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Aqueduct

Aqueduct

:This article is about the structure aqueduct, for the racecourse see Aqueduct Racetrack. Aqueduct Racetrack, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC, it is one of France's top tourist attractions at over 1.4 million visitors per year, and a World Heritage Site.]] An aqueduct is an artificial (man-made) channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another. The word derives from the Latin words aqua, "water", and ducere, "to lead". Many aqueducts are raised above the landscape, resembling bridges rather than rivers. Sufficiently large aqueducts may also be usable by ships. They are similar to viaducts, but carry water instead of a road or railway. While a road bridge often carries the roadway at a more elevated level than the rest of the road, such a variation of height is not possible for an aqueduct.

History

Although famously associated with the Ancient Romans, aqueducts were devised centuries earlier in the Middle East, where peoples such as the Babylonians and Egyptians built sophisticated irrigation systems. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as the 7th century BC, when the Assyrians built a limestone aqueduct 30 feet (10 m) high and 900 feet (300 m) long to carry water across a valley to their capital city, Nineveh. The full length of the aqueduct ran for 50 miles (80 km). The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself had the largest concentration, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of 500 years. Their combined length was nearly 260 miles (350 km). However, only 29 miles (47 km) were above ground, as most Roman aqueducts were constructed below the surface. The Eifel Aqueduct in Germany provides a very well-preserved example of this type. This method of conveyance helped to keep the water free from disease (the carcasses of animals would not be able to get into the aqueduct) and helped protect them from enemy attack. The longest Roman aqueduct, 87 miles (141 km) in length, was built in the 2nd century AD to supply Carthage in what is now Tunisia. Roman aqueducts were extremely sophisticated constructions. They were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and of a technological standard that was not to be equaled for over 1000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. For example, the aqueduct of Pont du Gard in Provence had a gradient of only 34 cm per km (1:3,000), descending only 17 m vertically in its entire length of 31 miles (50 km). Powered entirely by gravity, they transported very large amounts of water very efficiently (the Pont du Gard carried 20,000 cubic meters a day). Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 m had to be crossed, gravity pressurised pipelines called inverted siphons were used to force water uphill (although they almost always used venter bridges as well). Modern hydraulic engineers use similar techniques to enable sewers and water pipes to cross depressions. sewer.]] Much of the expertise of the Roman engineers was lost in the Dark Ages, and in Europe the construction of aqueducts largely ceased until the 19th century. Water was instead usually supplied through the digging of wells, though this could cause serious public health problems when local water supplies became contaminated. One notable exception was the New River, a man-made waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water over a distance of 38 miles (62 km). The development of canals provided another spur to aqueduct building. However, it was not until the 19th century that aqueduct building resumed on a large scale to supply fast-growing cities and water-hungry industries. The developments of new materials (such as cast iron) and new technologies (such as steam power) enabled significant improvements to be made. For instance, cast iron permitted the construction of larger, more highly pressurised inverted siphons, while steam- and electrically-powered pumps enabled a major increase in the quantity and speed of water flow. England led the world in aqueduct construction, with notable examples being built to convey water to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The largest aqueducts of all have been built in the United States to supply that country's biggest cities. The Catskill Aqueduct carries water to New York over a distance of 120 miles (190 km), but it is dwarfed by aqueducts in the far west of the country, most notably the Colorado River Aqueduct, which supplies the Los Angeles area with water from the Colorado River nearly 250 miles (400 km) to the east. Although such aqueducts are undoubtedly great engineering achievements, the huge quantity of water that they transport has resulted in serious environmental damage from the depletion of river water.

Uses of aqueducts

Colorado River, Japan]] Historically, many agricultural societies have constructed aqueducts to irrigate crops. Archimedes invented the water screw to raise water for use in irrigation of croplands. Another widespread use for aqueducts is to supply large cities with clean drinking water. Some of the famed Roman aqueducts still supply water to Rome today. In California, USA, three large aqueducts supply water over hundreds of miles to the Los Angeles area. Two are from the Owens River area and a third is from the Colorado River. In more recent times, aqueducts were used for transportation purposes to allow canal barges to cross ravines or valleys. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, many aqueducts were constructed as part of the general boom in canal-building. In modern civil engineering projects, detailed study and analysis of open channel flow is commonly required to support flood control, irrigation systems, and large water supply systems when an aqueduct rather than a pipeline is the preferred solution. The aqueduct is a simple way to get water to other ends of a field.

Notable aqueducts

Navigable aqueducts


- aqueduct near Roelofarendsveen, Netherlands: carries the Ringvaart canal over the A4 highway and the HSL being constructed, which are situated on land below the level of the canal (and below sea level)
- Gouwe aqueduct, near Gouda, Netherlands: carries the Gouwe river over the A12 highway, which is on land below the level of the river
- Benjamin Outram's 44ft-long single-span Holmes Aqueduct on the Derby Canal in Derby was the world's first navigable cast iron aqueduct, narrowly predating Thomas Telford's 186ft-long Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on the Shrewsbury Canal, sometimes described as the world's first large-scale navigable cast iron aqueduct.
- the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee in north Wales, and was designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1805.
- the Union Canal in Scotland has many aqueducts, including the Slateford Aqueduct that takes the canal over the Water of Leith, the Almond Aqueduct over the River Almond at Ratho and the very impressive Avon Aqueduct over the River Avon. This is the second longest aqueduct in the United Kingdom.
- in recent years the building of the Lichfield Aqueduct prompted the UK government to pass legislation preventing a road being built in the path of a canal being renovated without providing a tunnel or aqueduct for it to pass.
- The Bridgewater Canal is carried across the lower Manchester Ship Canal by the Barton Swing Aqueduct - a form of swing bridge. A 234ft section of the aqueduct rotates through 90 degrees to allow vessels to pass along the Ship Canal.
- The Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany connects the Elbe-Havel canal to the important Mittellandkanal. Nearly 1km long, it is the longest Water Bridge in Europe.

Ancient Greek aqueducts


- The Eupalinian aqueduct on the Greek island of Samos. An ancient subterranean aqueduct.

Roman aqueducts

Samos. Roman aqueduct.]] Samos, Turkey]]
- The Pont du Gard in southern France
- Barbegal aqueduct, France
- Eifel aqueduct, Germany
- Caesarea Palaestina, Israel
- Segovia, Spain
- Mérida, Spain
- Tarragona, Spain
- Valens aqueduct, Istanbul, Turkey
- Aqua Augusta, Italy

Other aqueducts


- Aqueduct of Teruel, Spain
- Central Arizona Project Aqueduct
- Chirk Aqueduct, Wales - built between 1796 and 1801
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wales - built between 1795 and 1805
- Roquefavour aqueduct, France - built between 1842 and 1847
- Aqueduct St-Clément, Montpellier, France - 17th century
- Winnipeg Aqueduct, Manitoba, Canada - built between 1913 and 1919

See also


- Irrigation
- Water resources
- Leat
- Roman architecture
- Viaduct - a similar structure to carry a roadway

External links and references


- [http://aquaduct.hobbysite.info/ Everything about aqueducts]
- Sextus Iulius Frontinus, [http://www.uvm.edu/~rrodgers/Frontinus.html De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae] (On the water management of the city of Rome), Translated by R. H. Rodgers, 2003, University of Vermont
- [http://aquaduct.hobbysite.info/ Website about aqueducts]
- [http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome/ Imperial Rome Water Systems]
- [http://www.dl.ket.org/latin3/mores/aqua/rome.htm Roman Aqueducts Today]
- [http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/APO_ARN/AQUEDUCT_Lat_aqua_water_and_duc.html "Aqueduct"] from Encyclopedia Britannica 1911.
- [http://www.cs.uu.nl/~wilke/ 600 roman aqueducts with 25 descriptions in detail]
-

Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack, known as the Big A, is a horse racetrack in the neighborhood of Ozone Park in Queens, New York.

