Hoang Nghiem (嚴黃), Si Vis Pacem, Para BellumUpdated Jan 25 · Featured on Quora'sTwitterThanks for the A2A Mike Jen, the short answer is that when viewedobjectively from afar, the Roman Empire (27 BC-1453 AD) along with its Easterncounterpart, the Han Dynasty of China (206 BC-220 AD) were roughly equal, withregards to their respective technological levels of attainment.The Roman Empire at its heights in 117 AD, with a land area of 5million km^2:
謝邀，簡而言之，客觀長遠的比較，從他們各自的科學水平上看，羅馬帝國（27B-1453AD）與其東方版本-中國漢朝（206BC-220AD）大致相當。羅馬帝國在公元117年達到頂峰，幅員大約是500萬平方公里：
Honestly speaking though, how is it possible to truly evenanswer this question? What defines “more” technologically advanced anyway? Thenumber of inventions? Probably not. Then there is the matter of potential:could the runner up society have defeated the current technological hegemon,should it have been convenient for them to? Perhaps. “Necessity is the motherof invention” after all according to the Ancient Greek Philosopher, Plato.
Then there is the matter of accuracy with regards to bias. Isthere a tendency to exaggerate a particular number in order to fulfil a hiddenagenda? After all, when comparing two great fathers of civilization together,things inevitably tend to get a little… heated let’s just say, at least frompersonal experience. It is a matter of cultural, civilizational and perhapseven national pride after all - completely understandable.Territories of the Han Dynasty at its heights in 100 AD, with aland area of 6.5 million km^2:
不過老實說，要準確的回答這個問題是不太可能的？到底如何去定義“科技更先進”？發明的數量麼？可能不行吧。那麼問題來了：亞軍是否能擊敗當前的霸主呢？他們是否有捷徑？也許吧。古希臘哲學家柏拉圖曾經曰過：“必要性是發明之母”那麼關於偏差的準確性就顯得十分重要了。為了滿足潛在的目的，是否有誇大某個特定數字的傾向？畢竟當我們比較兩個偉大的文明祖師爺之時，討論必將變得有些白熱化，至少以我個人的經驗，這關係到文化、文明、甚至會關係到民族自豪感，不過這些都能理解。漢朝的版圖巔峰是在公元100年，大約是650萬平方公里：
Which is not to say that this author will be biased, evendespite the fact that he is of a Han Chinese ancestral composition, for heconsiders personal prejudices (of which he has many) to be a blatant insultagainst “good” history writing. So rest assured, he will certainly try (thekeyword here being “try”) to keep it impartial throughout the course of the entireanalysis.Now, the way this works is simple, the authorwill attempt to compare both Chinese and Roman endeavors together, throughout avariety of different technological areas. He will however, leave it primarilyup to you; his audience to objectively decide based on the presented factsbelow, as to who was truly more advanced between the two civilizations in aparticular area.
這並不代表筆者帶有偏見啊，雖然筆者的祖先是漢朝人，但不代表他會帶有個人偏見（雖然筆者有很多）那麼好了，規則很簡單，筆者將努力嘗試透過不同技術領域將中國和羅馬作一番比較。接著筆者會將答案留給你們自己來決定；至於兩個文明在哪個特定領域更為先進，作為看官們，你們可以基於以下的貼出的事實客觀地做出自己的決定，
But of course to keep things fair, as he does not completelytrust in his audience to do so, will also offer up his own verdicts on who wasprobably technologically “superior” with regards to the aforementioned matters,at the end of each comparison. Speaking of which, here are the areas oftechnology which shall be compared throughout the following analysis (some ofwhich do overlap it should be noted):· Metallurgy· Agriculture· Hydraulics and Mechanics· Medicine· Astronomy· Naval Technology· Aeronautics· Materials Engineering· Mathematics· Civil and Structural Engineering· Military TechnologyWith all that said and out of the way however, it’s time to finally beginthe comparison.Warning:Long answer dead ahead of 18,900 words.
