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Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply
Abstract
Aqueducts built by the Romans mostly date to the Imperial period, though metropolitan Rome did acquire four under the Republic. Our knowledge of them comes from archaeology and literary. Archaeology is centered chiefly on the great bridges and arcades that form so prominent a part of the aqueduct network. For a full understanding, two qualifications must be noted. First, most of the length of the aqueduct conduits, being underground, remain invisible and hence can be found and visited only with the assistance and guidance of specialists. Second, within the city of Rome itself, the details of the urban distribution network remain uncertain and hard to follow, largely because of the modern city built on top. As for literary evidence, Vitruvius does give us an account of aqueduct building, but our chief source is Sextus Julius Frontinus who was appointed in 97 CE by Nerva as Commissioner of the Waterworks.
... The Pont du Gard aqueduct, built during the reign of Claudius (40-60 AD), involves many unique hydraulic engineering components and strategies [1][2][3][4] (pp. 181-188 [1]) that collectively worked to deliver water to the Roman city of Nemausus [2,3,5]-now the city of Nîmes in southern France. ...
... The Pont du Gard aqueduct, built during the reign of Claudius (40-60 AD), involves many unique hydraulic engineering components and strategies [1][2][3][4] (pp. 181-188 [1]) that collectively worked to deliver water to the Roman city of Nemausus [2,3,5]-now the city of Nîmes in southern France. Water from the Fontaine d'Eure spring at Uzès was conducted to a regulation basin at Lafoux with an overcapacity diversion channel to the Alzon River ( Figure 1); the aqueduct was designed to deliver 40,000 m 3 /day through the~50 km long aqueduct channel [2]. ...
... 181-188 [1]) that collectively worked to deliver water to the Roman city of Nemausus [2,3,5]-now the city of Nîmes in southern France. Water from the Fontaine d'Eure spring at Uzès was conducted to a regulation basin at Lafoux with an overcapacity diversion channel to the Alzon River ( Figure 1); the aqueduct was designed to deliver 40,000 m 3 /day through the~50 km long aqueduct channel [2]. The Pont du Gard aqueduct/bridge spanning the Gardon River (Figure 2A-C) is located~25 km from the spring source; a further 25 km extension of the aqueduct channel constructed partway through a tunnel delivered water to the basin distribution center (castellum) located~17 m above the city of Nemausus. ...
The water distribution castellum at the terminal end of the Pont du Gard aqueduct serving the Roman city of Nemausus in southern France is analyzed for its water engineering design and operation. By the use of modern hydraulic engineering analysis methods applied to analyze the castellum, new aspects of Roman water engineering technology are discovered not previously reported in the archaeological literature. Analysis of the castellum’s 10 basin wall flow distribution pipelines reveals that when a Roman version of modern critical flow theory is utilized in their design, the 10 pipelines optimally transfer water to city precincts at the maximum flow rate possible with a total flow rate closely approximating the input flow rate from the aqueduct. The castellum’s three drainage floor ports serve as additional fine-tuning to precisely match the input aqueduct flow rate to the optimized 10 pipeline output flow rate. The castellum’s many hydraulic engineering features provide a combination of advanced water engineering technology to optimize the performance of the water distribution system while at the same time enhancing the castellum’s aesthetic water display features typical of Roman values. While extensive descriptive archaeological literature exists on Roman achievements related to their water systems both in Rome and its provinces, what is missing is the preliminary engineering knowledge base that underlies many of their water system’s designs. The present paper is designed to provide this missing link by utilizing modern hydraulic engineering methodologies to uncover the basis of Roman civil engineering practice—albeit in Roman formats yet to be discovered.
... Underground engineering was crucial for the protection of the water system from both pollution and enemy incursions in Rome as well as in other Italian and European sites [41,42]. In particular, they developed qanat-type technologies in the construction of utility tunnels for the water supply of urban sewage systems [43], like the grandiose urban sewerage system of the sewers of Rome, with ducts characterized of a large cross-section and still in operation, and several lesser but similar implementations found in present in Luxembourg, Croatia, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain [1,6,[44][45][46][47][48][49]. ...