History

It was opened in 1894 and rebuilt in 1959, with additional renovations made in 2001. It is the one racetrack located within the New York City limits. Belmont Park -- also operated by the New York Racing Association -- is located outside the city, in Nassau County. (Some of Belmont's adjoining parking facilities and the Belmont train station are in Queens). Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York is a half mile oval harness racing located in Westchester County, NY, just north of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The track itself has three courses: The Main Track (dirt) has a circumference of 1 1/8 miles (1811 m); inside of this is the Inner Dirt Track (consisting of a special type of dirt over which races are run during the winter months), which is exactly one mile (1609 m) long; and the innermost course is a turf (grass) course, spanning 7 furlongs plus 43 feet (1421 m). Before 1976, the Inner Dirt Track was a turf course and it was known as the Main Turf Course, with the lone present turf course bearing the name of the Inner Turf Course; following the conclusion of racing in 1975 the grass on the Main Turf Course was uprooted and the Inner Dirt Track took its place to permit year-round racing. (In the first few years after Aqueduct was rebuilt in 1959 the track lay idle from early November until April 1; by 1971 this period had been reduced to from shortly before Christmas until March 1, and in the latter year off-track betting began in New York City, creating a demand for horse racing to be contested in the region throughout the year). In fall 2005, work began on the construction of a casino in the Aqueduct grandstand, leading up to the eventual installation of 4500 video lottery terminals. Today a single meeting is held annually at Aqueduct; it typically begins on the last Wednesday in October and runs all the way through the first Sunday in May. Races are run on the Inner Dirt Track between the second Wednesday in December and the third Sunday in March in most years. Prior to 1977, a summer meeting was also conducted at Aqueduct, running from mid-June to the end of July. From 1963 through 1967, races normally run at Belmont Park (including the Belmont Stakes) were run at Aqueduct instead while Belmont's grandstand was being rebuilt. Today few important races are run at Aqueduct, mainly due to the unfavorable weather conditions that prevail during its racing season; however the prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup was usually run there between 1958 and 1974, and what was perhaps the track's most distinctive race, the marathon, 2¼ mile (3621 m) Display Handicap, was last contested in 1990. The track did play host to the second ever Breeders' Cup, in 1985. Every weekend, a flea market is run in the racetrack's north parking lot. Pope John Paul II said mass in front of a large crowd at Aqueduct in October, 1995.

Physical Attributes

The track itself has three courses: The Main Track (dirt) has a circumference of 1 1/8 miles (1811 m); inside of this is the Inner Dirt Track (consisting of a special type of dirt over which races are run during the winter months), which is exactly one mile (1609 m) long; and the innermost course is a turf (grass) course, spanning 7 furlongs plus 43 feet (1421 m). The track has seating capacity of 17,000 but total capacity of 90,000. Eventually 4500 video lottery terminals will be installed at Aqueduct.

Racing

The following graded stakes are run at Aqueduct:
- Grade 1 CARTER HANDICAP
- Grade 1 CIGAR MILE HANDICAP
- Grade 1 WOOD MEMORIAL STAKES
- Grade 2 COMELY STAKES
- Grade 2 DEMOISELLE STAKES
- Grade 2 DISTAFF BREEDERS' CUP HANDICAP
- Grade 2 LONG ISLAND HANDICAP
- Grade 2 RED SMITH HANDICAP
- Grade 2 REMSEN STAKES
- Grade 2 TOP FLIGHT HANDICAP
- Grade 3 AQUEDUCT HANDICAP
- Grade 3 ATHENIA HANDICAP
- Grade 3 BAY SHORE STAKES
- Grade 3 BEAUGAY HANDICAP
- Grade 3 BED O' ROSES BREEDERS' CUP HANDICAP
- Grade 3 CICADA STAKES
- Grade 3 EXCELSIOR BREEDERS' CUP HANDICAP
- Grade 3 FORT MARCY HANDICAP
- Grade 3 GOTHAM STAKES
- Grade 3 GRAVESEND HANDICAP
- Grade 3 KNICKERBOCKER HANDICAP
- Grade 3 NASHUA STAKES
- Grade 3 NEXT MOVE HANDICAP
- Grade 3 QUEENS COUNTY HANDICAP
- Grade 3 STUYVESANT HANDICAP
- Grade 3 TEMPTED STAKES
- Grade 3 TOBOGGAN HANDICAP
- Grade 3 TURNBACK THE ALARM HANDICAP
- Grade 3 VALLEY STREAM STAKES
- Grade 3 WITHERS STAKES

External links


- [http://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/ Official Site] Category:New York City sports Category:Horse racing venues in the United States

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. For several centuries, the Romans controlled the whole of Western Europe, as well as the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and some of the area surrounding the Black Sea. Black Sea]]

History

Monarchy

Black Sea The city of Rome grew from settlements on and around the Palatine Hill, approximately eighteen miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the river Tiber. At this location the Tiber has an island where the river can be forded. Because of the river and the ford, Rome was at a crossroads of traffic and trade. In Roman legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC, by Romulus who, along with his brother Remus was suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over where their new city should be located. Romulus, whose name is said to have inspired Rome's name, was the first of seven Kings of Rome, the last of whom, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 510 BC or 509 BC when the Roman Republic was established. The mythical or semi-mythical kings are (in chronological order): Romulus, Numa Pompilius (Good King Numa), Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud).

Republic

Tarquinius Superbus The Roman Republic was established around 509 BC, according to later writers such as Titus Livius (Livy), when the king was driven out, and a system based on annually elected magistrates was established in the monarchy's place. The most important were the two consuls, who between them exercised executive authority, but had to contend with the Senate, which grew in size and power with the establishment of the Republic. The magistracies were originally restricted to patricians but were later opened to plebeians. The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, mostly related Italic tribes (of Indo-European stock) such as the Samnites and Sabines, but also the Etruscans. The last threat to Roman hegemony in Italy came when Tarentum, a major Greek colony, enlisted the aid of Pyrrhus of Epirus in 282 BC. The Romans secured their conquests by founding Roman colonies in strategic places. In the second half of the 3rd century BC, Rome clashed with Carthage in the first two Punic wars. These wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests, of Sicily and Iberia, and the rise of Rome as a significant imperial power. After defeating Macedon and the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, the Romans became the undisputed masters of the Mediterranean. Internal strife now became the greatest threat to the Republic. The Senate, jealous of its own power, repeatedly blocked important land reforms. An unintended consequence of Gaius Marius's military reforms was that soldiers often had more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general, such as Marius or his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla, could hold the city and Senate to ransom. In the mid-1st century BC three men, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, formed a secret pact (the First Triumvirate) to control the Republic. After the conquest of Gaul a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to civil war, with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious and was made dictator for life. After Caesar's assassination a Second Triumvirate, consisting of Caesar's designated heir Octavian and his former supporters Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, took power, but its members soon descended into a struggle for dominance. Lepidus was exiled to Circeii after attempting to coerce the highest position in the government through empty threats against Rome. When Octavian defeated Antony and queen Cleopatra of Egypt at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC he became the undisputed master of Rome. He assumed almost absolute power while retaining the pretence of Republican form of government. His designated successor, Tiberius, took power without bloodshed.