當然了，為了保證公平，由於筆者不完全信任他的觀眾，關於之前所述的問題，哪一方可能在科技上更為優越，在各項比較完成之後，筆者也將提出自己的個人判斷。說到這裡，以下是分析中應進行比較的技術領域（需要注意的是有些部分可能會有重疊）· 冶金· 農業· 水利與機械· 醫藥· 天文· 海軍科技· 航空學· 材料工程· 數學· 土木與結構工程· 軍事科技說了這麼多，現在是時候開始比較了。溫馨提示：答案很長，長達18900字。
MetallurgyRoman Metallurgy was known to be unbelievably advanced for its time. Atthe peak of its production around 150 AD, Roman Silver production had alreadybeen estimated to have been 5–10 times larger than both “Dark Ages” Europe, andthe mighty Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 AD)’s Silver production combined at thedawn of the 9th Century AD.Roman productions also of both Copper and Bronze meanwhile, remainedunsurpassed anywhere in the world until the Industrial Revolution of the mid19th Century. Lead on the other hand, was produced on a scale so large, thatsome Historians have even gone so far as to claim that its production led to,“the oldest large-scale hemispheric pollution ever reported” in the History ofMan.Case in point, based on the projections of many different sources alike,here is a table below comparing the Han Chinese, and Roman Metal Productions inmetric tonnes; (Source: Comparison between Roman and Han Empires):
冶金羅馬的冶金技術，在那個年代看來可謂是先進到令人難以置信的。公元150年達到產量巔峰，在公元9世紀初期，羅馬的白銀產量據估計要比歐洲“黑暗時代”與“哈里發王國”時期的產量總和高出5-10倍。與此同時，羅馬也生產銅與青銅，直到19世界中期，其產量一直冠絕全球。另一方面，羅馬的鉛產量規模也十分巨大，以至於有些歷史學家甚至宣稱：羅馬的鉛生產導致了人類歷史上“有史以來報告的最古老的大規模鉛汙染”。例如，基於許多不同類似史料的估計，以下列了一張漢朝與羅馬金屬製品產量，單位是公噸：
In saying that on the other hand, Roman production of coins was farsurpassed by its Han counterparts.By the mid 3nd Century AD, the Romans had managed to produce roughly 98million coins annually by one academic estimate. This greatly contrasted withthe Han Chinese, who at its peak from 118 BC to 5 AD, managed to produce onaverage a magnitude of 220 million coins per year, or roughly 2.24 times morethan the Romans did.The difference however between the two civilizations; was the compositionof which their currencies were made of. Han coins for one, were either made outof Copper, or Bronze Alloy (Copper mixed with Tin). Roman coins on the otherhand often varied between not just Copper, but Bronze, Silver and Gold alike.This suggests that Han production of Copper, whilst presently unknown at anofficial level, would most likely have outclassed their Roman counterparts by asignificant margin.The different types of coins which existed under the RomanEmpire:
言外之意，羅馬的錢幣制品比其競爭對手漢朝優越得多。一個學術評估顯示：直到公元3世紀中葉，羅馬每年大概生產了9800萬枚錢幣。這個數量比漢朝多得多，漢朝在其巔峰時期公元前118年到公元5年，也只不過每年生產平均生產了2.2億枚錢幣，大致只比羅馬高出2.24倍。然而，兩個文明的不同之處在於：他們在貨幣的組成部分上是有所不同的，漢朝的錢幣由銅或青銅合金（銅與錫的合金）製成。然而羅馬的錢幣花樣就多了，不光有銅，也有青銅的、銀的以及黃金的。這說明，漢朝的銅產量，雖然目前沒有官方數據，但很可能已經大幅落後於其競爭對手羅馬。羅馬帝國時代存在的不同錢幣類型：
A Chinese “Wuzhu” coin dating back to the Era of the “MartialEmperor”, Han Wudi (reigned 141–87 BC):
漢朝漢武帝時代（公元前141-公元前87年在位），中國的五銖錢：
The Roman Empire at this point in time, had also just independentlyinnovated the concept of “Cast Iron Tools”. Archaeological evidence howevermaintains, that this was done quite late in their history during the ImperialEra; sometime within the 4th-5th Centuries AD.The Han meanwhile did not invent cast iron tools themselves, but had hadit by that point in time for roughly 500 years already; an entire 1,000 yearsbefore the Romans did, and therefore presumably outclassed the latter in castiron based objects, with regards to not only quantity, but even quality aswell.This is an understatement really, since Cast Iron production was actuallyperfected during the 426 year long reign of the Han Dynasty, through the use ofspecialist furnaces which converted Iron ore into “Pig Iron”, and from thereinto “Cast Iron”, greatly improving civil and military tools alike.Evidence meanwhile, for large scale mining operations and processingestablishments, have to this day been discovered en masse throughout the formerterritories of Roman Iberia.Roman ingots of lead from the mines of Cartagena, Spain:
羅馬帝國在彼時，也是剛剛獨立發明了“鑄鐵工具”的概念。然而考古證據顯示，這是在羅馬帝國較晚時期才完成的發明；大約在公元4-5世紀之間的某個時期。與此同時，漢朝並沒有自己發明鐵製工具，但是已經使用鐵製品有大約500年了，比羅馬早了整整1000年，所以想必在鐵器方面是超越了後者的，不僅從數量上，在質量上也是如此。而這其實只是一個保守的描述而已，因為在漢朝426年的統治歲月中，鐵器是很完美的。通過專用的煉爐將鐵礦石轉化為“生鐵”，這大幅改善了民用及軍用器具的品質。與此同時，有證據顯示，在羅馬伊比利亞故地，發現了大量的大規模採礦與加工場所。在西班牙卡塔赫納礦山發現的鉛錠：
It was a similar case also for the former domains of Britannia inaddition, which was likewise overflowing with natural wealth at the time. Goldfor example has been discovered to have been mined at Dolaucothi in Wales,Copper and Tin in Cornwall, and Lead in Pennines and the Mendip Hills.Britannia’s Iron Production alone in fact, was 2,250 tonnes annually, oralready 50% of Han China’s total Iron production at a national level.Italian steel meanwhile, limited as it was due to the fact that Romanfurnaces had a limit of roughly 1300°C, roughly 240°C short of the ability tomelt “pure” iron, still to this day is widely considered by Historians all overthe world alike, to have remained unrivalled at its peak. Indeed, even in theface of the aforementioned limitations, they were still able to forge “WroughtIron”, from which a form of steel known as “Wootz” was derived.Verdict: The Roman Empire would appear to have been more advanced with regards to Metallurgy. The quantity of Roman produced metals, unrivalled until the advent of the Industrial Revolution nearly 1,850 years later gives them a decisive edge over the Han, despite the fact that the Chinese had some notable advantages also. Rome: 1; Han: 0.
