1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about. There's like this attitude 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: that the world will just keep progressing technological and social 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: developments will keep evolving. But think again. Two thousand years ago, 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: ancient Rome had central heat, thousands of miles of paved roads, 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: clean safe running water, and toilets hooked up to effective sewers. 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: Five hundred years later, it had all vanished, not to 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: return for over a thousand years. I'm Patty Steele. What 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: happens when the world stops advancing? That's next on the backstory. 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: The backstory is back. Most of us take for granted 10 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: that things like central heat, a postal service, clean, clear, 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: safe running water, as well as toilets hooked up to 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: sewers that keep our towns in city water supply fresh 13 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: are always going to be there. Now, imagine living in 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: ancient Rome two thousand years ago and having all those 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: things as well. What central heat sewer systems in ancient Rome. Yeah, 16 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: and it went beyond that. You live in a busy 17 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: Roman city. You're walking on a well paved street, past 18 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: towering aqueducts and grand temples. You decide to drop by 19 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,279 Speaker 1: the local forum, which is the heart of public life. 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: It's a market place where people get together to shop, socialize, gossip, 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: and keep in touch with the news of the day. 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,199 Speaker 1: There are even public libraries and places that are sort 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,119 Speaker 1: of like modern day shopping centers, like Trajan's Market, often 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: called the oldest shopping mall in the world in Rome, 25 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: with stores, offices and a vibrant market place. Roman roads 26 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: were all over the empire, stretching more than two hundred 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: and fifty thousand miles. They were meticulously built, paved with 28 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: stone and with ditches on either side to channel water away. 29 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: The Via Appia was one of the most famous, connecting 30 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: Rome to southern Italy, and it's still in use today. 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: One of Rome's most amazing inventions, it's aqueducts. So it's 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: a hot summer day in ancient Rome and you're thirsty. 33 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: You go to the public fountain, You turn the spout 34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: and outflows crystal clear water from more than fifty miles 35 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: away out of the city. How did he get there? Aqueducts, 36 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: these impressive structures, many of them still standing, were designed 37 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: to bring water into the cities and towns so everybody 38 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: had access to fresh water. Researchers say they were able 39 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,119 Speaker 1: to bring in twice as much water per person as 40 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: most modern American cities supply for residents today. All that 41 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: clean water allowed the population to grow exponentially because they 42 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: didn't get sick from bad water. But where did all 43 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: those people do their business? Well, Romans weren't exactly shy. 44 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: They used public toilets with lots of seats lined up, 45 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: sitting right next to one another. They had hike up 46 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: their togas, sit down and have a chat. Underneath all 47 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: those seats was running water that carried everything away. Another 48 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: amazing invention they had with central heating. Hot water would 49 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: be channeled through passageways under thick plates of stone flooring, 50 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: warming homes during winter months. Radiant heating two thousand years ago. Yeah, 51 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: they had it. And if you really wanted to scrub 52 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: down and get social at the same time, you headed 53 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: to the thermi or Roman baths. They were social hubs with 54 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: hot and cold baths, saunas, exercise areas, even libraries. Some 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: of them could handle up to sixteen hundred bathers at 56 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: a time. Then there's Roman architecture, Oh, spectacularly beautiful, and 57 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: much of it two thousand years later is still standing, 58 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: at least in some way. It involved feats of engineering 59 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: that to this day are hard to duplicate. There's the Colisseum, 60 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: a massive amphitheater which could hold up to eighty thousand spectators, 61 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: and grand temples like the Pantheon with its onspiring dome 62 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: that had no central support and is the world's largest 63 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: unreinforced concrete dome still there today. So here's the question, 64 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: what the heck happened after the fall of Rome in 65 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: four ten AD. Did their incredible innovations just disappear? Well 66 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: for a thousand years. The Dark Ages and Medieval times 67 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: not only saw lack of technological and scientific progress for 68 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: all sorts of reasons. A lot of the advancements in 69 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: plumbing and other inventions from earlier civilizations were basically lost 70 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: or forgotten. It was back to nasty, basic outdoor plumbing, 71 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: which was dirty and inefficient, and that led to major 72 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: plagues and virus outbreaks. There were reasons for the loss 73 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: of all that knowledge and innovation. First, there was the 74 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: loss of the Life Library in Alexandria, Egypt. In forty 75 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: eight BC. Julius Caesar accidentally burned it and suddenly all 76 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: the written knowledge of medicine, engineering, science, geography, history, and 77 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: the arts was gone. Then the collapse of the Roman 78 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: Empire a few centuries later, along with attacks by barbarian tribes, 79 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: led to a huge decline in engineering capabilities in Europe, 80 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: and the focus on religion with the Catholic Church dominating 81 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: society meant scientific and technological pursuits were viewed with suspicion 82 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: and even hostility. The Church believed that knowledge distracted from 83 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: your quest for spiritual enlightenment, so massive libraries full of 84 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: scrolls were burned to the ground. Experts now say that 85 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: ninety percent of Greek and Roman knowledge was lost forever 86 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: during the Dark Ages. In simple terms, that meant no 87 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: central heat, no running water or toilets, no clean water, 88 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: lots of disease, no great architecture. People went back to 89 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: living in huts. So you got to ask yourself, can 90 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: that decline in knowledge and tech happen again? Where would 91 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: that leave us? It's pretty clear that ancient Romans in 92 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: their heyday never suspected their way of life would soon 93 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: disappear for a thousand years or more, and that begs 94 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: the question what's ahead for us? Hope you're enjoying the 95 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: backstory with Patty Steele as much as I enjoyed putting 96 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: it together. Please subscribe, and if you have a story 97 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: that you'd like me to look into and share, just 98 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: dm me on Facebook at Patty Steele or on Instagram 99 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: at Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a 100 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Duran Group, and 101 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer 102 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 103 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 104 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 105 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 106 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: back Story with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you 107 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: didn't know you needed to know.