Empire

Tiberius, in AD 14, and in AD 117.]] After the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, the Empire was ruled by his relatives, the Julio-Claudian dynasty until the death of Nero in 69. The territorial expansion of the state continued and the empire remained secure despite some incompetent emperors. Their rule was followed by the Flavian dynasty. During the reign of the Five Good Emperors (AD 96-180) the Empire reached its zenith in terms of territory, economy and culture. The state was secure from both internal and external threats and the Pax Romana created prosperity. With the conquest of Dacia during the reign of Trajan the Empire saw the peak of its territorial expansion, at which point it covered 2.5 million square miles. The period between 180 and 235 was dominated by the rule of the Severan dynasty. The period saw some of the most incompetent rulers in the history of the Empire, Elagabalus being one of the most notorious ones. This and the increasing influence of the army to imperial succession were among the main reasons for a long period known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century. The crisis was ended by the competent rule of Diocletian, who in 293 divided the Empire into four parts ruled by two co-emperors, both aided by a junior emperor. This period is known as the Tetrarchy, and was the basis of the later East-West division of the Empire. The various co-rulers of the Empire competed and fought for supremacy for more than half a century. In 330 emperor Constantine I moved the capital to Byzantium. The empire was permanently divided into Eastern (Byzantine) and Western Empire in 364. The Western Empire was constantly harassed by barbarian invasions. In 410 the city of Rome itself was sacked. In 476 the Germanic chief Odoacer forced the last Roman emperor in the West, Romulus Augustus, to abdicate. Having lasted for approximately 1200 years the rule of Rome in the West came to an end. The Empire survived in the East as the Byzantine Empire.

Causes for the downfall of the Empire

:Main article: Decline of the Roman Empire The study of the Decline of the Roman Empire is a classic field of study in History. There are numerous theories as to the main cause for the decline, many of which are not mutually exclusive.
- According to a classic theory presented by Edward Gibbon in his book "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (1788), Rome succumbed to barbarian invasions because of a loss of civic virtue among its citizens.
- Henri Pirenne published the "Pirenne Thesis" in the 1920s which holds that the Empire continued, in some form, up until the the Arab conquests, which disrupted trade routes, and thereby the European economy.
- A theory pioneered by Peter Brown maintains that the Empire never "fell", but transformed in a gradual process into medieval Europe.
- Historians such as Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the Empire itself was a rotten system from its inception. The Romans had no budgetary system and relied on booty from conquered territories or on a pattern of taxation that bankrupted small-scale farmers. Financial needs continued to increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded.
- The historian Vegetius theorised and has recently been supported by Arther Ferrill that the Empire declined and as a result fell, due to a combination of increasing 'barbarization', as well as a surge in decadence and the following lethargy.
- Peter Turchin in War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations (2005) contends that empires, including Rome, fell because of inequalities within society resulting a lack of internal cooperation.

Legacy

Rome produced great generals, lawyers, and engineers, but no mathematicians or scientists and few artists of note. The legacy of Rome is primarily in the areas of language, law, warfare, and engineering.

Successor states

After the fall of the city of Rome and the Western Empire the state continued its existence as the Byzantine Empire, which is conventionally treated as a separate entity in history books. In addition, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia have claimed the "Roman" legacy after the fall of Constantinople (See Third Rome).

Military legacy

Before Rome, armies generally fought on the field of battle nature provided. The Romans built roads for troop movement, dug trenches, built seige engines, and introduced many other improvements in the art of war. It made them invincible, for a time. Generals today still study the Roman methods of waging war.

Linguistic legacy

One of the most enduring legacies of Rome is linguistic: Romance languages that evolved from Latin spoken in the Roman Empire are now spoken widely in Europe and Latin America, such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Moldovan amongst others. Although English is a Germanic language, many English words derive from Latin roots, either directly from Roman occupation or through intermediary successor languages such as French. Latin remains the official language of the Vatican City and is studied and understood by scholars around the world. However, fluent speech in Latin is very rare in present day. This is mainly due to the differences between Latin's reliance upon inflection of words and modern Romance languages' reliance upon syntax, in addition to lack of use.

Cultural legacy

The art of Rome borrows heavily from Greece -- the Romans themselves looked to the Greeks as their artistic superiors, and stole or copied more than they created. Virgil's Aneid, by common consent the greatest Roman literary work, borrowed or plagarized from Greek epics. Thus most of our cultural legacy from Rome is Greek culture passed on. The only generally recognized original Roman contribution to our culture is comic theater, which has given us not only A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum but also the Three Stooges. Another Roman artform will be revived only if our extreme sports eventually go so far as to include battles to the death.

Legal legacy

The Roman law formed the basis of most of the legal systems of Europe and her colonies for hundreds of years and has been the direct inspiration for the Senate of the United States and other modern nations. In the Byzantine Empire, the codes of Justinian preserved the codes of Roman law and formed the basis of legal practice in Greece even after the fall of the Byzantine empire. In the West, Justinian’s codes were forgotten, but rediscovered in the 11th century. From that time, scholars began to study the ancient Roman legal texts, especially in Bologna. Many provisions of Roman law were better suited to regulate complex economic transactions than the customary rules of that time. Therefore Roman law began to be re-introduced into legal practice. By the middle of the 16th century, the Roman law dominated the legal practice in most European countries. The practical application of Roman law came to an end when national codifications were made. In the course of the 19th century, many European states either adopted the French civil code model or drafted their own codes. In some parts of Germany, Roman law continued to be applied until late 19th century.

Religion

19th century] Main articles: Roman mythology, Roman religion

Early Roman Religion

Archaic Roman "mythology", at least concerning the gods, was made up not of narratives, but rather of interlocking and complex interrelations between and among gods and humans. Gods were not personified, unlike in Ancient Greece. Romans also believed that every person, place or thing had their own genius (such as "Lares Familiares" - the family guardian spirits). Therefore the early Roman cult could be described as polydaemonism instead of polytheism. The Romans distinguished two classes of gods, the di indigetes and the de novensides or novensiles. The indigetes were the original gods of the Roman state (see List of Di Indigetes). The novensides were later divinities whose cults were introduced to the city in the historical period, usually in response to a specific crisis or need. At the head of the earliest pantheon were the triad Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Their priests, or flamens, were senior to others. Later this triad was supplanted by the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. During the Roman republic there was a strict system of priestly offices, of which the Pontifex maximus was the most important. Flamens took care of the cults of various gods, while augurs were trusted with taking the auspices. The rex sacrorum, or "sacrificial king" took on the religious responsibilities of the deposed kings.