此外，在大不列顛故地也發現了類似的情況，彼時該地區充滿了自然資源。比如在威爾士的多萊克西就發現了金礦，在康沃爾地區發現了銅礦和錫礦，在奔寧山脈和門迪普山則發現了鉛。事實上，不列顛地區的鐵年產量達到了2250噸，以國家級別來看，已經達到了漢朝50%的鐵製品總產量。與此同時，意大利的鋼鐵生產有其侷限性，因為羅馬熔爐的極限溫度大約是1300℃，要融化“純”鐵還差240℃。至今，全球史學界廣泛認為其在頂峰時期擁有無與倫比的地位，即便在上述的限制下（指溫度不夠），他們仍然能通過一種名叫“烏茲鋼”的衍生物鍛造出熟鐵。結論：在冶金技術方面，羅馬帝國似乎更先進一些。羅馬的金屬製品產量是無與倫比的，直到1850年後工業革命才被超越，相對於漢朝，這是一項決定性優勢，雖然漢朝也有一些顯著的優勢。這一輪，羅馬與漢朝，比分為1:0.
AgricultureThe dominance of Roman over Han Agriculture however, is not as clear aswas the case previously for Metallurgy.Roman Agriculture which of course peaked during the course of the Nerva-AntonineDynasty (96–180 AD), greatly varied by region. But based on sources which havebeen ascertained from Wikipedia via Roman agriculture, state that for every average sowing of135 kg of seed per hectare, the following numbers are returned asalphabetically ordered by province (chart is self-created so no sourceavailable):
農業：然而，羅馬的農業技術相對漢朝，其優勢地位就不像前述冶金技術那樣明顯了。羅馬的農業的巔峰時期是在安敦寧王朝時期（公元90-180年），地區差異非常之大。但是可以基於維基百科已經確定史料來看，維基百科顯示：平均每公頃播種135千克，以下數字按省份首字母排列（圖表是自創的，所以沒有可用資料）
Self-evidently, the annual output of wheat varied by region,which when averaged, returns a number amounting to 848 kg/ha, for the entireRoman Empire, which is surprisingly comparable to levels finally attained bythe countries of a “Least Developed” status in 1963, which today still accountsfor roughly 25% of all nations in the world as of 2018.From Egypt alone in fact - the most agriculturally productiveregion in the Roman Empire - 20 million modii (or approximately 174.6 millionkg) of wheat were produced, allowing for at least 2/3 of the city of Rome tohave been fed alone, or 670,000 individuals roughly. If this number is constantfor the population as a whole, then based on the derived calculationsresultant, would amount to an annual national production figure of 15.714billion kg of grain per year, or 225 kg of wheat per person.The Roman Empire was also quite fortunate to have been able topartly “mechanize” their Agricultural productions most notably in addition. Tothis extent, the Romans used a form of automatic harvester, primarily Oxenpowered, allowing them to have harvested ears of wheat as much as required,whilst also simultaneously rejecting its body at a parallel level.The aforementioned Gallo-Roman Harvesting Machine, an originalRoman invention (not necessarily used all over the Empire however, presentevidence suggests exclusive use in Gaul only):
不言自明，小麥的年產量因地區而異，不過平均下來，得出來的數字是848公斤/公頃，在整個羅馬帝國時期，這個數字與1963年“最不發達國家”達到的水平相當。截止到2018年，佔到年全球平均產量的25%.事實上，單獨看埃及---羅馬帝國農業產量最高的地區—生產了200萬modii（不知道啥單位）（大約是1.746億公斤）的小麥，這些糧食能養活2/3的羅馬城市了，或者大約能養活67萬人。如果這個數字相對於整個人口數量不變，然後根據其派生的計算結果，那麼全國的總產量則為157億公斤，平攤到個人身上大概是225公斤。除此之外，羅馬帝國也很幸運能夠部分“機械化”其農業生產。在這方面，羅馬人使用一種自動收割機，主要用牛驅動，這樣他們就可以儘可能多的收穫小麥了。同時還能節省同樣強度的人力。前面提到的高盧羅馬人的自動收割機，由羅馬原創（但是並沒有在整個帝國時期應用，目前的證據表明僅在高盧獨家使用）：
The Romans also used extensively utilized mills (found all overModern France and Italy), to grind wheat into flour. The most impressiveremains of these Roman innovations can be seen today in Barbegal, France, inwhich 16 overshot water wheels arranged into 2 equal columns were purposefullypositioned in order to be fed by the main Roman aqueduct. The water would pourdown into a certain mill, which then also acted as the supply for the next onedown in the series also.The Romans also used extensively utilized mills (found all overModern France and Italy), to grind wheat into flour. The most impressiveremains of these Roman innovations can be seen today in Barbegal, France, inwhich 16 overshot water wheels arranged into 2 equal columns were