Rome covered the colosseum with a ship’s sail

Rome built a stadium for 50,000 people and never gave it a roof. No arch could jump 60 feet, and a stone lid would have trapped the heat and the dark. So they stopped thinking about the roofs. Dawn at the harbor, ships were already holding canvas open against the wind, not help up, held open, by ropes running out to every corner. They set 240 stone brackets around the rim, stood a mast in everyone, and ran ropes mast to mast until the sky was a web. Dozens of tapered panels rode on it, opening and closing with the sun. And Rome didn’t send builders to work it. It sent 1,000 naval sailors from the naval base at Misenum. They called it velarium. #rome #colosseum #engineering #construction #civilengineering #shorts