Late republic and the empire

As contact with the Greeks increased, the old Roman gods became associated with Greek gods. Therefore Jupiter was perceived to be the same deity as Zeus. Mars was associated with Ares and Neptune with Poseidon. The Roman gods also assumed the attributes and myth of these Greek gods. The transference of the anthropomorphic qualities to Roman Gods, and the prevalence of Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the 1st century BC the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance and political influence remained. Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to center on the imperial house, and several emperors were deified after their deaths.

Spread of Eastern Religions

Under the empire, numerous foreign cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras. Also, starting from the second century, Christianity began to spread in the Empire. Despite persecutions, Christianity steadily gained converts. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under Constantine I. All cults except Christianity were prohibited in AD 391 by an edict of Emperor Theodosius I.

Society

Classes

The free citizens of Rome were divided into two classes: patricians and plebeians. The patricians were the dominant social class, the plebeians much more numerous. Originally, only patricians could be elected to office. Intermarrying between the classes was forbidden and the patrician title could only be inherited, not earned. During the Roman Republic, a series of struggles led to increased rights for the plebeians, who were represented by tribunes. Tribunes had veto power over acts of the Senate. However, since voting was by tribes rather than by individuals, the vote of a plebeian never counted as much as the vote of a patrician. The patrician tribes voted first, and if they were united could attain a majority vote (by tribe) in which case the plebeian vote was not counted. Late in the Republic, the distinction between patricians and plebeians became less important, due to the rise of citizens whose power depended on wealth rather than family. Crassus, at one time the richest man in Rome, became council in spite of his plebeian birth. A new ruling class, the optimates, were those families, patrician or plebeian, who had produced a consul. The conservatives, led by Cicero, decried the power of the "upstarts" and spoke with contempt of anyone not born into the patrician class. A particular target of their wrath was Pompey, who dispite his great wealth, popularity, and military victories, was mocked for his crude manners and outlandish accent. During the empire, the class division fell into disuse and was largely forgotten. In the early Republic, citizens were also divided into classes according to the armament they could afford to buy for themselves for military service. The richest class was the equestrians or knights, who could afford a war horse. There were both patrician and plebeian equestrians. Later in the Republic, fixed amounts of wealth replaced military equipment as the basis of classification. Higher classes had more political power and prestige than lower classes. This system also lost its meaning after the abolition of the Republic. In the Late Republic, and under the Principate and emperors, Roman society was stratified according to wealth. The highest class was the Senatorial class, membership of which was maintained by the Censors and had a minimum property qualification of 1'000'000 Sesterces. It is worth noting that membership of the Senatorial class did not entail membership of the Senate. Members of the Senatorial class were prohibited from engaging directly in business and trade. They were permitted to receive an income from the possession of large agricultural estates. With a few exceptions, all political posts were filled with men from the Senatorial class. The second tier were the Equites. A through back to a military class of the Early Republic, membership of the Equites later required a property qualification of 400'000 Sesterces. Equites were allowed to engage in commerce and were often extremely wealthy. Petronius satirizes the wealth of the Equites class in the Satyricon. He descibes in details a sumptuous dinner party hosted by the disagreeable Knight Trimalchio. Certain political positions were filled by Equites: most notably under Principes, the head of the Praetorian Guard.

Family

The basic units of Roman society were households and families. Household included the head of the household (paterfamilias), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes slaves and servants were also part of the household. Romans certainly did not see the family as those of the suburban West do today - their family was more far reaching in definition. The head of the household had great power over those living with him: could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery and possibly even had the right to kill family members (this has been recently disputed in academic circles). This particular manifestation of familial power was called "patria potestas", literally "fathers power". One interesting point of note is that wives did not always count as family, as they could choose to continue recognising their father's family as their true family, and not necessarily adopt their husband's family. Groups of related households formed a family (gens). Families were based on blood ties (or adoption), but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the Roman Republic some powerful families, or Gentes Maiores came to dominate political life. Ancient Roman marriage was often regarded more as a financial and political alliance than as a romantic association, especially in the upper classes. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride. While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women often married in their late teens or early twenties.

Economy

Ancient Roman marriage, a standardized silver coin (See also Roman currency).]] The early economy was largely dependent on slave labour, and slaves constituted around 20 percent of the population. A slave’s price was dependent on their skills, and a slave trained in medicine was equivalent to 50 agricultural slaves. In the later period, hired labour became more economical than slave ownership.

Finance

Although barter was common (and often used in tax collection) the monetary system was highly developed, with brass, bronze, and precious metal coins in circulation throughout the empire and beyond (some have been discovered in India). Before the 3rd Century BC, copper was traded by weight (in unmarked lumps) across Central Italy. The original copper coins (As) had a face value of a Roman pound of copper, but weighed less (according to Mommsen early coins weighed at most 312 g, but late second century BC As contained only 19 g of copper). Hence, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its intrinsic value as metal; after Nero began debasing the silver Denarii, Mommsen estimated its legal value at one third greater than intrinsic (it was an offence to refuse payment in Denarii).

Trade

Horses were too expensive, and other pack animals too slow, for mass trade on the roman roads, which connected military posts (rather than markets) and were rarely designed for wheels. Therefore, there was little transport of commodities between Roman regions, until the rise of Roman maritime trade in the second century BC. During that period a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from Gades to Alexandria via Ostia, spanning the entire length of the Mediterranean. The agricultural free trade changed the Italian landscape, and by the first century BC vast grape and olive estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers who were unable to match the imported grain price. The volume of trade was so great that a single mound of cargo pottery vessel fragments is over forty metres high and a kilometre around.

Culture

Literature

Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history and tragedy.

Epic Poetry

Virgil represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His Aeneid was produced at the request of Maecenas and tells the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. Lucretius, in his On the Nature of Things, attempted to explicate science in an epic poem. Some of his science seems remarkably modern, other ideas, especially his theory of light, are no longer accepted. Later Ovid produced his Metamorphoses, written in hexameter verse, the meter of epic, attempting a complete mythology from the creation of the earth to his own time. He unifies his subject matter through the theme of metamorphosis. It was noted in classical times that Ovid's work lacked the gravitas possessed by traditional epic poetry.

Shorter Poems

Catullus and his set of neoteric poets produced poetry following the Alexandrian model, which experimented with poetic forms challenging tradition. He was also the first Roman poet to produce love poetry, seemingly autobiographical, which depicts an affair with a woman called Lesbia. Under the Emperor Augustus, Horace continued the tradition of shorter poems, with his Odes and Epodes. Martial, writing under the Emperor Domitian, was a famed author of epigrams, poems which were often abusive and censured piblic figures.

