Could Romans build equipment and weapons whilst on campaign? We look at carpentry and some of the tools the Romans used. #roma #romanhistory #ancientrome #romanartifacts #roman #spqr #romansoldier #romanlegion #romanwoodworking #romancarpentry
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LearningTranscript
00:00 Welcome to the legionary.
00:02 As part of the new series on,
00:05 which I'm calling the Roman workshop,
00:08 we're gonna be taking these oak timbers here,
00:11 which I rescued from a firewood pile.
00:13 Believe it or not, someone was gonna actually burn this.
00:15 Hew it by hand using tools which are similar
00:22 to those used by the Romans.
00:23 Plain, standly plain notwithstanding.
00:29 Until we have it to sort of like construction grade timber.
00:34 So we end up with a fairly, reasonably square beam.
00:41 Say hello to Bella.
00:45 Bella is absolutely fixated by the birds.
00:49 So what are we gonna be doing with this timber
00:58 once we've got it to size?
00:59 Well, we're gonna be building,
01:00 you guessed it, some Roman artillery.
01:03 I've got some reference books here,
01:05 which we'll go through.
01:06 So obviously we've got the ancient artillery of Salberg.
01:10 It's just translated from a German book.
01:12 So these are great for reference.
01:14 If you're gonna do any research on anything,
01:16 don't just take one book,
01:18 at least get two or three as a minimum
01:21 so that you can get as much information
01:23 as you need on your project.
01:27 Second book is Greek and Roman artillery,
01:29 399 BC to AD 363.
01:33 And look, we've got the machine
01:35 that we're gonna be building,
01:36 which is the Roman Oniga,
01:38 or the bucking mule or kicking donkey.
01:41 I did say bucking.
01:42 So yeah, I've got a depiction of it here
01:45 in the offspray book.
01:46 So that's my other reference.
01:50 So plenty of other descriptions
01:52 and explanations on Roman torsion artillery
01:56 and how it works.
01:57 So yeah, here for example, this is great.
02:02 This actually explains to you how a torsion arm works.
02:05 So it's twisted rope.
02:06 In this case, I believe in some of the earlier models,
02:09 the Greek models used horsehair.
02:11 But yeah, he got it using rope,
02:15 but at least it explains, gives you a rough diagram.
02:17 So here's an example of some of the tools
02:19 we're gonna be using on this.
02:21 Here I've got the famous de lobra,
02:24 which is the Roman pioneering tool
02:27 all the legionaries carried.
02:29 Well, a lot of them carried.
02:31 I'm not sure everyone carried one,
02:32 but yeah, important tool.
02:36 And then here I've just got a bog standard broad axe.
02:39 Obviously these tools have got nice wide beards on them,
02:43 which means they take nice bites out.
02:46 The heads are quite heavy as well.
02:48 So they work under their own weight.
02:51 So for example, see that?
02:54 Straight in.
02:55 So you don't have to swing hard,
02:58 which is tiring and dangerous at the same time.
03:03 But with a heavy head on an axe,
03:05 you're only making short moves,
03:07 very short, precise cuts.
03:10 And as we saw, you can actually get a really nice finish
03:13 if your axe is sharp.
03:15 But yeah, these are great tools.
03:17 Then afterwards, what have we got?
03:19 We've got the draw knife.
03:20 Obviously Romans had draw knives.
03:24 This one's an old French one.
03:26 This is a flat blade, so it's not curved,
03:30 but this is ideal for,
03:33 you can get an almost planed finish on wood if you want to.
03:37 So this is quite handy if you just wanna start
03:40 to make more precise cuts.
03:43 But it's handy.
03:44 Chisel, this is good for knots.
03:47 If you come across some knots,
03:48 you can work around the knots with a chisel.
03:51 Just smarter to use that than it is a plane.
03:54 And then afterwards, we've got two planes.
03:56 So we've got a wood plane here,
03:59 and then we've got a Stanley, just metal-bodied plane.
04:03 Obviously I've been cheating in using the Stanley.
04:05 (laughs)
04:06 But I also use this one here.
04:09 This is a small roughing out plane.
04:11 But yeah, it's got a nice wide mouth on it,
04:15 so the wood chips don't get stuck in it
04:19 as much as they do with the Stanley.
04:21 So sometimes this is actually the preferred plane.
04:25 And then what have we got for measuring?
04:28 Obviously we've got a square.
04:31 Romans are obviously master geometry,
04:33 so they would have used a square.
04:35 Obviously it would have been wood nor metal.
04:37 And we've got a straight edge as well,
04:41 which I use to check the length of the timber.
04:45 But obviously you can make a straight edge
04:46 out of wood as well.
04:48 But metal is the preferred medium
04:51 because it doesn't deform or warp.
04:53 And the Romans knew that as well.
04:54 A lot of their instruments were made out of metal,
04:57 bronze, and sort of varying grades of steel.
05:02 So yeah, these are the tools that we'll be using
05:05 to turn that into that.
05:08 (birds chirping)