purposefullypositioned in order to be fed by the main Roman aqueduct. The water would pourdown into a certain mill, which then also acted as the supply for the next onedown in the series also.Rome’s Agricultural production however falls slightly short oftheir rivals’ supposed numbers, which has previously once been claimed beforeto have lain somewhere in the vicinity of 16 billion kg of wheat per year, ormerely 1.8% more than Rome. Said to have led both the world in annual grainyields at a absolute and per capita level, this would have amounted toapproximately 280 kg of wheat per person, or roughly 11% more than their Romancounterparts.Abetted by the perfection also of Cast Iron tools from before,the Han saw major advances in Agricultural technology with regards to theChinese invention of the “Multi-Tube Seed Drill”, pictured down below asfollows:
羅馬人還廣泛使用磨坊（在現代法國和意大利都有發現）將小麥磨成麵粉。這些羅馬創，最令人印象深刻的遺蹟今天可以在法國巴爾貝加看到，其中16個排列成2列的水輪被有目的地定位，以便引入羅馬主水道系統的供水。水則會導入到一個特定的磨坊，而這些水也可以作為下一個磨坊的供水來源。這玩意大概運行了200年，估計每天可生產4.5噸麵粉。這足以為臨近的阿萊拉特鎮提供糧食了，阿萊拉特有大約3-4萬居民。然而羅馬的農業產量任然要略低於（漢朝）其競爭對手的預期產量，之前有流言聲稱（漢朝）每年出產接近160億斤小麥，或者說比羅馬高出1.8%。據說這（些數據）致使世界人均糧食產量都達到了絕對的人均水平，這意味著人均小麥所得量接近280kg，人均所得量大約高出羅馬11%。彼時完美的鑄鐵工具也廣受讚賞，漢朝見證了農業技術的重大進展，彼時中國人發明了“多管播種機”，如下圖所示：
It was a revolutionary tool which made the sowing of seedsquicker, more efficient, and less time consuming. And it was directly as aresult of this innovation, that production yields were maximized thus acting tosustain population growth henceforth.The Han Dynasty however, did not only invent the Multi Tube SeedDrill to help them in the areas concerning Agricultural production, butlikewise also innovated the concept of the “Replacement/Alternating Field” or“Daitianfa” (代田法) Method of Farming, in which fields were divided into multiplelong narrow trenches, making it easy for the various seeds to be placed intothose said trenches.In addition, the soil that fell from the mountain tops on whichthe trenches were placed, supported the stalks of the various new plants. As aresult, this method also made it easier to water. It was a development whichallowed Intensive Farming to emerge first in China, before it did in the RomanEmpire. The Chinese invention of the Wheelbarrow around 100 AD likewise,further acted to make Han Agricultural productions more efficient, by making iteasier to travel back and forth during in the intervals between each individualharvest.A reconstruction of the Chinese invention of the wheelbarrow,originating back to the Early Han Era:
這種器具是革命性的，它的出現使播種更加快速、高效且省時。這種創新帶來的直接結果，那就是作物產量的最大化，此後的人口持續增長。然而，漢朝不僅發明了多管播種機來提升農業產量，同樣的，也發明了“代田法”這種農業概念，這種方法將田地分割成多個狹長的壕溝，從而各種種子更容易放進上述的壕溝。此外，山頂上的由於壕溝的存在，土壤從上面落下去，帶來了各種作物的秸稈。而這種方法使澆水也更為容易。這一發展，使集約化農業第一次出現在中國大地，比羅馬要早。中國大約在公元100年發明了獨輪手推車，這使收穫季節的來回的移動更加容易，進一步提升了漢代農業生產的效率。以下重現了中國人發明的獨輪車，起源於漢代早期：
An all new plough was also invented during the Han Era whichrequired only 1 man to control it, 2 oxen to pull it, and was complemented with3 plowshares, a seed box to collect the drills, and a tool which turned downthe soil. This new discovery hypothetically allowed the Chinese to sow apotential 45,730 m^2 in a single day.Verdict: Tough call, but a point should probably be awarded to theforemostly agriculture centric society of Han, which had also even went so faras to place the farmer near the top of the social hierarchy, second only toImperial Official. Furthermore, it should already be self evident that the Hanmade several more important discoveries to the fields to Agriculture than theirWestern counterparts did. Rome and Han: 1 all.