... The tunnel was realized following a helical section that, with a significant height drop in a small space [61], allowed to reach the spring from the fortified structure, probably for defensive reasons during sieges. As in other underground hydraulic works excavated in carbonate rocks affected by karst processes [46], it is likely that some of the sections at the Shobak tunnel were due to natural dissolution of carbonates and then included in the tunnel. The excavations of this fortified site greatly illustrate the capabilities of water search and collection in an arid environment, moreover in extreme conditions as it might have been a siege or a military occupation, capabilities certainly inherited from past experiences in nearby sites and/or from previous civilizations. ...
... They can also divert the flow below the ground level [80] and feed neighboring aquifers as well as prevent marine intrusion, after all expanding water resources [81]. There is some evidence of using underground dams in Roman times in Sardinia [46] and North Africa [82] and also during the 18th century in Arizona [81]. However, the real development of subsurface water dams began during the 20th century, especially in its last few decades [81]. ...
An underground aqueduct is usually a canal built in the subsurface to transfer water from a starting point to a distant location. Systems of underground aqueducts have been applied by ancient civilizations to manage different aspects of water supply. This research reviews underground aqueducts from the prehistoric period to modern times to assess the potential of achieving sustainable development of water distribution in the sectors of agriculture and urban management, and provides valuable insights into various types of ancient underground systems and tunnels. The review illustrates how these old structures are a testament of ancient people’s ability to manage water resources using sustainable tools such as aqueducts, where the functionality works by using, besides gravity, only “natural” engineering tools like inverted siphons. The study sheds new light on human’s capability to collect and use water in the past. In addition, it critically analyzes numerous examples of ancient/historic/pre-industrial underground water supply systems that appear to have remained sustainable up until recent times. The sustainability of several underground structures is examined, correlated to their sound construction and regular maintenance. Moreover, several lessons can be learned from the analysis of ancient hydraulic works, particularly now, as many periodically hydrologic crises have occurred recently, overwhelmingly impacted by climate change and/or over-exploitation and degradation of available water resources.
... These waste-waters were used in agriculture fields to grow crops and was also used to periodically flush sewers (Cooper 2001). The Romans built a sewage system, Cloaca Maxima, that was responsible for waste-water and rainwater removal, as well as for swamp drainage (Hodge 1995). The Romans used advanced technologies for sanitation, including baths, and underground sewers and drains. ...
... A significant development in storm-water management was achieved by the Roman Empire; during this time, a few roads were graded in such a way that the runoff was easily discharged into the drainage system (Burian and Edwards 2002). In addition, rainfall was collected into a cistern and utilized locally, whereas large underground structures were built to store water (Hodge 1995). ...
An urban water system (UWS) has three main service components: (i) drinking-water; (ii) waste-water; and (iii) storm-water. Historically, each component in urban water development evolved over time with different objectives for “different” types of water. Even today, the trend continues, as different urban water services are managed in silos. This trend is less sustainable, resilient, and reliable, mainly because of significant pressures on freshwater supplies exerted by the increasing population, demand for high living standards, rapid urbanization, and climate change. To cope with these challenges, the conventional thinking needs to change. This paper identifies a number of significant research gaps related to inter-relationships among various UWS service components. An innovative paradigm, the “one water” approach (OWA), which considers “urban water” as a single entity, is investigated herein. Currently, Australia, the USA, and Singapore are leading the implementation of the OWA, whereas only a few Canadian municipalities have embraced OWA at a very basic level. Among the EU nations, the Netherlands have emphasized the need for integrated water resource management in an urban environment. This review highlights the challenges in adopting the OWA, and also proposes guiding principles in ongoing water management practices. Institutional complexities involving an intricate regulatory structure for different UWS service components, a wider fragmentation in decision making at government levels, and insufficient stakeholder engagement within and between water utilities and other institutions present serious challenges. Various strategies such as, data sharing between water utilities, use of novel technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, sensor technologies), and visionary leadership at different government levels have been identified as key drivers for the adoption and implementation of the OWA. The authors believe that a paradigm shift from “conventional” approach to OWA is needed to increase resiliency and reliability of water services and assist decision-makers of UWSs.
... The history of Petra's monumental architecture and historical development has been described by many authors [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Some scholars have concentrated on technical and location aspects of water supply and distribution systems within Petra [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], while other surveys [16,[22][23][24][25][26][27] have concentrated on the water control and distribution technology available to Nabataean water engineers from Roman and other eastern and western civilizations through trade and information transfer contacts during Petra's expansion period (100 BC-AD 300) period. This paper was designed to add further depth to the hydraulic engineering technology used in the design and operation of Petra's three major pipeline water supply systems serving the urban center of Petra: The Siq system sourced from the Ain Mousa spring, the Ain Braq system, and the Wadi Mousa system. ...
