Romans were concerned about finding knowledge that could improve their livesThey studied the stars to produce a calendarThey studied plants and animals to produce better crops and meat

Galen, a Greek in the 100s AD, made many advances in medicineHe discovered valves in the heartHe discovered the difference between veins and arteriesThe Romans engineered roads and bridges that are still used today

They made cement by mixing lime with volcanic rock and ashThey developed the arch, which is able to hole more weight than other shapesThese were used in aqueducts to carry water from the mountains to the citiesA set of arches that support the roof of a building is called a vault

Architecture was largely based on earlier Greek designsThey used columns on their public buildings and used marbleBut Roman architectural techniques allowed them to surpass the Greeks

The vault allowed them to build much larger structuresThey also used more domes than the Greeks didThe use of cement made this possibleRome was known for its beautiful mosaics

They decorated their walls with frescos, painting done on wet plasterRoman artists excelled at painting portraitsRoman sculptors studied the Greeks and copied their style

Virgil wrote The AeneidOvid wrote poems about Roman mythologyThe developed satire, which pokes fun at people and societyThey wrote history, speeches, comedies and tragedies

The language of the Roman Empire, particularly in the west, was LatinLater, Latin developed into the Romance Languages such at French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, RomanianLatin also influenced many other languages, such as our own

Romes system of law was perhaps most influential of allRoman law continued to exist even after the Empire endedIt inspired civil law, a legal system based on a written code of laws

In the 1500s and 1600s European colonists carried civil law around the world, including Asia, Africa and the Americas