Edit- After reading most of the comments the general consensus is listed below:
1. The unique composite matrix of the concrete used gives it a self-healing property. When cracks form in the concrete, it will naturally seal them.
2. The Pantheon was a very significant structure which led to meticulous maintenance and restorations
3. The Romans didn’t have modern engineering. So they didn’t know exactly how strong they’d have to build the Pantheon to make it last. Their solution was to overbuild the hell out of it.
4. Survivorship bias. There were thousands of buildings constructed by the Romans but very few remain which are the ones we marvel at.
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In: 564
Over engineering and EXTREME income inequality.
Other people hit the over engineering point, but income inequality allowed it to happen.
When I took a few classes about the ancient world this was the one thing that really interested me as it really was insane.
I like to imagine the inequality as if we lived in a world where billionaires and millionaires still existed, but everyone else was either living on a dollar a day or was a slave. This was reality in the ancient world. The income inequality was almost unimaginable. Like there is more nuance than this but that sort of idea is roughly how unequal if was. There was the mega rich and the poor, that’s it. And a few just super rich mixed in. Also once there was an emperor they were worth more than almost everyone else in the empire combined.
Being this rich they decided to just spend money on some fun projects and so whenever they built something they could spend a ton of money on it. This allowed their over engineering to take place! Also since they were super rich they just kinda had a ton of money to spend on fun projects and make them look cool.
Edit: Oh I forgot the middle class: the legions of course
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