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WHO RESTORED THE COLOSSEUM?
Two brick buttresses with two opposite ideas of restoration, a shoe entrepreneur, and an arena floor that isn't there yet. Two centuries of Colosseum restoration, before and after.
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One question about a famous building, answered properly: the short answer first, then the whole story, with the sources and a drawing made for each piece. If there is a building you have always wondered about, reply to any Slow Letter and ask.
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WHY DOES ROMAN CONCRETE LAST?
It was not stronger than ours. It was made of volcanic ash, quicklime and patience, and there was no iron in it. Why Roman concrete is still standing.
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HOW IS VENICE BUILT ON WATER?
It does not float, it does not stand on long piles, and the wood has not turned to stone. What is really under a Venetian house, from the brick down to the caranto
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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COLOSSEUM?
It isn't half missing, it wasn't one earthquake, and the popes came last. Soft ground under the south side, lime kilns, a licensed quarry, and the Colosseum that Gladiator built in Malta.
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HOW WAS ROMAN CONCRETE MADE?
Burn the limestone, slake it or don't, add volcanic ash and pack it in with rubble. How Roman concrete was made, from Vitruvius to the walls still standing.
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HOW WERE ROMAN ROADS BUILT?
Every book answers with four layers and four Latin names. The names come from a recipe for floors. What the Romans actually did was simpler, and smarter.