Drama

The genre of satire was traditionally regarded as a Roman innovation and satiric plays were written by, among others, Juvenal. Some of the most popular plays of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of Terence, a freed Roman slave captured during the First Punic War.

Letters

A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The rhetorical works of Cicero, in particular, were popular.

Visual arts

Most of the first styles of Roman painting came from the Etruscan influences. The Etruscan practice of painting for political reasons continued in Rome. In the 3rd century BC as the Romans contact with Greece continued Greek art was taken as booty from wars. The Greek art became popular with the Romans. Many landscapes from Greek artists decorated many of Roman houses. Although Greek influence was popular in Roman Paintings discoveries in Pompeii showed that Romans used a wide variety of styles for thier paintings. One of first roman style was known as "Incrustation", where interior walls of houses were painted like colored marble. Another style was to paint the interiors like open landscapes with higly detailed scenes of plants, animals, and buildings. Although the Romans acquired their artistic traditions from Greece, they also played a very important role in the development of art. The Romans created an atmosphere with an appreciation of the arts that allowed for the continuation of artistic development, inspiration, and ideas. Portrait sculpture during the period depited youthful and classical porportions. Later the sculptures were a mixture of realist and idealist. During the Antonine and Severan periods deeper cuts and drilling creded more ornate hair and beards. Advancements were made in relief sculptures and usually depicted in victories of the Romans.

Education

The goal of education in Rome was to make the students effective speakers. School started on March 24th each year. Every school day started in early morning and continued throughout the afternoon. Originally, boys were taught to read and write by their father, or by educated slaves, usually of Greek origin. Village schools were also established. Later, around 200 BC, boys and some girls were sent to schools outside the home around age 6. Basic Roman education included reading, writing, and counting, and their materials consisted of scrolls and books. At age 13, students learned about Greek and Roman literature and grammar in school. At age 16, some students went on to rhetoric school. Poorer people did not go to school, but were usually taught by their parents because school was not free.

Architecture and technology

Construction technology and engineering

Roads

rhetoric to the Southern parts of Italy remains usable even today.]] The Romans primarily built roads for military purposes. They allowed the legions to be rapidly deployed in far reaches of the realm. However, their economic importance was also significant. At its largest extent the total length of the Roman road network was 85 000 km (53 000 miles). Way stations providing refreshments were maintained by the goverment at regular intervals along the roads. A separate system of changing stations for official and private couriers was also maintained. This allowed a dispatch to travel a maximum of 800 km (500 miles) in 24 hours by using a relay of horses. The roads were constructed by digging a pit along the length of the intended course, often to bedrock. The pit was first filled with rocks, gravel or sand and then a layer of concrete. Finally they were paved with polygonal rock slabs. Bridges were constructed over waterways. The roads were resistant to floods and other environmental hazards. After the fall of the Roman empire the roads were still usable and used for more than 1000 years.

Aqueducts

bedrock is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site.]] The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself was supplied by eleven aqueducts with combined length of 350 km (260 miles). Most aqueducts were constructed below the surface with only small portions above ground supported by arches. The longest Roman aqueduct, 141 km (87 miles) in length, was built to supply the city of Carthage. Roman aqueducts were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and to a technological standard that was not to be equaled until modern times. Powered entirely by gravity, they transported very large amounts of water very efficiently. Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 m had to be crossed, inverted siphons were used to force water uphill.

Baths

The baths served hygienic, social and cultural functions. The baths contained three main facilities for bathing. After undressing in the apodyterium or changing room, Romans would proceed to the tepidarium or warm room. In the moderate dry heat of the tepidarium, some performed warm-up exercises and stretched while others oiled themselves or had slaves oil them. The tepidarium’s main purpose was to promote sweating to prepare for the next room, the caldarium or hot room. The caldarium, unlike the tepidarium, was extremely humid and hot. Temperatures in the caldarium could reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Many contained steam baths and a cold-water fountain known as the labrum. The last room was the frigidarium or cold room, which offered a cold bath for cooling off after the caldarium.

Government

Roman Kingdom

Initially Rome was ruled by elected kings. The exact nature of the King's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may also have been just the chief executive of the Senate and the people. At least in military matters, the King's authority (imperium) was probably absolute. He was also the head of the state religion. In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies. The Senate acted as an advisory body for the King. The Curiate Assembly could pass laws suggested by the King and may have provided advise on succession. The Comitia Calata was mainly an assembly of the people to witness certain acts and hear proclamations.

Roman Republic

The class struggles of the Roman Republic resulted in an unusual mixture of democracy and oligarchy. Roman laws traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly. Likewise candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. The Roman Senate represented an oligarchic insitution, which acted as an advisory body and issued its desicions in Senatus Consulta. The Republic had no fixed bureaucracy and only collected war taxes. Private citizens aspiring to high office largely paid for public works. In order to prevent any citizen gaining too much power, new magistrates were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions the highest authority was held by two consuls. In an emergency, a temporary dictator could be appointed. During the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the vastly expanded empire. This was one of the reasons for the birth of the Roman Empire.

Roman Empire

Central government

In the early Empire the pretence of a republican form of government was maintained and the emperor was portrayed as only a "first citizen". Initially the Senate retained a degree of influence. However, the rule of the emperors became increasingly autocratic and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the emperor. The Roman Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisors, but the state lacked many institutions, such as centrally planned budget. This is cited by some historians as a significant reason for the Decline of the Roman Empire.

Local government

The territory of the Empire was divided into provinces. The number of provinces increased with time as new territories were conquered, but also as provinces were divided into smaller units to discourage rebellions by powerful local rulers . Initially the provinces were divided into imperial and senatorial provinces, depending on which institution had the right to select the governor. During the Tetrarchy, the provinces of the empire were divided into 12 dioceses, each headed by a praetor vicarius. The civilian and military authority were separated, with civilian matters still administred by the governor, but with military command transferred to a dux.

Senate

The Roman Senate was an advisory body consisting of some of the most influential citizens. In the Roman Republic, it held great authority (auctoritas in Latin), but no actual legislative power (imperium). However, as the senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate. In the Roman Republic the Censors chose new members for the Senate among the most accomplished citizens. They could also remove a senator from his office if he was found morally corrupt. Later, membership in the Senate followed from the election as a quaestor. In the Roman Empire, the Emperor appointed senators, although for much of the time of the Empire, elections were still held, and the results followed. However, this veil of democracy, created by Augustus at the beginning of the transformation from Republic to Empire, was deceiving. In reality, no one disliked by the Emperor could stand. Furthermore, when there was a competitive election, the Emperor would issue his opinion on who should be elected, usually sealing the outcome.

Military

The early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states, a citizen force where the bulk of the troops fought as hoplites. The soldiers were required to supply their own arms and would return to civilian life once their service was ended. The first of the great army reformers, Camillus, reorganized the army to adopt manipular tactics and divided the infantry into three lines: hastati, principes and triarii. The middle class smallholders had traditionally been the backbone of the Roman army but, by the end of the 2nd century BC, the self-owning farmer had largely disappeared as a social class. Faced with acute manpower problems, Gaius Marius transformed the army into a fully professional force and accepted recruits from the lower classes. The last army reorganization came when Emperor Constantine I divided the army into a static defense force and a mobile field army. During the Late Empire, Rome also became increasingly dependent upon allied contingents, foederati.

