Athenian cultural dominance continued throughout the Roman period, and the buildings added to the Agora reflect the educational role of the city, a role that ended only with the closing of the pagan philosophical schools by the Christian emperor Justinian in A.D. 529.
Bearing, in machine construction, a connector (usually a support) that permits the connected members to rotate or to move in a straight line relative to one another. Often one of the members is fixed, and the bearing acts as a support for the moving member. Most bearings support rotating shafts against either transverse (radial) or thrust (axial) loads.
Sometimes the bearings are segmented, as shown at right, and sometimes the bearings can tilt to suppress a phenomena know as shaft whirl or whip. A common form of the tilting pad bearing is used as a thrust bearing on large turbomachines. Generally, the surfaces of such bearings are babbitt -lined.