30-Second Ancient Rome : The 50 Most Important Achievements of a Timeless Civilization, Each Explained in Half a Minute

You know that Rome wasn't built in a day, but just how did a cluster of small hilltop villages expand to become one of the greatest empires in history? Why did Romulus kill his brother Remus? How was a legion organized? Did people really speak Latin? What entertainment could you see at the Colosseum? And what was daily life like for a Roman citizen? This book takes a novel approach to answering all these questions and more. 30-Second Ancient Rome presents a unique insight into one of the most brilliantly governed societies, where military might and expansive empire paved the way for technological advances that helped shape our modern existence. From aqueducts to sewers, from mosaics to medical diagnoses, this is the straightest road toward understanding the 50 key innovations and ideas that developed and defined one of the world's great civilisations. Cover; Title Page; Contents; Foreword; Introduction; Painting & Sculpture; GLOSSARY; The Treatise on Painting; Paragone; Decorum of Movement & Gesture; Chiaroscuro & Sfumato; Feature Painting: The Last Supper; Nature; Portraiture; Drawing in Black & Red Chalk; The Deluge; Geometry; GLOSSARY; Linear Perspective; Geometric Optics; Geometric Proportions 44; Feature Painting: Lady with an Ermine; Plane Geometry; Squaring the Circle; Solid Geometry; Knots & Rosettes; Mechanics; GLOSSARY; Helicopter; Worm Gears; Parachute. Feature Painting: The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Young St. John the BaptistHydraulic Saw; Viola Organista; Diving Suit; Self-Propelled Cart; Civil Engineering; GLOSSARY; The Ideal City; Ecclesiastical Architecture; Cartography & Canals; Bridges; Casting the Sforza Horse; Feature Painting: The Battle of Anghiari; The Stage; Industrial Machines; Military Engineering; GLOSSARY; Fortresses; Spectacular Siege Machines; Tank; Cannons & Springalds; Ballistic Studies; Naval Warfare; Feature Painting: Mona Lisa; Dismountable Cannons & Devices; Nature; GLOSSARY; The Prime Mover. The Body of the EarthFeature Painting: Virgin of the Rocks; Macrocosm & Microcosm; Necessity & Experience; Water; The Vortex; Forces of Nature; Anatomy & Anatomical Studies; GLOSSARY; Dissection & Visualization; The Body Machine; The Fluids of the Body; Searching for the Soul; Man & Animals; Feature Painting: Annunciation; Anthropometry; The Origin of Life; Resources; Notes on Contributors; Acknowledgments; Copyright. You know that Rome wasnt built in a day, but just how did a cluster of small hilltop villages expand to become one of the greatest empires in history? Why did Romulus kill his brother Remus? How was a legion organized? Did people really speak Latin? What entertainment could you see at the Colosseum? And what was daily life like for a Roman citizen? This book takes a novel approach to answering all these questions and more. 30-Second Ancient Rome presents a unique insight into one of the most brilliantly governed societies, where military might and expansive empire paved the way for technological advances that helped shape our modern existence. From aqueducts to sewers, from mosaics to medical diagnoses, this is the straightest road toward understanding the 50 key innovations and ideas that developed and defined one of the worlds great civilizations. Artist, anatomist, architect, botanist, cartographer, engineer, mathematician, musician, scientist, sculptor - the word 'polymath' cannot provide the full measure of Leonardo da Vinci's extraordinary talents. If you only know Leonardo as the painter of the famous, much copied portrait, the Mona Lisa, seize the chance to brush up your knowledge and discover what is meant by the term Renaissance Man. 30 Second Leonardo Da Vinci is the quickest way to grapple with the truly diverse thoughts of the ultimate Renaissance superhero. Here, the world's leading Leonardo scholars present an inst.