Massive Aqueduct Found in Jordan

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Minimalist
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Massive Aqueduct Found in Jordan

Post by Minimalist »

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 18,00.html
In the former Roman province of Syria (located in modern day Jordan), researchers are currently studying a sensational canal system. It extends mostly underground over a distance of 106 kilometers (66 miles).

Those guys could dig!

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Sam Salmon
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Re: Massive Aqueduct Found in Jordan

Post by Sam Salmon »

Minimalist wrote:Those guys could dig!
Slaves were sometimes useful-work 'em to death and be done with 'em-benefits be damned!
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Minimalist
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Post by Minimalist »

Actually, these construction projects were a way to give the legions something to do in quiet periods.

Kept them out of trouble.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

-- George Carlin
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Cognito
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Legions

Post by Cognito »

Actually, these construction projects were a way to give the legions something to do in quiet periods. Kept them out of trouble.
Good idea, too. These guys were a rough bunch. If they weren't killing people, they were staying in shape with construction projects. I also read that they had a relatively high literacy rate also ("high" being greater than 10% of their numbers). What's your take on that, Min?
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Minimalist
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Post by Minimalist »

There is literacy and then there is literacy.

In the Imperial Period the legionaries were taught the basics and some were trained as clerks and paymasters for their cohorts.

I doubt they would have been able to make sense of Plato or Aristotle, though.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

-- George Carlin
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