... Later Roman modifications to existing Nabataean water systems in the Great Temple area [20,21] (Figure 12) include small diameter lead piping and Roman standardized pipe diameter designs [22] for Roman extensions of the marketplace and Cardo Street areas, as well as for the Paradeisos Pool areas. The Roman standards for what a city under its control should have (fountains, baths and other water display structures) were an inherent part of Roman reconstructions present in post-106 AD Petra together with standardized piping size elements and lead piping. ...
The principal water supply and distribution systems of the World Heritage site of Petra in Jordan were analyzed to bring forward water engineering details not previously known in the archaeological literature. The three main water supply pipeline systems sourced by springs and reservoirs (the Siq, Ain Braq, and Wadi Mataha pipeline systems) were analyzed for their different pipeline design philosophies that reflect different geophysical landscape challenges to provide water supplies to different parts of urban Petra. The Siq pipeline system’s unique technical design reflects use of partial flow in consecutives sections of the main pipeline to support partial critical flow in each section that reduce pipeline leakage and produce the maximum flow rate the Siq pipeline can transport. An Ain Braq pipeline branch demonstrated a new hydraulic engineering discovery not previously reported in the literature in the form of an offshoot pipeline segment leading to a water collection basin adjacent to and connected to the main water supply line. This design eliminates upstream water surges arising from downstream flow instabilities in the two steep pipelines leading to a residential sector of Petra. The Wadi Mataha pipeline system is constructed at the critical angle to support the maximum flow rate from a reservoir. The analyses presented for these water supply and distribution systems brought forward aspects of the Petra urban water supply system not previously known, revising our understanding of Nabataean water engineers’ engineering knowledge.
... A canal connected civilisation centers to the rivers and was used for water supply and navigation. The ancient Roman aqueducts and reservoirs were more common, bigger in size and capable of carrying a greater water volume; and provided water for public baths, and drinking water fountains and few provided water for industrial and irrigation purposes (Hodge, 2008;De Feo et al., 2010). The Ellagela system of Sri Lanka (Renwick, 2001) is evidence to multiple uses of water in the past. ...
Drinking water supply systems in Nepal, originally designed to meet domestic water needs, are currently being used to fulfill the multiple water needs beyond domestic use which created inefficiency, risking water shortage and even causing premature system failure and breakdown. International Development Enterprises (IDE) first implemented the scheme, which is referred, to as Multiple-Use Water Systems (MUWS) that addresses the productive as well as domestic water needs. The MUWS systems are implemented in middle hill districts of the western, mid-western and far-western development regions of Nepal. The onset point for MUWS is classified as domestic-plus in which users have access to water for productive uses but maintain the priority for domestic uses around homesteads; irrigation-plus in which, users can accommodate water for both productive and domestic uses but maintain the priority for irrigation uses; and community-driven in which communities and their existing water practices and priorities as a starting point for improvement, and offers technology choices designed for multiple uses. MUWS shows multiple benefits by ensuring water availability, enhanced economy and community involvement. However, the system faced challenges of water shortage during the lean period and unaffordable system connection fees and tariffs for the poor and marginalised. Properly planned, managed and regulated MUWS can be seen as one of the several potential adaptation options utilising scarce water for high-value and off-season crop production, more effectively and efficiently in the context of changing climate.
... The Anio Novus was the highest-elevation aqueduct along most of the Aniene valley and the second highest in elevation within the city of Rome itself 54 . Aqueduct elevation was important (Supplementary Information S2) since Roman water supply was predominantly gravity-driven and only areas below an aqueduct could be supplied with any significant volume of water 50 . Maintenance of the Anio Novus apparently ceased sometime between the fifth and eighth centuries CE 52,55 . ...
