THE ancient Romans were military masterminds, brilliant builders and plumbing perfectionists. They also liked a good drop of the old Vino Rosso after a hard day’s grind.

In the 1,000+ years of their empire they built over 50,000 miles of roads and 1,000 miles of aqueducts – many of which still stand today. The empire was so successful that (unlike the Conservative party) the money trickled down so that everyone from emperor to the enslaved could enjoy a nice sip of wine.

But how much did they really drink, could you outdrink a legionnaire and more importantly, what have the Romans ever done for us?

As the Roman Empire expanded across the globe at an almost unstoppable rate, it became obscenely wealthy and all classes of people drank, from soldiers and peasants right down to the lion-fighting slaves. (Remember Russell Crowe getting hammered in Gladiator before he has that massive row?)

Unsurprisingly though the quality of the tipples being quaffed varied enormously. And while Romans came to expect access to wine, not all Romans were equal.

The legionnaires, for example, drank a wine-based brew called Posca. Posca – a supposedly energy-enhancing peasant drink and early forerunner of budget Red Bull – was a mixture of diluted wine with vinegar, herbs, salt and sometimes honey to sweeten the flavour.

The moonshine managed to rehydrate, re-energise and also contained some antiseptic properties, ideal for troops on the move.

While the Romans are notorious for their drinking they actually borrowed their boozing habits from the Greeks, who famously had their god of wine, Dionysus. But as always the Romans took what they learned and raised it to the next level.

Alongside fine wine the Romans were also know to ferment apples and other fruits to make cider, but all were second-class to the civilised drink of vino.

Beer was frowned upon and considered a drink for the Barbarians, which the higher classes wouldn’t go near. Not too dissimilar to a night out in West London, one assumes.

So while the Romans were renowned for drinking over 450 litres of wine a year each – or nearly two bottles day – much of this was watered down and the soldiers were not often drunk. That probably makes sense when you consider you’ve got to keep an eye on an area covering over two million square miles from Britain to Africa and beyond. Not ideal with a hangover.

So, the incredible answer is, depending on your tolerance, quite possibly you could outdrink a Roman soldier – mostly due to the watered-down nature of their booze.

Whether you could outlast a legionnaire in the lusty-throws of an oversized orgy is of course another question.