Finley’s view of the economic and technological stagnation of the Roman world (1965) has been challenged from a number of standpoints (K. Greene 2000a, b). First, it is not true to say that there was no technological development and no evidence of the diffusion of new or developing technologies (K. D. White 1984). The poor development and distribution of water mills, for instance, has long been held up as an example of the technological failings of the Roman Empire, but recent archaeological discoveries have made it clear that the technology was far more widely adopted (even in the arid south and east Mediterranean lands) than has previously been appreciated (A. Wilson 2002a: 9-17). Water power was also used for much more than milling grain, as finds of stone anvils eroded by the action of trip hammers from mining districts in Spain and Britain demonstrate. It is also clear that a key characteristic of the Roman economy was the application of technology on a new scale, whether in terms of the size of Roman opencast mines, the impact of global pollution at the ice caps, or the scale of Roman olive presses (see below).
A key measure of Roman technological progress is to compare the pre-Roman application of technology with that achieved under Rome. In many areas of life we can point to an increased use of existing technology, often developed on a larger scale of operation than theretofore - again olive press technology may serve as a good example (D. J. Mattingly 1996b; Mattingly and Hitchner 1993). Other areas are equally indicative: glass making became increasingly widespread, but with a separation between producers of raw glass and manufacturers of glass vessels (E. M. Stern
1999); kiln technology for pottery and brick production became widely diffused, with increasing scale and technical specialization (Peacock 1982); specialized malting ovens for beer production and grain drying are widespread on Romano-British sites, but absent in the Iron Age (Jones and Mattingly 2002: 228-30); large-scale rotary mills (variously powered by human labor, animals, and water) served a variety of functions in towns and country (A. Wilson 2002a).
Another approach to technology is to assess the extent to which it was appropriate to different communities and regions. The concept of a ‘‘technology shelf’’ from which communities selected what was most appropriate to themselves, rather than an invention-led model of technological diffusion has much to recommend it (K. Greene 1994).
World History
