“Inventions have reached their limit long time ago …”
<em>Aqua Claudia</em>
Sextus Julius Frontinus, one of the most outstanding Roman senators and engineers of the 1st century CE was supposed to say: Inventions reached their limit long ago, and I see no hope for further development.
Sextus lived in the years around 40-103 CE. He was the governor of Britain in the years 74-78 CE, where he became famous for building the Via Iulia road and establishing the 2nd legion’s camp. During Nerva’s rule, he was responsible for overseeing the aqueducts.
Sextus became famous above all for his treatises on engineering De aquaeductu (On aqueducts) and surveying. He also wrote a work on the military (De re militari), which he dealt with in practice, but only an extract from him Strategemata (Ruses of war) has survived to this day.
- Graham Webster, The Roman Imperial Army of the First and second centuries, London 1969
