Infrastructure behind Roman war scale

Antiquity should not be treated as technologically or institutionally primitive. Roman roads and aqueducts formed an infrastructure network whose effects endured long after the empire itself. Rome and Carthage also drew on interconnected grain supplies, including imports from Egypt, while ancient systems often substituted organised labour for modern labour-saving technology. Access to more expressive and labour-saving tools does not mean greater human intelligence. This logistics and labour context matters when judging whether the reported size of Ecnomus was supportable.