See also


- Culture of Ancient Rome
- List of Ancient Rome-related topics
- Timeline of Ancient Rome
- Roman Agriculture

External links


- [http://www.crystalinks.com/rome.html Ancient Rome info]
- [http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html Ancient Roman History Timeline]
- [http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_rome.htm Ancient Rome pictures, art, and info] Link: [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html The Private Life of the Romans by Harold Whetstone Johnston]

References

Ancient sources

# "Vitae Caesarum" by Suetonius, 2nd century # "Ab urbe condita" by Titus Livius, ca. AD 5 # [http://www.uvm.edu/~rrodgers/Frontinus.html "De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae"] by Sextus Julius Frontinus (On the water management of the city of Rome, translated by R. H. Rodgers, 2003, University of Vermont) (retrieved November 22, 2005)

Pre-20th century sources

# "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon, 1788

Modern sources

# "The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome" by Chris Scarre, Penguin Books 1995 # [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html "The Private Life of the Romans"] by Harold Whetstone Johnston, 1903 (retrieved November 13, 2005) # "The Punic Wars" by Nigel Bagnall, Thomas Dunne Books 1990 # "Rooman konsulit" ("The Consuls of Rome") by Pekka Tuomisto, Karisto 2002 # "War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations" by Peter Turchin, Pearson Education/PI Press (2005) # "Cäsar" by Christian Meier, Severin und Siedler 1982 (English translation "Caesar", HarperCollins Publishers 1995) # [http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome/ "Waterhistory.org"], website maintained by the ([http://www.iwha.net International Water History Association]) (retrieved November 22, 2005)
- ja:古代ローマ

Latin

Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages, those being most notably Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian, are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The Latin alphabet, derived from the Greek, remains the most widely-used alphabet in the world. It is said that 80 percent of scholarly English words are derived from Latin (in a large number of cases by way of French). Moreover, in the Western world, Latin was a lingua franca, the learned language for scientific and political affairs, for more than a thousand years, being eventually replaced by French in the 18th century and English in the late 19th. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the formal language of the Roman Catholic Church to this day, and thus the official national language of the Vatican. The Church used Latin as its primary liturgical language until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Latin is also still used (drawing heavily on Greek roots) to furnish the names used in the scientific classification of living things. The modern study of Latin, along with Greek, is known as Classics.

Main features

Latin is a synthetic inflectional language: affixes (which usually encode more than one grammatical category) are attached to fixed stems to express gender, number, and case in adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, which is called declension; and person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect in verbs, which is called conjugation. There are five declensions (declinationes) of nouns and four conjugations of verbs. There are six noun cases: #nominative (used as the subject of the verb or the predicate nominative), #genitive (used to indicate relation or possession, often represented by the English of or the addition of s to a noun), #dative (used of the indirect object of the verb, often represented by the English to or for), #accusative (used of the direct object of the verb, or object of the preposition in some cases), #ablative (separation, source, cause, or instrument, often represented by the English by, with, from), #vocative (used of the person or thing being addressed). In addition, some nouns have a locative case used to express location (otherwise expressed by the ablative with a preposition such as in), but this survival from Proto-Indo-European is found only in the names of lakes, cities, towns, small islands, and a few other words related to locations, such as "house", "ground", and "countryside". Latin itself, being a very old language, is far closer to Proto-Indo-European than are most modern Western European languages; it has, in fact, about the same relationship with PIE as modern Italian or French has to Latin. There are six general tenses in Latin (technically they are tense/aspect/mood complexes). The indicative mood can be used with all of them. The subjunctive mood, however, has only present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect tenses. These tenses in the subjunctive mood do not completely correlate in meaning to the tenses in the indicative. The following examples are of the first conjugation verb "laudare" ("to praise") in the indicative mood and the active voice:

Primary sequence tenses

# present (laudo, "I praise") # imperfect (laudabam, "I was praising") # future (laudabo, "I shall praise," "I will praise")

Secondary sequence tenses

# perfect (laudavi, "I praised", "I have praised") # pluperfect (laudaveram, "I had praised") # future perfect (laudavero, "I shall have praised," "I will have praised") The future perfect tense can also imply a normal future idea (like in "When I will have run...") and so may also sometimes be included in the primary sequence.

Latin and Romance

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Latin evolved into the various Romance languages. These were for many centuries only spoken languages, Latin still being used for writing. For example, Latin was the official language of Portugal until 1296 when it was replaced by Portuguese. The Romance languages evolved from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of common usage, which in turn evolved from an older speech which also produced the formal classical standard. Latin and Romance differ (for example) in that Romance had distinctive stress, whereas Latin had distinctive length of vowels. In Italian and Sardo logudorese, there is distinctive length of consonants and stress, in Spanish only distinctive stress, and in French even stress is no longer distinctive. Another major distinction between Romance and Latin is that all Romance languages, excluding Romanian, have lost their case endings in most words except for some pronouns. Romanian retains a direct case (nominative/accusative), an indirect case (dative/genitive), and vocative. In Italy, Latin is still compulsory in secondary schools as Liceo Classico and Liceo Scientifico which are usually attended by people who aim to the highest level of education. In Liceo Classico Ancient Greek is a compulsory subject.

Latin and English

See Latin influence in English for a more complete exposition. English grammar is independent of Latin grammar, though prescriptive grammarians in English have been heavily influenced by Latin. Attempts to make English grammar follow Latin rules — such as the prohibition against the split infinitive — have not worked successfully in regular usage. However, as many as half the words in English were derived from Latin, including many words of Greek origin first adopted by the Romans, not to mention the thousands of French, hundreds of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian words of Latin origin that have also enriched English. During the 16th and on through the 18th century English writers created huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek roots. These words were dubbed "inkhorn" or "inkpot" words (as if they had spilled from a pot of ink). Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some remain. Imbibe, extrapolate, dormant and inebriation are all inkhorn terms carved from Latin words. In fact, the word etymology is derived from the Greek word etymologia, meaning "true sense of the word." Latin was once taught in many of the schools in Britain with academic leanings - perhaps 25% of the total [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/teachem2/thennow/]. However, the requirement for it was gradually abandoned in the professions such as the law and medicine, and then, from around the late 1960s, for admission to university. After the introduction of the Modern Language GCSE in the 1980s, it was gradually replaced by other languages, although it is now being taught by more schools along with other classical languages.

