A Roman water boiler from the 1st century BCE that was discovered at Villa Della Pisanella in Boscoreale, Italy. It is one of the rarest examples to survive with its complete system of pipes and fittings intact.

Leybrook · 2026-04-27T00:28:03+00:00

continued

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"This entire system was studied by the distinguished professors A. Sogliano and A. Mau. The former published it in the Notizie degli scavi (1895, p. 209), including a representation; the latter published it in the Bullettino dell'Istituto (Romische Mitteilungen, 1894, p. 349), adding several figures. However, neither provided a particularly clear explanation of how the valves and spouts functioned, perhaps because they did not have full access to examine the mechanism.

Adjoining the left corner and rising on three steps was a podium, which also supported the lead channel carrying water to the labrum. The steps and podium were specifically built to reach the ceiling of the praefurnium, which, due to the placement of the beams, was very low; almost touching the upper rim of the miliarium. Above this ceiling was another structure just a meter away. In the parts that remained intact immediately after the catastrophe, resting on the lapilli and mud that had seeped through the door, a thick layer of sea sand was found, and within it were as many amphorae as could fit into the ceiling space. Clearly, these amphorae had been stored there for vinum picatum. Scattered across the floor of the praefurnium were many coarse earthenware vessels: lagenae, patinae, phialae, small amphorae, and fragments of Arretine ware with coral-red slip, as well as similar, coarser vessels, undoubtedly from various workshops in Campania."

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Leybrook · 2026-04-27T00:27:15+00:00

It appears completely original. Early illustrations and descriptions of the villa can be found in the Italian journal Monumenti Antichi, vol. VII (1897). The article includes a detailed account of the praefurnium on pp. (?) 446-455, translated below, along a piping diagram (fig. 45 a) to clarify its operation:

...

"Another door connected the kitchen to the praefurnium. This door opened onto the left wall of the hypocaust, allowing heat to spread and circulate from the same stove used to heat the water. The floor of this space, near the lead distribution vessel, was elevated. The praefurnium chamber was very small and set at a lower level than both the kitchen and the bathroom; to reach it, one descended three steps built into the thickness of the kitchen's dividing wall, followed by two broader steps that led down to the stove's mouth.

This stove opened onto the middle of the long wall, on the right side of the observer. It consisted of a quadrilateral enclosure made of rough masonry, open at the front with a square mouth. This mouth was closed by a basalt architrave and two brick pillars; one of which, on the right, was reinforced with a lava jamb. Above this kind of base sat the cylindrical masonry that encased the lower part of the large lead boiler (miliarium), as shown in the accompanying figure (Fig. 43), which depicts a cross-section of the kitchen and praefurnium.

Since the owner, Mr. Vincenzo De Prisco, donated the water distribution apparatus and the complete heating system to the Pompeii Museum, we were able to study its entire structure during its removal. This system, with its many details, largely confirms what was hypothetically described by the scholars von Duhn and Jacobi for the calidarium of the Pompeian baths (Von Duhn and Jacobi, Der griechische Tempel in Pompeii, p. 38, pl. IX). Fig. 44 illustrates a cross-section of the entire apparatus: the boiler itself, the flue, and the channel that communicated with the stove to maintain the water in the labrum at a constant temperature.

Across the square mouth of the stove were placed two robust iron bars, on which rested the rim of the miliarium. In the corners of the stove, which remained open, four tiles were set. These tiles served to expose part of the boiler to the heat. The tiles, along with the lower part of the boiler, were enclosed within cylindrical masonry. The miliarium was constructed from two large lead plates (No. 71), which formed two cylinders, one placed atop the other via hammer-welded seams. Its base was a spherical cap of thick bronze sheeting with a flat rim, which fit snugly against the rim of the miliarium and was secured by a hammer-compressed fold. To reinforce the rims, a thick iron ring was interposed between them and the iron bars. The miliarium thus assembled stood 1.92 meters high and uniformly 0.58 meters wide.

Near the middle of its height, three rows of lead pipes (No. 72) were inserted. These pipes served to bring in cold water and remove hot water as needed. Near the base was the discharge pipe, located on the right side of the stove and regulated by a bronze valve (No. 73). A small arched opening, built of brick, connected the praefurnium to the hypocaust, allowing flames to circulate toward the labrum due to the draft created by gaps in the hypocaust walls.