漢朝時期還發明瞭一種全新的耕犁，只需一人、兩頭牛便可操控，並配備了三個犁頭，一個種子盒，另外還有一個翻土的裝置。這一新發明據說可以使中國人在一天內播種45730平方米。結論：有點左右為難，但是應該給漢朝一個“最重視農業”社會的稱號，漢朝甚至將農民置於接近社會階級的頂端的位置，僅次於帝國官員的存在。說到現在，應該已經不言自明吧，漢朝在農業領域比西方國家有更重要的發明。此輪，羅漢與漢朝，比分為1：1
Hydraulics and MechanicsThe Hierapolis Sawmill was probably one of Imperial Rome’sgreatest innovations in the realm of Mechanical Engineering. The sawmill, locatedin Asia Minor, was water powered and considered still to this day to be theearliest machine in the world to feature a “Crank and Connecting Rod”mechanism. It greatly assisted the Romans in converting wood, into lumber.
水利與機械在機械領域，水力鋸木廠應該是羅馬帝國最重要的發明了。這種鋸木廠位於小亞細亞半島，用水力驅動，至今為止，應該是世界上最早的帶有曲柄和連桿的機械了。極大的幫助了羅馬將樹木轉變為木材。
It was precisely due to the invention of a Crank and ConnectingRod mechanism, which in time would also lead to the creation also of SteamPower. Created by a Greek Mathematician known today as Hero of Alexandria, hisinvention; the Aeolipile, was considered to be far ahead of its time, as properSteam Power wasn’t invented until at least 1698, with the advent of the SteamEngine.The way in which it worked, was that a bladeless turbine wouldspin, when the central water container was heated. Torque as a result, wasproduced by the resulting steam which exited from the turbine, reflecting aphenomena still evident today with Jet engines.
正由於曲柄連桿機構的發明，導致了蒸汽動力被創造出來。人稱“亞歷山大英雄”的希臘數學家發明了：汽轉球，這在當時被認為是遙遙領先的發明。因為直到1698年，隨著蒸汽機的出現，蒸汽動力才被髮明出來。它的工作方式：當中央水容器被加熱時，無葉片渦輪機將旋轉起來，蒸汽機排出的蒸汽產生力矩，今天我們所見的噴氣式飛機引擎也能反映這種現象。
Though the Romans didn’t invent the Steam Engine themselves,they did however most notably already have the means to construct oneregardless based on this knowledge.Apart from the earlier innovations of the Hierapolis Sawmill’sCrank and Connecting Rod Mechanism, and now also Steam Power derived from theAeolipile, the Romans also had intimate knowledge regarding the existence of aCylinder and Piston (used by metal force pumps), aside from non-return valves(utilized by water pumps) and gearing also (which water mills and clocks used).All the five elements necessary to create a full, working SteamEngine as such, were already in existence by this point in time, long beforesuch a status quo was replicated by their Chinese rivals, on the far side ofthe world, many hundreds of years later.Rome’s utilization of the Crane meanwhile, also reached itsheyday in the Imperial Era, an image of which can be seen below in thisparticular case of a “Pentaspastos”, or Five Pulley medium sized Crane, whichcould carry a 450 kg load:
雖然羅馬沒有自己發明蒸汽機，但是很明顯他們已經可以通過這種知識建造一個了。除了早期水力鋸木廠中發明的曲柄和連桿機構之外，蒸汽動力也是由汽轉球衍生出來的，羅馬人對氣缸和活塞的存在也有深入的瞭解（用於金屬力泵），此外他們還很瞭解迴流閥（用於水泵），另外還有齒輪（用於水力磨坊和鐘錶）。彼時，創建一個完整的、可運行的蒸汽機的所有所需部件都已存在，這比其競爭對手中國複製這種技術要早很久，世界另一端的中國，幾百年後才出現這類東西。與此同時，羅馬對起重機的利用也達到了帝國的巔峰時期，下圖可見一個叫“Pentaspastos”的裝置，或者叫它“五滑輪起重機”，這種器械足以承載450公斤的荷載。
Even the simplest Roman Crane however, the Trispastos had amechanical advantage of 3:1 as it came equipped with three pulleys. Assumingthat the average fully matured adult man could lift say 50 kg, then this is tosay that the aforementioned pulley could help him displace a weight amountingto 150 kg.The largest of the Roman Cranes however, the 10.4 metre highPolyspastos, had 5 pulleys and needed to be crewed by 4 different individuals,which would then allow them to lift a potential 3,000 kg. It could have evenlifted up to 6 tonnes however if the appropriate adjustments were made.A photo below depicting the large Roman crane known as thePolyspastos:
即使是最簡單的羅馬起重機---“Trispastos”也具有3：1的機械優勢，因為它配備了三個滑輪。假設一個成年男子可以提起50公斤，那就說是，前文提到的滑輪能幫助他們吊起重達150公斤的重量。然而，羅馬最大的起重機---- 高達10.4米的“Polyspastos”擁有5個滑輪，需要4個成員來操縱，可吊起3000公斤。如果對其做一些適當的調整，重量甚至可以提升到6噸。下圖顯示了一個巨大的羅馬起重機，人稱“Polyspastos”：
When compared to say Ancient Egypt for example, where 50 menwere required to lift a 2,500 kg load up a ramp, the Polyspastos allowed oneindividual to quickly and easily lift 3 tonnes worth of materials, greatlyincreasing efficiency when it came to matters of construction.In the East meanwhile at this point in time, the Han Chinesewere also quite busy at work with their own contributions in the areas ofMechanics and Hydraulics.The mechanical Belt Drive for example, was first introduced toHumanity by the Han Dynasty of China. The belt was an important innovation, asit was then used to assist in the winding of silk fibres, onto the bobbins ofweaver shuttles.Speaking of which, the “Loom” had also first appeared onto thestage of the world by this point in time. Importantly, it would sooner ratherthan later be used to create the exotic material known as Silk, en masse. Silkwould of course later go on to contribute to the vast wealth of China forthousands of years to come.