Travertine crystal growth ripples are used to reconstruct the early hydraulic history of the Anio Novus aqueduct of ancient Rome. These crystalline morphologies deposited within the aqueduct channel record the hydraulic history of gravity-driven turbulent flow at the time of Roman operation. The wavelength, amplitude, and steepness of these travertine crystal growth ripples indicate that large-scale sustained aqueduct flows scaled directly with the thickness of the aqueous viscous sublayer. Resulting critical shear Reynolds numbers are comparable with those reconstructed from heat/mass transfer crystalline ripples formed in other natural and engineered environments. This includes sediment transport in rivers, lakes, and oceans, chemical precipitation and dissolution in caves, and melting and freezing in ice. Where flow depth and perimeter could be reconstructed from the distribution and stratigraphy of the travertine within the Anio Novus aqueduct, flow velocity and rate have been quantified by deriving roughness-flow relationships that are independent of water temperature. More generally, under conditions of near-constant water temperature and kinematic viscosity within the Anio Novus aqueduct channel, the travertine crystal growth ripple wavelengths increased with decreasing flow velocity, indicating that systematic changes took place in flow rate during travertine deposition. This study establishes that travertine crystal growth ripples such as those preserved in the Anio Novus provide a sensitive record of past hydraulic conditions, which can be similarly reconstructed from travertine deposited in other ancient water conveyance and storage systems around the world.
... To further analyse water dynamics at the site, a focus was made on the ancient hydraulic system. This was an essential component of Roman settlements [15], providing clean water throughout the year with wells, cisterns or aqueducts and wastewater disposal through drains and sewers. Another critical function was the drainage system, which was carefully planned to let rainwater flow away from the settlement as quickly as possible to avoid any damage due to runoff, especially in areas where heavy rainstorms occur. ...
Climate change poses an imminent physical risk to cultural heritage sites and their surrounding landscape through intensifying environmental processes such as damaging wetting and drying cycles that disrupt archaeological preservation conditions, and soil erosion which threatens to expose deposits and alter the archaeological context of sites. In the face of such threats, geospatial techniques such as GIS, remote sensing, and spatial modelling have proved invaluable tools for archaeological research and cultural heritage monitoring. This paper presents the application of secondary multi-source and multi-temporal geospatial data within a processing framework to provide a comprehensive assessment of geophysical risk to the Roman fort of Magna, Carvoran, UK. An investigation into the ancient hydraulic system at Magna was carried out with analysis of vegetation change over time, and spatio-temporal analysis of soil erosion risk at the site. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time of this study, these analyses were conducted using only secondary data with the aim to guide further archaeological research, and management and monitoring strategies for the stakeholders involved. Results guided inferences about the ancient hydraulic system, providing insights regarding how to better manage the site at Magna in the future. Analysis of soil erosion allowed the identification of hot spot areas, indicating a future increase in rates of erosion at Magna and suggesting a seasonal period of higher risk of degradation to the site. Results have proven that freely available multi-purpose national-scale datasets are sufficient to create meaningful insights into archaeological sites where physical access to the site is inhibited. This infers the potential to carry out preliminary risk assessment to inform future site management practices.
... Los romanos fueron brillantes como gerentes e ingenieros por lo que sus sistemas de agua rivalizan con la tecnología moderna y constituyen una de las maravillas del mundo antiguo (Lofrano y Brown, 2010). Mucho se sabe y se ha escrito sobre el suministro de agua de Roma (Hodge, 2002;Cooper, 2007;De Feo y Napoli, 2007); pero, muy poco se ha dicho sobre el impacto que el manejo de las aguas residuales tuvo en el estilo de vida de los romanos. Aunque las tuberías de agua y de desagüe no eran sus invenciones, puesto que ya estaban presentes en otras civilizaciones, fueron sin duda perfeccionadas por ellos. ...
El agua es un recurso natural imprescindible para la existencia de la vida en la tierra. El volumen de agua disponible en el planeta para el hombre satisfacer sus necesidades, sin modificar sustancialmente las condiciones naturales de los ecosistemas, es muy limitado. Aunado a la limitada disponibilidad natural de agua, factores como la actual tasa de crecimiento exponencial de la población humana a nivel mundial, la distribución desigual del agua en el planeta, el desarrollo de grandes ciudades e importantes centros industriales en regiones con pocos recursos hídricos, la pérdida de capacidad de los ecosistemas acuáticos para asimilar las descargas de residuos y las perturbaciones producidas al ciclo hidrológico, permiten afirmar que la humanidad dispondrá de menos agua potable en los próximos años (Roa, 2005). La creciente demanda de agua por parte de la población, la industria y la agricultura, ha obligado al hombre a tomar conciencia de la necesidad de cambiar las técnicas utilizadas para manejar este recurso, así como las conductas humanas que impulsan el actual modelo de consumo. La reutilización de las aguas es un hecho constatado y empleado en todo el mundo y a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad. Entre todos los usos que se dan a las aguas regeneradas, el mayoritario es el agrícola (aproximadamente 70% del total), básicamente para el riego de cultivos y pastos. Le siguen el uso ambiental, sobre todo las funciones de recarga de acuíferos y la recuperación de humedales; además, están los usos recreativos (especialmente campos de golf), el urbano y el industrial (principalmente en el sector textil). En este sentido, las aguas residuales pueden constituir una alternativa en las zonas semiáridas donde hay escasez de este recurso, no sólo por ser una fuente de agua para los cultivos, sino por el aporte de nutrimentos que mejoran la fertilidad del suelo, dado los altos contenidos de materia orgánica usualmente presentes en la misma. No obstante, su uso sin un tratamiento previo puede ocasionar problemas debido al alto contenido de sales, contaminación con metales pesados y la presencia de algunos microorganismos patógenos al hombre. En función de lo anteriormente planteado el objetivo de esta publicación científica consiste en analizar el estado de arte sobre el uso de aguas residuales para el riego de cultivos.
