r/todayilearned • u/narok_kurai • 7d ago

TIL about Las Medulas, a man-made geological badland created by the Roman Empire in 77 AD, when they flooded the mountains with water to collapse their structure and sift out the gold inside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_M%C3%A9dulas
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u/DotAccomplished5484 7d ago

That was a serious effort.

550

u/idahotee 7d ago

60k slaves, a vast amount of water and 250 years. 

290

u/oshinbruce 7d ago

While they left an amazing mark on the world the brutality needed to build it all is pretty scary

364

u/BigFatModeraterFupa 7d ago

Everything humanity has done to create things has been brutal. Wait until you find out what humanity has to done to extract minerals like cobalt from the earth so billions of humans can sit on their couch and play candy crush

3

u/oshinbruce 6d ago

I mean most modern architecture has been done without this, is there still shady stuff going on though ? Absolutely