Brief focus on Rome. The history books have given us the image of a civilization of fighters, dedicated to military strategies and the design of large public works: we are talking about the ancient Romans. In fact, in the course over eight centuries, Rome has extended its dominions over much of Europe and the Mediterranean, recovering some traditions from other civilizations, as in the case of Greek art and urban planning, but also introducing great innovations
that would have left their mark.
Great public works. Roads that crossed kilometers of territories, aqueducts capable of transporting water to inhabited centers, stone bridges capable of connecting distant places. All these engineering works were were made thanks to the systematic use that the Romans made of lime. Obtained from the firing of limestone stones, lime is a binder that, when mixed with river sand, allowed to obtain more solid coatings. The introduction of the round arch, already experienced by the Babylonian civilization, also ensured greater stability of the built structures. Finally, the creation of the sewers, the first real sewers in history, proved to be very useful.
Rome and Puglia. Rome also exercised its power over Puglia starting from the 4th century BC. finding fertile ground in Daunia, the area that today is commonly referred to as the Gargano. Here, in fact, the Romans took advantage of the need of the local populations, the Dauni, to defend themselves from external attacks to lay the foundations of their presence. If on the one hand they guaranteed a kind of protection, on the other they took advantage of this opportunity to found the colony of Lucera in 314 BC. Even today it is possible to visit the remains of the Roman amphitheater, built around the 1st century AD. Its considerable dimensions (130 x 100 m) testify to the importance of the city, considered a military outpost to control the entire territory. Even in Canosa you can find, albeit outside the town, the remains of a Roman bridge and the arch dedicated to the emperor Trajan, also known as Porta Varrese.
