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I did a fun page over at WP, not a fifth of the records I have in mind listed, but for a start here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_an ... al_records
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Nice page! Hopefully it will stay intact for a long time. I have one question: is it a list of world records, or a list of records within the Greco-Roman world? For example, I think the 6th century BCE walls of Babylon were longer than the defenses of Athens (especially if you include the Northern Fortress, river walls, and the defenses of the Etemenaki).
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have
a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
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To be honest, I have not made my mind up yet. :lol: It is still a beta page. ;-) ) If the city walls of Babylon were indeed longer, they have a fair chance of being the longest overall in history, because the only contender to Athens I found were the 14th century walls of Nanjing which also measure some 30 km.
Generally, the records are not easy to identify since they rarely claimed as such by authors, so I have to do cross comparisons to potential contenders before adding them to the list. Even then, I find some structures quickly superseded such as the highest bridge (probably rather the Alcantara bridge) and the longest spiral stair (possibly the Arcadius column instead). And for other things, which are fairly common knowledge, as the Alexandria lighthouse having been the highest in the world to this day, or the Roman road network being the largest pre-industrial network of prepared and paved overland roads, it is difficult to come by reliable references.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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added:
*largest pointed arch bridge by span
*widest bridge
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)