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Everybody keeps calling Roman concrete "unbreakable" but forgets one thing
I was looking at a sample from a site near Bath last month and noticed it had pretty obvious cracks. People act like it's some magic formula but they forget it only survived because it was constantly reacting with seawater. The stuff they used for land buildings crumbles just like anything else if groundwater gets in. Has anyone actually tested a dry land Roman structure up close?
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taylorm898d ago
Oh man, I actually got to examine a section of a Roman wall from a dry land site in Germany a few years back. It was from their old fort near Cologne, and let me tell you, the thing was crumbling in spots where winter frost had gotten into the joints. In my experience, the whole "unbreakable" thing is mostly hype from folks who never handled a real weathered sample. The seawater reacting with the lime does create that super tough cement for piers and harbors, but take this with a grain of salt, the on-land stuff is just a decent lime mortar that still needs maintenance. I've seen plenty of old Roman bricks and stones that fell out because the mortar just gave up after enough freeze-thaw cycles. Your mileage may vary, but from what I've looked at up close, calling it unbreakable is a stretch.
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alice8088d ago
Yeah, I totally relate to that. I once tried to impress my history nerd friends by claiming I found a piece of "indestructible" Roman mortar in my backyard, turns out it was just a chunk of old concrete from a 1970s patio my dad poured. So maybe I'm not the best judge of ancient construction, lol.
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