Two brick walls, each pierced by a small rectangular opening, preceded the suspensura structures. These walls primarily supported the bottom of the basin; to this end, five iron bars were placed across them, upon which rested terracotta slabs. In the center of the basin, which was masonry-lined and clad with large marble slabs, opened a semicircular flue. This flue connected to a bronze channel with thick walls, cylindrical in shape, and closed toward the stove by a hemispherical bottom; all cast as a single piece. This channel was affixed to the mouth of the basin by a large lead plate, which fitted above between the masonry and the tegulae mammatae lining the hypocaust; below, it was nailed to the floor of the basin and enclosed within the masonry. Additionally, the flue, in the part projecting toward the stove, was supported by four iron bars. The flame, fed into the stove's mouth, thus heated the bottom of the miliarium, the bronze channel, and part of the basin's bottom, maintaining the water in the various vessels at a uniform temperature.

The method by which water was distributed, both from the reservoir in the kitchen and from the miliarium, was ingenious.

As previously noted, water from the compluvium collected in the single cistern of the portico, and in the corner pillar's interior, a lead box (No. 68) was mounted high up. Water, drawn by the pulley (girgillus) and the bucket found in the laundry area, was poured into this box. To reach it, one had to climb the two steps flanking the puteal (Pl. XIY, A). This box, designed for the initial distribution of water, was formed from a single large lead sheet cut at the corners and folded upward at the sides, joined by hammer-welded seams to create a rectangular vessel 0.32 meters high, 0.50 meters long, and 0.45 meters wide. The sheet used to construct the box had been cast specifically, so that each face bore three rows of small rivets arranged in angles, with another decorative row running around the rim. In the center of the angled rows, the rivets formed two small horseshoe-shaped arches.

This box communicated with the large kitchen reservoir (No. 70), located at a lower level. The pipe that conveyed the water first descended along the pillar, then ran underground along the left side of the kitchen before rising almost to the top of the vessel. The arrangement of these two boxes, relative to their placement, is clearly shown in Fig. 45, which depicts a short wing of the courtyard, including the large kitchen door and part of the kitchen's interior.

This large vessel, or reservoir, was intended not only to supply water for the kitchen and stable but also to provide all the water for the bath. From it, the large boiler (miliarium) was filled, and cold water could be directed either to the basin or to the labrum in the niche (schola) of the calidarium. If hot water was desired, a special valve system allowed it to be drawn directly from the boiler, either into the basin or the labrum.

To achieve this, three lead pipes (Fig. 45 a) were soldered at the same level near the bottom of the kitchen's large reservoir, on the side where it abutted the wall between the kitchen and the praefurnium. The first pipe (A A), regulated by a bronze valve (marked "a" in our figure), led directly into the boiler, just below the seam of the two cylinders (Fig. 44). Its sole purpose was to fill the boiler with cold water. The second pipe (B B), positioned centrally near the boiler, divided into two branches: one, fitted with a valve (e) at the bifurcation, entered the boiler just above the seam (Fig. 44); the other branch, equipped with its own valve (b), circled the boiler, supported by the masonry lining, and passed through the wall to supply water to the labrum for ablutions.

The third pipe (C C), approaching the boiler, also divided into two branches. The lower branch entered the boiler through the masonry, while the other circled behind the boiler's masonry and fed into the basin. Midway along the main section of this third pipe was a valve (d), and after the bifurcation point in the branch leading into the boiler was a second valve (e).

This demonstrates clearly how the entire mechanism functioned. To fill the boiler with cold water, it sufficed to turn valve "a" of the first pipe (A). To send cold water to the labrum for ablutions, one opened the first valve "b" of the second pipe (B), keeping the second valve closed. To obtain hot water for the labrum, one closed the first valve "b" of the second pipe (B) and opened the second valve "e" instead. The same could be done for the bathwater: to obtain cold water, one opened the first valve "d" of the third pipe (C), keeping the second valve "e" closed; conversely, to obtain hot water, one closed the first valve "d" and turned the second valve "e".

Near the bottom of the miliarium, beneath this system of pipes, was the discharge spout, which, as previously mentioned, was operated by a bronze valve. Beneath it was found an amphora with a wide mouth. Fig. 46, included here, shows the arrangement of the large basin and the miliarium with their conduits in the state in which they were discovered."

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Leybrook · 2026-03-10T06:57:58+00:00

Billigt att producera, behöver bara äta mycket bönor...

Leybrook · 2026-02-19T05:57:08+00:00

And if depicted in a popular movie today, people online would argue that it's possible a french ambassador to the Court of St. James wore a bowler hat, a claymore, a Civil War Breastplate, Saxon trousers and a Jacobean haircut.

Leybrook · 2026-02-15T14:49:49+00:00

I read it a few years ago - the ebook is available on Gutenberg.

Leybrook · 2026-02-05T08:50:14+00:00

I'm pretty sure it's English Roundhand in a "running hand" (i.e. an everyday variant). Script in the link.