... Los romanos fueron brillantes como gerentes e ingenieros por lo que sus sistemas de agua rivalizan con la tecnología moderna y constituyen una de las maravillas del mundo antiguo (Lofrano y Brown, 2010). Mucho se sabe y se ha escrito sobre el suministro de agua de Roma (Hodge, 2002;Cooper, 2007;De Feo y Napoli, 2007); pero, muy poco se ha dicho sobre el impacto que el manejo de las aguas residuales tuvo en el estilo de vida de los romanos. Aunque las tuberías de agua y de desagüe no eran sus invenciones, puesto que ya estaban presentes en otras civilizaciones, fueron sin duda perfeccionadas por ellos. ...
... Analytical work was done as outlined in our earlier studies on carbonate deposits in ancient water structures (Passchier, Sürmelihindi, & Spötl, 2016a;Passchier, Sürmelihindi, Spötl, Mertz-Kraus et al., 2016b; F I G U R E 1 Development of the Constantinople water supply system during the late Roman and Byzantine period. Each diagram shows only the active water supply during a specific period [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] 7 Water level in abandoned ancient aqueducts can be estimated from the height of carbonate on the channel walls, and discharge is calculated using the Gauckler-Manning equation (Hodge, 2011). Sürmelihindi, Passchier, Spötl et al., 2013). ...
The fourth‐ and fifth‐century aqueduct system of Constantinople is, at 426 km, the longest water supply line of the ancient world. Carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system provide an archive of both archaeological developments and palaeo‐environmental conditions during the depositional period. The 246‐km‐long aqueduct line from the fourth century used springs from a small aquifer, whereas a 180‐km‐long fifth‐century extension to the west tapped a larger aquifer. Although historical records testify at least 700 years of aqueduct activity, carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system display less than 27 years of operation. This implies that the entire system must have been cleaned of carbonate, presumably during regular campaigns. A 50‐km‐long double‐aqueduct section in the central part of the system may have been a costly but practical solution to allow repairs and cleaning of the aqueducts of carbonate to ascertain a continuous water supply to the city. The fifth‐century channel was commonly contaminated with clay, caused by the nature of the aqueduct system and possible local damage to the channel. This clay‐rich water could have been one of the reasons for the construction of large reservoirs in Constantinople.
... Roman civilization excelled in the construction of hydraulic structures and provided elaborate aqueducts for most of its larger cities (Hodge 2011). These aqueducts are not only interesting for the history of technology, but also for environmental studies since they contain carbonate deposits that store information on conditions during aqueduct operation (Sürmelihindi et al. 2013a(Sürmelihindi et al. , 2013bPasschier et al. 2016b;Benjelloun et al. 2019). ...
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) deposits from Roman aqueducts are an innovative archive to obtain local high-resolution palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data in interdisciplinary studies. Deposits from one of the aqueducts of the Roman city of Gerasa provide a record of 59 years during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, divided into three sequences separated by plaster layers. Annual carbonate layers show an alternation of sparite, formed in winter, and micrite, formed in summer. Brown bands at the base of many sparite layers probably correspond to large rainstorms in early winter. A fine lamination present in the brown bands may be diurnal in origin. Stable isotope and trace element data confirm annual layering, indicate strongly variable flow rate in the aqueduct and show truncations that may have been associated with drying up of the channel in some years. The trace element pattern is typical of a relatively small aquifer with a rapid response to precipitation. The trace element composition changes abruptly from the first to the second carbonate sequence, suggesting that a spring was added to increase the flow rate. Deformation twins in calcite crystals at the top of the second sequence may be due to earthquake damage after 48 years of use. The presence of abundant clay in the carbonate sequence, especially in the third sequence, suggests seismic damage to the channel. The channel was usually replastered after damage. The aqueduct went out of use sometime after the mid-2nd to mid-3rd century CE. The carbonate archive stores key information on groundwater quantity and composition and indirectly on air temperature, rainfall, extreme environmental events and land use at sub-annual resolution.