Latin education

The linguistic element of Latin courses offered in high schools or secondary schools, and in universities, is primarily geared toward an ability to translate Latin texts into modern languages, rather than using it in oral communication. As such, the skill of reading is heavily emphasized, whereas speaking and listening skills are barely touched upon. However, there is a growing movement, sometimes known as the Living Latin movement, whose supporters believe that Latin can, or should, be taught in the same way that modern "living" languages are taught, that is, as a means of both spoken and written communication. One of the most interesting aspects of such an approach is that it assists speculative insight into how many of the ancient authors spoke and incorporated sounds of the language stylistically; without understanding how the language is meant to be heard it is very difficult to identify patterns in Latin poetry. Institutions offering Living Latin instruction include the Vatican and the University of Kentucky. In Britain the Classical Association encourages this approach, and there has been something of a vogue for books describing the adventures of a mouse called Minimus. In the United States there is a thriving competitive organization for high school Latin students, the National Junior Classical League (the second-largest youth organization in the world after the Boy Scouts), backed up by the Senior Classical League for college students. Many would-be international auxiliary languages have been heavily influenced by Latin, and the moderately successful Interlingua considers itself to be the modernized and simplified version of the language (le latino moderne international e simplificate). Latin translations of modern literature such as Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Le Petit Prince, Max und Moritz, and The Cat in the Hat have also helped boost interest in the language.

See also

About the Latin language


- Latin grammar
- Latin spelling and pronunciation
- Latin declension
- Latin conjugation
- Latin alphabet
- List of Latin words with English derivatives
- Latin verbs with English derivatives
- Latin nouns with English derivatives
- ablative absolute
- Word order in Latin

About the Latin literary heritage


- Latin literature
- Romance languages
- Loeb Classical Library
- List of Latin phrases
- List of Latin proverbs
- Brocard
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
- List of Latin place names in Europe
- Carmen Possum

Other related topics


- Roman Empire
- Internationalism

References


- Bennett, Charles E. Latin Grammar (Allyn and Bacon, Chicago, 1908)
- N. Vincent: "Latin", in The Romance Languages, M. Harris and N. Vincent, eds., (Oxford Univ. Press. 1990), ISBN 0195208293
- Waquet, Françoise, Latin, or the Empire of a Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries (Verso, 2003) ISBN 1859844022; translated from the French by John Howe.
- Wheelock, Frederic. Latin: An Introduction (Collins, 6th ed., 2005) ISBN 0060784237

External links


- [http://www.jambell.com/latin.html Latin Phrases for after dinner conversation (Thanks to Elaine Poole)]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lat Ethnologue report for Latin]
- [http://forumromanum.org/literature/index.html Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum] is a comprehensive webography of Latin texts and their translations.
- [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ The Perseus Project] has many useful pages for the study of classical languages and literatures, including [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/resolveform?lang=Latin an interactive Latin dictionary].
- [http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe words by William whitaker] is a dictionary program online capable of looking up various word forms.
- [http://retiarius.org/ Retiarius.Org] includes a Latin text search engine.
- [http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm Latin-English dictionary and Latin grammar from U of Notre Dame]
- [http://latin-language.co.uk/ Latin language] History of Latin language, Latin texts with English translation and a collection of dictionaries.
- [http://augustinus.eresmas.net/scl/ Societas Circulorum Latinorum] gathers together Latin Circles all over the world.
- [http://www.learnlatin.tk LearnLatin.tk] - Free online course in Latin
- [http://www.latintests.net/ LatinTests.net] - Lets Latin learners test their grammar and vocabulary with self-checking quizzes.
- [http://thelatinlibrary.com/ The Latin Library] contains many Latin etexts
- [http://www.textkit.com/ Textkit] has Latin textbooks and etexts.
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Latin-english/ Latin–English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.language-reference.com/ Language reference] Cross-foreign-language lexicon powered by its own search engine. All cross combinations between Latin and French, German, Italian, Spanish.
- [http://comp.uark.edu/~mreynold/rhetor.html Rhetor by Gabriel Harvey] was originally published in 1577 and never again reprinted.
- [http://freewebs.com/omniamundamundis omniamundamundis] Latin hypertexts from fourteen ancient Roman authors.
- [http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm Pronunciation of Biological Latin, Including Taxonomic Names of Plants and Animals]
- [http://www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii Nuntii Latini (News in Latin)], written and spoken (RealAudio) news in latin. Weekly review of world news in Classical Latin, the only international broadcast of its kind in the world, produced by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
- [http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=Replace%20Me&from=eng&to=ltt InterTran Latin], Translate from Latin to ENGLISH or vice versa.
- [http://www.latinvulgate.com Latin Vulgate] The Latin and English of the Old & New Testaments in parallel, along with the Complete Sayings of Jesus in parallel Latin and English. Category:Classical languages Category:Ancient languages Category:Fusional languages Category:Languages of Italy Category:Languages of Vatican City als:Latein zh-min-nan:Latin-gí ko:라틴어 ja:ラテン語 simple:Latin language th:ภาษาละติน

River

:For the Second World War frigate class, see River class frigate. For the state of Nigeria, see Rivers State. MyScene.]] A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, stream may be used to refer to smaller streams, as may creek, run, fork, etc. Passage via a river or stream is the usual way rainfall on land finds its way to the ocean or other large body of water such as a lake. A river consists of several basic parts, originating from headwaters or a spring at the source, that flow into the main stream. Smaller side streams that join the river are tributaries. Water flow is normally confined to a channel, with a bottom or bed between banks. The lower end of a river is its base level, commonly called its mouth, a river typically widens at its end and forms what is known as a river delta or estuary.

Topography

estuary.]]A river conducts water by constantly flowing perpendicular to the elevation curve of its bed, thereby converting the positional energy of the water into kinetic energy. Where a river flows over relatively flat areas, the river will meander: start to form loops and snake through the plain by eroding the river banks. Loops that are formed are sometimes cut off, forming a shorter river channel and leaving a remnant, oxbow lake. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths. Rivers whose mouths are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries. There are 4 main types of rivers. These types are:
- Youthful river - a river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider.
- Mature river - a river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly than youthful rivers. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper.
- Old river - a river with a low gradient and low erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood plains.
- Rejuvenated river - a river with a gradient that is raised by the earth's movement. Where a river descends quickly over sloped topography, rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls occur. Rapids are often used for recreational purposes (see Whitewater kayaking). Waterfalls are sometimes used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants. Rivers begin at their source in higher ground, either rising from a spring, forming from glacial meltwater, flowing from a body of water such as a lake, or simply from damp, boggy places where the soil is waterlogged. They end at their base level where they flow into a larger body of water, the sea, a lake, or as a tributary to another (usually larger) river. In arid areas rivers sometimes end by losing water to evaporation and percolation into dry, porous material such as sand, soil, or pervious rock. The area drained by a river and its tributaries is called its watershed or catchment basin. (Watershed is also used however to mean a boundary between catchment basins.) Starting at the mouth of the river and following it upstream as it branches again and again the resulting river network forms a dendritic (tree-like) structure that is an example of a natural random fractal.

Biology

The flora and fauna of rivers are much different from those of the ocean because the water is fresh (non-salty). Living things in a river must be adapted to the current of the moving water.

Pollution

Human pollution of rivers is common, and very few rivers in the world today are clean of man-made substances. The most common pollutant is sewage piped into rivers, but chemical pollution is also common, and industrial accidents (and/or negligence) account for much of the destruction of riparian biomes. Heated water dumped into rivers by power plants and factories also affects river life.