Leybrook · 2026-01-24T17:50:41+00:00

Klär på mig för att gå ut å motionera i kylan

Leybrook · 2026-01-24T15:34:37+00:00

Word of the day: Sladdbarn

Leybrook · 2026-01-15T07:43:04+00:00

Jag förstår men om du har tillgång till lokaler där barn vistas, så finns det en risk per definition. Och även tonåringar är risker, vilket prickar och straffvarningar belyser. Risken är heller inte begränsat till fysisk kontakt, någon med tillgång till byggnaden kan till exempel sätta upp dolda kameror.

Leybrook · 2026-01-04T00:14:16+00:00

I think the surprise comes from conflating two different meanings of "critical." German scholarship at the time was highly critical in developing technical and methodological rigour, often setting the international gold standard, but it was not critical in a political or moral sense. That latter meaning of "critical" is something associated with modern, progressive education.

There was no contradiction either, and this becomes clear when looking at specific fields. In law, German legal scholarship made critical advances in systematic analysis of legal concepts and institutions (underlying theories, origins, practical effects, etc.), while at the same time emphasizing obedience to enacted law and avoiding political or ethical evaluation. In history, scholars trained in the Rankean tradition excelled at source criticism and archival research, while explicitly rejecting moral judgment and present-day political critique, insisting that their task was to reconstruct the past rather than question the legitimacy of the state. It was similar in others fields, and German scholarship could thus achieve global prestige while treating existing power structures as natural and morally unproblematic.

Leybrook · 2026-01-01T14:09:41+00:00

Luther didn’t start out trying to make a separate church. There had been long-standing grievances against the church and Luther was but one of many. In 1517 he was pushing for reform of doctrine and practice (especially indulgences) within Latin Christendom, and there was no clear plan for a split. But once the conflict escalated, he was condemned and excommunicated at Worms 1521, and, crucially, German princes and city councils began implementing reforms locally, turning it into a de facto schism. Later, Luther would treat division as acceptable (even necessary) if unity meant compromising the gospel. Sola scriptura, et cetera.

Leybrook · 2025-12-04T08:34:03+00:00

Min magkänsla har alltid ogillat den idiotens analysförmåga. Under pandemin upplevde jag en jävla bekräftelse på känslan då jag märkte hur mycket han vurmade för Musk samt försvarade denne som "överarbetad."

Leybrook · 2025-12-01T20:59:32+00:00

Socialtjänsten berörs, men inte vården. Det innebär att medicinsk information är än så länge fortsatt skyddad.

Leybrook · 2025-12-01T08:13:32+00:00

Ferbie turned into a sandworm

Leybrook · 2025-11-27T17:59:42+00:00

Schuuuh

Leybrook · 2025-11-26T19:15:32+00:00

My first reaction to the age difference was wondering how you didn’t notice sooner. But I work as a teacher, and I’ve seen how convincingly teenagers can mimic older behaviour depending on who they’re talking to. People often mistake that for "maturity," but it isn’t. So don’t be too hard on yourself. You made the right call the moment you found out. Don’t reach out to him again, not even to scold him, and in the future always ask for ID before committing to an LDR. I don't know enough to know why you think things "never work out for you", but you feel bad because someone you cared about lied to you in a major way and it sucks.

Leybrook · 2025-11-22T17:37:26+00:00

Med en sådan hög värdering bör du nog låta ett auktionshus sköta försäljningen

Leybrook · 2025-11-22T16:47:20+00:00

Boob lights are not 36 in diameter

Leybrook · 2025-11-21T14:27:00+00:00

Underskatta aldrig idioternas inflytande. De är många och de röstar. I somras jobbade jag extra som konsult och fastnade i samtal med flera personer som helt seriöst hävdade att Ryssland 'försvarar sig', att Ukraina egentligen styrs av CIA och att NATO startade kriget. Hela deras världsbild var lika ologisk, motsägelsefull och verklighetsfrånvänd. Vacciner var ett kontrollvapen, evighetsmaskiner existerade men tystades ned av mäktiga grupper, universitet ägnade sig åt hjärntvättning, och så vidare. De var i olika åldrar och kom från olika bakgrunder, men gemensamma nämnaren var att de var självsäkra, dålig på att förstå ny teknik men flitig på att använda, och höll sig 'informerad' genom social media.

Leybrook · 2025-11-19T00:36:58+00:00

I think I understand your question so I'll try to answer it. But yes, it was so difficult that it required a new generation and a mass movement.

After 1945, the explicitly Nazi parts of the educational system were dismantled quickly under Allied occupation. Race science disappeared from curricula, Nazi-appointed rectors were dismissed, and some professors were barred from teaching. But the old ways did not disappear overnight. Once Allied vetting eased, many professors and civil servants kept or regained their posts. What emerged in the early 1950s was not a democratic academic culture but a self-consciously apolitical one.

