How did Romans (and Greeks) do architecture and engineering without algebra? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

How did Romans (and Greeks) do architecture and engineering without algebra?

by ferrouswolf2

How did they build complex machines or large structures without the ability to describe things algebraically, or represent unknown quantities that would be determined later?

Searocksandtrees

Hi, new answers are welcome here, but while you're waiting, you may be interested in these earlier threads

/u/ManicMarine in What was math/physics before calculus? Finishing 2nd year college physics, and its in pretty much everything
various users in In my history class we learned that algebra was created by the Arabs, if this is the case then how previous were Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras able to come up with complex mathematical formulas/proofs such as a^2 + b^2 = c^2 ?