturized. The lock was likely used on a small chest or a jewelry box. And thanks to a surviving chain link, experts were able to recreate a historically accurate version, four times larger than the original. It's the smallest Roman lock ever discovered. And if you think this one was cool, check out the poster in the store. It really helps me create better content for you. Let's get back to our good friend, Hero of Alexandria. And sometimes it feels like he could see the future. Because he also built what was effectively the world's first vending machine. But instead of dispensing soda or snacks, it served something far more sacred. Holy water and wine. By inserting a coin, wine would start pouring by itself. But how did this work long before electricity? When you add a coin to the top of the jar, the coin lands in a pan, directly linked to a counterweight. Gradually, the coin tilts a lever, opening a valve. Once the valve opens, wine pours out and fills up your cup. The coin then slides off the pan and into the bottom of the jar, again closing the valve and stopping the flow of wine. It was a truly genius invention for the time. But the vending machine didn't stay popular for long. It wasn't until almost 1800 years later that Hero's idea was revisited once again. First with a newspaper dispenser in 1822, followed by postcard and chewing gum dispensers a few years later. Today, vending machines are a global business and a significant revenue source for brands around the world. The Romans were way ahead of their time, and it's hard to believe how they created all of this with such limited resources. Speaking of making magic with limited resources, check out my other videos, where I break down how they made movie magic in the 1920s. 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