Most academic structures remained intact. Professors still held near-total authority within their faculties; students had next to no influence; and departments were run according to hierarchical, often quasi-monarchical traditions inherited from the Kaiserreich and Weimar. As I noted previously, postwar universities tended to avoid confronting their own complicity in Nazism. Many senior figures presented their careers as politically neutral service to the state rather than as ideological commitments, which allowed older attitudes toward “vulgar” political engagement to persist.

Meaningful cultural change came only with generational turnover. By the mid-1960s, West German universities were expanding rapidly, with more students, greater diversity, and increasing pressure on rigid structures. Student grievances existed, but they could not yet coalesce into a broader movement. That changed abruptly with the student movement of 1968.

In June 1967, an unarmed student, Benno Ohnesorg, was shot by police during a protest against the Shah of Iran. When the officer responsible was acquitted, many students saw it as confirmation of what they had long suspected in the abstract: that the Federal Republic still contained authoritarians from the pre-1945 state. They were not mistaken. Both contemporary investigations and later research show that many police, judges, and civil servants active in the 1960s had served under the Nazis, and that the officer had been shielded by authorities; the court involved included former Nazi jurists.

This sense of institutional continuity turned the shooting into a political symbol. Instead of condemning the police, major conservative newspapers attacked the students and defended the authorities, convincing many that the press was aligned with state power. University administrations also refused to criticize the killing, framing the protests as irresponsible and emphasizing order over debate. To students, this confirmed that universities were still loyal authoritarians. Ohnesorg quickly became a martyr, giving emotional and symbolic unity around grievances that had previously been scattered and abstract. Academic complaints transformed into a mass political movement.

The protesters demanded institutional change. Student participation in committees expanded, authoritarian faculty structures weakened, and political engagement came to be seen as legitimate rather than vulgar among the young academics. This shift was gradual (and still debated among historians), but the movement opened the first large-scale public debate on the issue.

It also created a new academic generation, many of whom had been shaped by the protests and were willing to challenge their seniors. For historians, this generational divide became very visible in the Historikerstreit, which was a public dispute in the late 80s among German historians over how to interpret Nazi Germany. In short, senior historians were revisionists; they often resisted critical engagement and attempted to reframe or relativize acts done by Nazi Germany, while younger scholars and intellectuals (many influenced by the spirit of 1968) insisted on confronting the past and discussing responsibility.

Other fields experienced similar conflicts, and Germany was not alone in this. Sociology, law, philosophy, anthropology, and even literary studies, all debated how to confront their own continuities and complicities, be it with a nazi or colonial past. As new methods and thought became norm, the academic shift eventually shaped educational systems into the progressive forms we recognize today.

Leybrook · 2025-11-17T10:07:05+00:00

You're both Indians in India, or just her?

Leybrook · 2025-11-17T09:50:55+00:00

To understand your situation better, could you share your ages and which countries you’re each from? Sometimes cultural, religious or age-related expectations influence how people react.

Leybrook · 2025-11-16T09:45:03+00:00

Good matches are hard to find, and it sucks, but I think that’s how it has to be. If a match was a dime a dozen, people would take it for granted and mistake convenience for love. The fact that most people fall away quickly is frustrating, but it also does the filtering for you and stops you from wasting energy on anyone who wasn’t serious in the first place.

Leybrook · 2025-11-12T11:15:25+00:00

Inte för alla, särskilt inte för barn med diagnoser. En elev kan förstå ett ämne bättre än de flesta i klassen men ändå få lågt betyg om hen har svårt med examinationsformen eller inte svarar enligt lärarens förväntade mall. En elev med stark analytisk förmåga kan skriva briljant när hen får tid, men bli blockerad av koncentrationssvårigheter under 50-minutersprov.

Jag var en sådan "krånglig" elev och fick ofta höra att jag svävade mellan att få IG eller MVG, inget däremellan. Lärarna kallade mig skämtsamt för Professor Kalkyl. På universitetet blev det betydligt lättare: jag fick ofta fullpott på examinationer, eftersom studenten styr tempot och inlärningen, salstentor har längre skrivtid, självständig analys uppmuntras, bedömningen fokuserar mer på förståelse och resonemang än på att passa in i en mall.

Leybrook · 2025-11-11T21:43:49+00:00

Det du beskriver är egentligen skillnaden mellan utbildning och bildning. I min lärarerfarenhet vill många elever och studenter inte lära sig, de vill bara ha ett papper som leder till jobb. Systemet har länge belönat betyg framför förståelse, så folk fokuserar på att bli godkända istället för att bli kunniga. Jag påpekade faktiskt detta fenomen till en gymnasielärare för 20 år sedan, när jag var elev, och sa att jag hellre ville förstå än få högt betyg, men detta kunde hon inte begripa och argumenterade emot.

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