比如跟古埃及相比，古埃及用50個人才能將2500公斤的負荷移動到坡道上，羅馬的“Polyspastos”只需一人便可迅速、不費吹飛之力吊起3噸材料，這極大地提升了基建效率。而在東方，中國人在為機械與水利的領域努力地貢獻自己的力量。比如機械皮帶傳動，就是由中國人在漢代你首次帶給人類的。皮帶是一項重要的發明，被用來將蠶絲纖維盤繞到織布機的梭子上。說到這裡，彼時，織布機也第一次登上世界舞臺。更重要的是，它遲早會用於創造一種其他的材料---那就是絲綢。而這之後的幾千年裡，絲綢無疑會為中國的巨大財富做出重要貢獻。
The Seismoscope meanwhile, was probably one of the greatestinventions of the Han Dynasty during China’s Early Imperial Era. Earthquakes,which had long plagued Sino civilization from time immemorial, often (asEarthquakes do) strike without warning, and were always highly catastrophic.Naturally in response to such an annoying threat, a ChineseAstronomer known as Zhang Heng invented the Seismoscope in order to detectwhich direction an Earthquake had, or was currently occurring in, in order toquickly direct relief efforts to the affected areas immediately. In 132 BC forexample, it successfully detected and identified an Earthquake which wasoccuring 500 km in a specific direction, despite the fact that no tremors couldbe felt at the time.A photo depicting Zhang’s device below (equipped with a “Crankand Catch” Mechanism, whenever an Earthquake was detected from afar, aninverted pendulum would swing to 1 of 8 directions. In response, a metal ballwould then drop into a frog’s mouth, to indicate the direction in which anEarthquake was currently occurring):
與此同時，簡易地震儀，可能是中國早期帝國時期---漢代，最重要的發明。長期以來一直困擾著中華文明的地震，經常（地震確實是這樣）毫無徵兆的發生，而且通常是災難性的。為了應對這種惱人的威脅，一位中國天文學家—張衡發明了地動儀，用於探測地震發生的方位，或者是目前發生地震的方位，以便迅速趕往災區開展救災工作。比如在公元前132年，它就成功的探測到一次地震，這次地震發生於500公里以外的特定方向，儘管當時無人可感覺到震感。張衡發明的裝置（裝備了“曲柄和抓手”機構，每當遠處發生地震時，倒立擺將擺動到8個方位之一處，從而，一個金屬球將掉至青蛙的嘴裡，用以指示當前發生地震的方向）：
Both the Romans and Han however, shared two things in commonwith regards to the field of Mechanical and Hydraulic Engineering: they bothused water mills and chain pumps throughout the duration of their respectiveempires. In the case of the Roman Empire, the set of aforementioned Water Millswhich were introduced back in the previous chapter, has been aptly described by21st Century Historians to be, “the greatest known concentration of mechanicalpower in the ancient world”.The Han however, took Hydraulic developments one step further,by inventing both a waterwheel powered Mechanical Puppet Theatre which featuredmany self moving automatons, and also the water clock. The water clockfunctioned in that it measured the passing of time, based on the regulated flowof liquid into, or out of a container.
在機械和水利工程方面，羅馬和漢朝都展現了2個共同點：二者在各自的整個帝國期間，都使用了水力磨坊和鏈泵。羅馬帝國方面，上一章節中介紹的這一套水力磨坊，被21世紀的歷史學家描述為：古代世界裡最偉大的機械力量教科書。然而漢朝，將水利工程的發展帶入了一個新高度。漢朝發明了水輪車驅動的水傀儡，以及水車驅動的時鐘。水鐘的功能在於它能根據調節流入或流出容器的液體流量來測量時間的流逝。、
The creator of the Seismoscope, Zhang Heng was also the first toaddress the issue of the falling pressure head, with regards to the inflowwater clock (which gradually slowed the timekeeping process over time) bysetting up an additional tank between the reservoir and inflow vessel.The creator of the Seismoscope, Zhang Heng was also the first toaddress the issue of the falling pressure head, with regards to the inflowwater clock (which gradually slowed the timekeeping process over time) bysetting up an additional tank between the reservoir and inflow vessel.Rotary fans most notably also led to the invention of theWinnowing machine, where they were actively also utilized, to separate grainfrom the casing of their seeds. A crank handle and tilt hammer was used toachieve this. Ideally, a cranked fan was to produce an airstream in order topower the utilized rotary fan, which in turn would be used on the harvestedgrain afterwards.Rotary fans most notably also led to the invention of theWinnowing machine, where they were actively also utilized, to separate grainfrom the casing of their seeds. A crank handle and tilt hammer was used toachieve this. Ideally, a cranked fan was to produce an airstream in order topower the utilized rotary fan, which in turn would be used on the harvestedgrain afterwards.
