2,000 years after Romans introduced first building regulations, stadiums still occasionally fall down, with terrible consequences
From the deaths of 20,000 spectators at a gladiatorial contest in 27AD when the wooden stadium at Fidenae collapsed, the "never again" principle has ensured that disaster is followed by laws to ensure future safety and prevent repetition. Yet 2,000 years after the Roman senate introduced the first building regulations, stadiums still occasionally fall down, with terrible consequences. And, as we prepare to remember all over again the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago, survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster in January will no doubt reflect that ships have carried on going down. The fate of the Titanic led to inquiries in both America and England, and a transformation of domestic and international laws governing every aspect of safety at sea, from protocols for radio use to the number of lifeboats and training in their use. But attempts to design a liner that would be both safer and acceptable to what shipowners insisted was passengers' preference for ease of access meant that the most effective solution – sealing off the ship in sections to stop a single hole flooding the entire hull – was never a serious option. In the end, the experts seem to agree now that by far the most useful intervention provoked by the Titanic's loss was the introduction of the international ice patrol which, to this day, monitors the movement of icebergs off Newfoundland in the stretch of the North Atlantic where she sank. To stay safe, avoid icebergs. And the rocks off the island of Giglio. To stay really safe, stay home.