The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 3: Hypocaust: Engineering Radiant Heat for Roman Comfort
Ancient Water and Climate Control Systems 1 The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 1: Qanat: The Gravity-Fed Engine of Persian Oases 2 The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 2: Yakhchāl: Harnessing Radiative Cooling in the Desert 3 The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 3: Hypocaust: Engineering Radiant Heat for Roman Comfort 4 The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 4: Barbagal Mill: Automation and the Cascade of Roman Power 5 The Gravity Engine: Ancient Water Systems That Shaped Civilization - Part 5: Aqueducts: Mastering Pressure with the Roman Siphon ← Series Home Heating an Empire from Below the Floor Imagine a stone floor in a Roman villa that feels pleasantly and uniformly warm during the depths of winter. This was the comfort delivered by the Hypocaust system, the ancient world’s first form of central heating. Perfected by the Romans, though likely a Greek innovation, the hypocaust transformed cold, damp living spaces and communal bathhouses into inviting, radiantly heated interiors. By using gravity and convection to circulate hot air beneath the floor and through the walls, this system anticipated the modern principles of radiant heating by over a thousand years. ...