地動儀的締造者---張衡，通過在儲水器和流入容器之間設置額外的儲水罐，率先解決了水鍾內水壓壓力下降問題（隨著時間的流逝會逐漸減慢計時過程）漢代的一種類似空調原型的裝置也得到了發展，這種裝置改良後為中國精英階層所用。大型手動旋轉式風扇配備了水輪，有時偶爾還能以水打溼大廳的人們，用以降溫。旋轉式風機最引人注目應用的還是風選機的發明，它用處還是很大的，可將穀物與其穀殼分開。採用曲柄加上杵錘來實現這種功能。理想情況下，曲柄風扇所產生氣流從而驅動旋轉風扇，該旋轉風扇隨後將用於收穫的穀物（分離穀殼）。
Verdict: Although the Han definitely made more contributions in thispartcular area, the Romans made quite a couple of highly importantdevelopments also, and thus their capabilities can be considered to have beenequal. The steam powered machine for example, was unbelievably advanced for itstime. Still, the same could technically be said for China’s contributions inthese fields also. Rome: and Han: 2 all.
結論：雖然在特定領域，漢朝的貢獻明顯更多，但羅馬在做出了一些非常重要的發展，所以這哥倆的能力應被認為是差不多的的。比如蒸汽動力機械，在那個時代來說，足以先進到令人驚掉下巴。當然了，中國在這些領域的貢獻也是如此。所以此輪，羅馬與漢朝，比分為2:2
MedicineBecause the Romans were not so expertly skilled at Medicinethemselves, they often had to borrow experts and field knowledge based on theworkings of the Ancient Greeks. Nonetheless, they were still able to producesome prominent figureheads such as Galen, or Celsus.Roman Medicine at its heights, was characterized by an everexpanding knowledge on the fields of practical medicine, and saw great advanceswith regards to the field of Surgery. From the second century AD, literarytexts contributed to by many physicians known as the “Medici”, allowed Rome toassist in their understanding of which herbs were appropriate for a specificailment.Ippomarathron or Fennel for example was known to cure cases ofpainful urination, internal disorders such as stomach pains were meanwhilesuppressed using Ra (Rhubarb), Aristolochia (Birthwort) was used to easebirthing pains, Aloe for wounds and Glikoriza (Liquorice) for calming internalorgans.Reliefs from well preserved archaeological sites such asPompeii, have been known to have provided experts with tangible evidence,regarding the use of forceps, tweezers, wound retractors, collecting cups,needles and various sized scalpels to assist Roman doctors in surgery.Roman Surgery tools, commonly used during the first and secondcenturies during the Early Roman Empire:
醫學由於羅馬人本身對醫學並不熟練，他們經常需要向外部借用一些專家和醫學學問，這些學問基於古希臘人的知識，儘管如此，他們仍然出現了一批傑出的醫學家，比如蓋倫。羅馬的醫學，其特點在於實用醫學領域的知識不斷擴大，在外科領域取得了巨大進展。從公元二世紀開始，許多被稱為“Medici”的醫生對醫學文獻作品做出了貢獻，這也幫助了羅馬人理解何種草藥適用於何種特定的疾病。比如茴香，世人都知道可以治療小便澀痛，內臟疾病比如胃痛則可以用大黃來治療，馬兜鈴可以用來緩解分娩之痛，蘆薈用來治傷口，甘草可用於鎮靜內臟。眾所周知，一些保存完好的考古遺址，如龐貝古城為專家提供了有關使用鉗，鑷子，傷口牽開器，收集杯，針頭和各種尺寸的手術刀以協助羅馬醫生進行手術的實際證據。羅馬的手術器具，在早期羅馬帝國時期的第一、二個世紀裡是很常用的器具：
Using such tools, Roman doctors could perform a wide variety ofsurgeries, including but certainly not limited to: cataract removal, drainingof fluids, trephination, and sometimes even the reversals of circumcision. Itshould be noted however, that like in most other societies at the time, Surgerywas considered to be a last resort, due to the risks involved in such adangerous and unsanitary practice at the time, giving rise to infectionspost-operation.The first hospitals to appear in Italy were also introducedduring the course of the Roman Empire, alas they were usually only reserved forslaves and soldiers however. Valetudinaria as they were called, were mainlyrectangular and accompanied with 4 wings at any given time. Their maximumcarrying capacity could accommodate up to 500 men, or 10% of an ImperialLegion.A plan for a Roman Valetudinarium, near Düsseldorf, Germany,dating back to the late 1st century AD:
用這種器具，羅馬醫生能實施各式各樣的外科手術，包括但不限於：去除白內障，排除液體、環鑽術、有時甚至能還原割禮。然而應該指出的是，與當時大多數其他社會一樣，手術被認為是最後手段，因為手術比較危險，且彼時的衛生狀況堪憂可能導致感染，所以風險很大。在羅馬帝國時期，在意大利出現了第一批醫院，雖然他們只是用來為奴隸和士兵服務的。一種被稱作“Valetudinaria”的醫院，通常是矩形的，帶有4只翼。最大的病員容量高達500人，大約是一個帝國軍團的10%。羅馬的“Valetudinarium”還原圖，位於德國杜塞爾多夫，可追溯到公元1世紀：