Navigation

The Rhine is the busiest river in the world for transport ships. Inland vessels use the river to reach the major cities in Germany, Eastern France and Switzerland to transport bulk goods, liquids, containers AND passengers into the hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam and the ports of Amsterdam and Antwerp. Many millions of tons of goods are transported upstream yearly from these three sea ports to the industries near Nijmegen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Neuss, Köln, Koblenz, Mainz, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse and Basel. The lower part of the river is navigable for the largest inland vessels (up to 135 meters long and 17 meters wide) with an available depth of more than 2,50 even at the lower water levels. The further upstream, the more depth restrictions: at low water periods draught of ships is often limited to 1,90 m. for the stretch around Bingen (between the mouths of the Mosel and the Main). Upstream from Karlsruhe the Rhine is the border between France and Germany. The French have canalized the river by means of a series of hydropower dams and double ship locks, thus ensuring a year round navigable depth of 3.50 meters. (Source: NoorderSoft Waterways Database)

Dams

In places where the elevation changes of a river are great, dams for hydroelectric plants and other purposes are often built. This disrupts the natural flow of the river, and creates a lake behind the dam. Often the building of dams affects the whole of the river, even the part above the dam, as migrating fish are hindered (see fish ladder), waterflow is no longer bounded by seasonal changes and sediment flow is blocked. Dams are useful in many ways, such as providing HEP, acting as regulator of river flow so as to regulate the occurrence of flooding, which is especially important to wet-rice agriculture, and also to improve navigation and transport on the river. Often, dams such as Hoover Dam along Colorado River become famous tourist attractions. However, critics of dams, especially 'Green' advocates, argue that dams remove upper-river biodiversity such as through deforestation and forced migration of rural villages and indigenous tribes. Furthermore, trapping of river sediments behind the dams lead to salination and loss of nutrients for down-water fish. It also raises concern of eathquakes due to instablity of incompetent dams which have to support thousands of tonnes of sediments behind them. One very famous, and problematic, dam is the Aswan High Dam in the Nile.

Flooding

Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycles. Human activity, however, has upset the natural way flooding occurs by walling off rivers and straightening their courses. Removal of bogs, swamps and other wetlands in order to produce farmland has reduced the absorption zones for excess water and made floods into sudden disasters rather than gradual increases in water flow. In ancient Egypt, life was made possible through the floods of the Nile and the accompanying silt and sediment which enriched the fields with fresh nutrients. Nowadays, since people have built on these floodplains, floods are disasters, causing untold property loss each year. Human interference in the form of deforestation can also worsen conditions. The removal of vegetation leads to a reduction in Interception (vegetation stopping precipitation) and the 'weakening' of soil since plant roots no longer hold it together. As a result there is a reduced Infiltration capacity (how much water the soil can hold) and greater infiltration (precipitation going into the ground). This leads to faster soil saturation and therefore greater overland flow (also known as surface run off) and therefore, there are flash floods as the lag time decrease.

Logjams

Logjams are barriers within rivers, created by dead and uprooted trees. Over time, the obstruction prevents further logs to bypass, resulting in the creation of new network channels. According to author David R. Montgomery in his book, King of Fish, a logjam also causes water to buildup within a small space, forming peaceful pools within the main channel for young salmon to live within. The existence of these deep pools along with the complex web of channels creates an ideal salmon habitat. Today, many believe that the rebuilding of salmon runs is contingent upon reproducing the same environment shaped by logjams. As a result, many scientists have attempted to recreate artificial logjams. Marc Duboiski and Mike Ramsey of the Salmon Recovery Funding board staff, George Pess of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Kevin Bauersfeld of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have prepared the Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop ([http://iac.wa.gov/Documents/SRFB/Log_Jam_Report.pdf#search='log%20jams%20and%20salmon']), with the hope of mimicking natural logjams. Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop."]]

Management

In its natural state a river may be inconvenient to man in a variety of ways. Rivers in inhabited areas have therefore been managed or controlled to make them more useful and less disruptive to human activity.
- The river channel may be dredged to make it deeper for navigation or to prevent flooding.
- Dams (see above) or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or extract energy.
- Levees may be built to prevent flooding.
- Sluice gates provide a means of controlling flow and adjusting river levels.
- floodways may be added to draw off excess river water in times of flood.
- Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or navigation.
- River courses may be modified to improve navigation, or straightened to increase the flow rate. River management is an ongoing activity as rivers tend to 'undo' the modifications made by man. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure.

River lists

(See also :Category:Lists of rivers.)

The world's ten longest rivers

It is difficult to measure the length of a river, mainly because rivers have a fractal property, which means that the more precise the measure, the longer the river will seem. Also, it's hard to state exactly where a river begins or ends, as very often, upstream, rivers are formed by seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes. This is an average measurement. # Nile (6,690 km) # Amazon (6,400 km) # Yangtze (Chang Jiang) (6,380 km) # Mississippi-Missouri (6,270 km) # Ob-Irtysh (5,570 km) # Huang He (Yellow) (5,464 km) # Amur (4,410 km) # Congo (4,380 km or 4,670 km). (The source of this river is disputed.) # Lena (4,260 km) # Mackenzie (4,240 km) For a longer list see Longest rivers. This also gives more information on measuring river lengths.

Well-known rivers (in alphabetic order)


- Aa - multiple rivers in Europe
- Amazon - largest river in the world
- American
- Amu Darya
- Amur - principal river of eastern Siberia
- Arkansas - major tributary of Mississippi River
- Arno - river through Florence
- Arvandrud (Shatt al-Arab) the large border river between Iran and Iraq.
- Brahmaputra - principal river in North East India & Tibet
- Chao Phraya - principal river of Thailand
- Colorado (Argentina)
- Colorado (U.S.) - principal river of American West
- Columbia - principal river of Pacific Northwest
- Congo - principal river of central Africa
- Danube - principal river of central and southeastern Europe
- De La Plata - the widest river in the world. South America
- Ebro - river in northwest Spain
- Elbe - major German river, Hamburg is situated on it
- Euphrates - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Ganges - principal river of India
- Han-gang - river of Seoul
- Helmand River - Principle river of (Afghanistan)
- Hari Rud (Afghanistan)
- Huang He (Yellow) - principal river of China
- Hudson - principal river of New York
- Indus - principal river of Pakistan
- Jordan - principal river of Israel
- Karun - principal (navigable) river of southern Iran.
- Kaveri - principal river of South India
- Lena - principal river of northeastern Siberia
- Mackenzie - longest river in Canada
- Magdalena - principal river of Colombia
- Main - river in Germany
- Mekong - principal river of Southeast Asia
- Mersey - river on which sits the English city of Liverpool
- Meuse - principal river of the southern provinces of the Netherlands and eastern Belgium.
- Mississippi - principal river of central United States
- Missouri - principal river of the Great Plains
- Murray - principal river of southeastern Australia
- Niger - principal river of west Africa
- Nile - Possibly the longest river in the world (or second after the Amazon)
- Ob - large river of Siberia
- Odra - major river in Eastern Europe
- Ohio - largest river between Mississippi and Appalachians
- Orinoco - principal river of Venezuela
- Parana - major South American river
- Paraguay - principal tributary of Parana river and major South