[flagged]
Because it is very intersting knowledge?
Roman Roads (2017)
71–80 of 166 posts
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#72[flagged]
From the HN guidelines:
> On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#73[flagged]
From the HN guidelines[1]:
"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. "
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#74How can it take 2 months on foot, yet only 1 month per horse, when a horse can only travel between 25-35 miles a day, which is not twice as far as a human can travel in a day, but about equal?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_versus_Horse_Marathon A man on a bike beats a horse over almost all distances, especially long distances. The only interesting competitive distance might be a flying 400m.
It took 4 years after the addition of mountain bikes for a cyclist to beat the horse at the Llanwyrtd Wells event.
Also, AFAIK, the Romans did not have bicycles.
ps. I raced this event twice in the early 1980s when they had a mountain bike division, and still have scars on my right arm from one of them.
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#75Sometimes I wonder if we've regressed in terms of attention to quality. Here in the US, I see lots of potholes on the streets and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the ancient cobblestone roads are still functional to this day.
> Sometimes I wonder if we've regressed in terms of attention to quality. In a way we have, yes! In our modern society we optimize for profit. Always, everywhere. The reasons our roads won't last thousands of years is precisely that it would be less profitable.
The Roman roads wouldn’t be pleasant to drive on at all. Also the Romans certainly must have been more obsessed by profit than us? They state was built on subjugation and enslavement of basically all the people they came into contact with.
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#76Many of the roads in Europe between cities are former roman roads. Sometimes you can even see ancient small bridges along the bigger highways.
The romans cut out entire mountains to guide roads through. Amazing work.
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saying that 60km "can be easily done" is quite a stretch. After 30-40km, even on flat, most people wouldn't do it easily at all. And I walk about 10km daily in one session and often do 30+km hikes.
When I was in elementary school, we would do charity walks every year to raise money for the poor. They were 20 miles. It took us all day, but if a bunch of kids between fourth and eighth grades and their nun teachers can do it, I'm surprised how many adults on this web site think it's too far.
Did you do it with a suitcase of stuff for a week- or month-long stay in another city, and contingencies like extra water, food, stove etc if you get laid over in a remote area without facilties? Did you do it rain or shine, on paved roads or muddy rutted-out dirt roads?
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saying that 60km "can be easily done" is quite a stretch. After 30-40km, even on flat, most people wouldn't do it easily at all. And I walk about 10km daily in one session and often do 30+km hikes.
When I was in elementary school, we would do charity walks every year to raise money for the poor. They were 20 miles. It took us all day, but if a bunch of kids between fourth and eighth grades and their nun teachers can do it, I'm surprised how many adults on this web site think it's too far.
Was it nicely paved and mostly flat? And how did you feel at the end of it? Would you do it again the next day?
Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#79Re: Roman Roads (2017)
#80Sometimes I wonder if we've regressed in terms of attention to quality. Here in the US, I see lots of potholes on the streets and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the ancient cobblestone roads are still functional to this day.
There is survivor bias to consider: we don't see any ancient roads that didn't survive, if it became overgrown from neglect or damaged by erosion or water or whatever.