Roman physicians by this point in time, were also self-aware oftheir own limitations however, with regards to the treatment of certain wounds.Serious injuries to the brain, heart, liver, spine, intestines, kidneys andarteries for example, were widely considered by many at the time to have beenbeyond the expertise of many physicians alike.Roman Medicine, often defined by common sense and supremepracticality, was sometimes also negated by a lot of pseudoscience at best, andobsolete practices at worst. Doctors would for example interpret a patient’sdreams in order to decide on what treatments a sick person would receive.Furthermore, was the Roman belief that drinking blood fresh from a recentlyslain Gladiator, would cure epilepsy. Needless to say, these treatments wereusually redundant.On the bright side however, the Romans did also correctlyhypothesize (based on Greek knowledge retrieved from renowned Hellenicphysician, Hippocrates) that the key to living longer lay at the base of a wellbalanced diet. Thanks to the efforts of Galen meanwhile, bandages weresterilized in wine first before being applied onto an injury.Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) meanwhile, used still to thisvery day in certain parts of the world, was also likewise utilized during theHan Dynasty 2,000 years ago. Whether there is or is not evidence for theeffectiveness of TCM of course however, remains highly controversial even tothis very day.Acupuncture (the inserting of needles in order to accelerate thebody’s natural healing processes) was and still is one of these aforementionedcontroversial practices (practitioners of Acupuncture today have claimed thatmany physical and mental illnesses, can be cured by such a practice. Naturally,many others are quite sceptical of such claims, but it presumably would havealso acted well as a placebo, which has been scientifically proven to sometimesbe just as effective as the genuine cure),
彼時的羅馬醫師，也能意識到自己醫術的侷限性，然而對於某些傷口的治療方面，比如腦補、心臟、肝臟、脊柱、腸道、腎臟、動脈這些器官的嚴重損傷，諸如此類的疾病在當時，會被認為已經超出了許多專業醫師的知識範圍。羅馬醫學通常由常識和實用性來定義，不過有時也被吐槽：最擅長偽科學，而摒棄實踐。另一方面，羅馬人也正確提出了一個正確的假設，那就是保持均衡的飲食習慣是可以延長壽命的（基於希臘名醫的知識）。同時，由於蓋倫（古羅馬醫師）的努力，繃帶在用於處理傷口之前首先要在葡萄酒中消毒。而傳統中醫（TCM），在世界某些地區任然被沿用至今，其在2000年之前的漢朝也有應用。當然了，傳統中醫是否有效的證據，至今仍存在爭議。針灸（插入針頭以加速身體的自然癒合的過程），任然如上述所說那樣，存在爭議性（如今的針灸從業者宣稱，許多生理與心理疾病都能用針灸來治療。自然的，也有許多人懷疑這番言論。但它大概可以作為安慰劑而發揮功效，已被科學證明有時與真正的治癒效果一致）。
If compared to land based military units in fact, the Wing Classwas the equivalent of chariots, Stomach Strikers to battering rams, Spire Shipsto mobile assault towers and Bridge ships to the Imperial Cavalry.
Verdict: As fanciful and exotic as Chinese Naval technology may appearto some, when objectively viewed from an impartial third party point of view,it becomes fairly apparent that Roman ships were usually qualitatively betterthan their Chinese counterparts. The fact also that Rome possessed a standingNavy whilst Han China did not, deeply implies their superiority in the fieldsof Naval Technology, an expertise which they also partially acquired from thePhoenicians and Greeks. The Chinese of course, still did make some outstandingcontributions themselves in this field as well however. Rome: 4; Han: 3.
如果與陸基軍事單位相比，實際上，“飛翼”級大致相當於戰車，而“突胃”級則相當於攻城錘，“尖塔”級則是移動攻城塔，“仙橋”級那就是漢帝國的騎兵了。
結論：中國海軍技術在一些人看來可能會顯得有些怪誕和異乎尋常，從第三方的客觀角度上看，羅馬軍艦的質量通常要比漢朝軍隊方面好得多。事實上，羅馬擁有一支常備海軍，而漢朝則沒有。這也意味著他們在海軍技術領域的優勢，不過他們也從腓尼基人和希臘人那裡獲得了部分專業技術知識。當然了，中國人在這方面仍然做出了一些傑出貢獻。此輪，羅馬與漢朝，比分為4：3。
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