The great inventions of ancient Rome
The top 3 according to 88 votes from people: Trajan's Market · Roads · The cursus publicus. (Updated Jun 14, 2025.)
Concrete still standing 2,000 years later, 400,000 kilometres of roads, underfloor heating, the first newspaper and even a shopping mall: what the Romans invented or perfected. Which was the most important?
Automatically translated (original in Español). See the original
Top 14
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1
Trajan's Market
Around AD 110, more than 150 shops and offices: a shopping mall.
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2
Roads
A network of more than 400,000 kilometres, built in layers.
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3
The cursus publicus
The state postal service, with relay stations to cover up to 80 kilometres a day.
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4
Aqueducts
They carried water to the cities of the Empire using gravity alone.
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5
The Roman arch
It made bridges, aqueducts and great buildings possible.
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6
The hypocaust
Heating with hot air under the floor and inside the walls.
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7
The Acta Diurna
Around 59 BC, public notices posted in the Forum: the first newspaper.
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8
The curule chair
The folding, portable seat of magistrates.
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9
Roman concrete
Lime, water and volcanic ash: structures still standing today.
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10
Insulae
Apartment blocks six or seven storeys high for city dwellers.
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11
The codex
Pages stacked and bound along one edge: the ancestor of the book, replacing the scroll.
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12
The Cloaca Maxima
The great sewer that carried wastewater into the Tiber.
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13
Surgical instruments
Forceps, scalpels and bone drills.
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14
The "bikini"
Mosaics show women exercising in two-piece garments.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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