Do you live on a road? Does your house have heat, a flushing toilet, or a calendar hanging on the wall? If so, you should thank a Roman! Romans were good at a lot of things. One of the major things was making cities run smoothly.

Aqueducts—Romans used these raised, man-made channels to pipe water into cities. Aqueducts made Romans cleaner, healthier people. Some aqueducts carried water as far as 60 miles! That meant people didn’t have to crowd close to rivers. They could spread out.

Concrete—Some people joke that today’s Rome has gotten so messy because people living there are used to seeing ruins. But those ruins were once good, strong buildings made from Roman concrete. Romans invented concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rocks.

Newspapers—Romans wrote some of the first newspapers. They posted the metal or stone notices in public places so everyone would know what was going on.

Roads—At one point, the Roman Empire covered 1.7 million square miles. In order to take care of an empire that big, Rome built the best road system the world had ever seen. Some of those roads still exist today.

Government—Romans enforced laws well when nearby civilizations couldn’t. They also established the republic—a form of government still in use.

You should thank a Roman for helping make modern life work well. But you can’t. The Roman Empire is long gone. Romans were pioneers. They achieved many things besides the ones listed here. But even their best ideas couldn’t make their empire last forever.

And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the Earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. —Acts 17:26