... Thus, at least in theory, it was possible to get lead poisoning through water use. Yet, there are two reasons to believe that exposure to lead through water was quite minimal, as pointed out by A. Trevor Hodge (Hodge, 1981(Hodge, , 1992. Firstly, due to geological reasons, most Central and South European ground waters are rich in calcium (contrary to the situation in Fennoscandia), and consequently calcium carbonate formed a coat on the inner pipe surface separating the lead from water. ...
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... Thus, at least in theory, it was possible to get lead poisoning through water use. Yet, there are two reasons to believe that exposure to lead through water was quite minimal, as pointed out by A. Trevor Hodge (Hodge, 1981(Hodge, , 1992. Firstly, due to geological reasons, most Central and South European ground waters are rich in calcium (contrary to the situation in Fennoscandia), and consequently calcium carbonate formed a coat on the inner pipe surface separating the lead from water. ...
On the whole, the use of lead pipes is an example of path dependence that the old cities of developed and developing societies still seem to have a hard time eliminating.
... Thus, at least in theory, it was possible to get lead poisoning through water use. Yet, there are two reasons to believe that exposure to lead through water was quite minimal, as pointed out by A. Trevor Hodge (Hodge, 1981(Hodge, , 1992. Firstly, due to geological reasons, most Central and South European ground waters are rich in calcium (contrary to the situation in Fennoscandia), and consequently calcium carbonate formed a coat on the inner pipe surface separating the lead from water. ...
Our examples of the various theories on history of technology and of water and sanitation reveal some more general governance principles that we find valid and important:
(i) plurality: we have various options, only seldom just one
(ii) diversity: we have several institutional options concerning various political, economic, social, technological, ecological and legislative dimensions
(iii) locality: particularly in water supply and sanitation, the local actors and conditions are most important for sustainable systems and stakeholders
(iv) globality: there is clear need for more general global principles that we can agree on and implement
(v) politicality: many of the decisions related to water policy and management are political by nature, which should not be forgotten when exploring history of technology and its development
(vi) environmentality: the environment is a key requirement for sustainability, but we must remember that it is not our property, but on loan from future generations
(vii) humanity: technology as shown by the examples is largely human by nature.
(viii) visionarity: taking history into account, we should not base our decisions on short-sighted thinking but consider the longer term.
... Sextus Julius Frontinus, the water commissioner of ancient Rome in the first century AD, describes in his documents nine aqueducts with a total length of over 420 km, which conveyed water for distances of up to 90 km to a distribution network of lead pipes ranging in size from 20 to 600 mm. These aqueducts conveyed nearly 1 million m 3 of water each day, which despite large losses along their routes would have allowed the 1.2 million inhabitants of ancient Rome to enjoy as much as an estimated 500 litres per person per day (Trevor Hodge, 1992). ...
... Its fundamental significance imbued water with symbolic associations and activities, most obviously in relation to Roman bathing and the body, each with religious connotations. This is at its clearest with aqueducts and much archaeological energy has gone into finding their alignments (Ortloff and Crouch 2001) exploring their administration (Hodge 1992) and calculating flow and distribution mechanisms (Hodge 1984, Taylor 1997. Many issues remain unresolved: how much was the state involved in the process (Evans 1982, Bruun 1991) and did they transform water supply across the board or only for restricted sections of society? ...
This article critically evaluates how far the interpretation of archaeological evidence has been aided by the recent ‘materialist turn’ in social theory. This perspective, linked to the work of Bruno Latour, argues that we should give agency to not only humans but also to cultural objects and environmental processes. It thus increasingly influences archaeological interpretation. By considering how water supply has been theorised in the Roman World, then setting such theories against evidence for two wells from a landscape near York, I argue that we should retain a distinction between human agents and natural processes. The implication is that Latour’s stance, by failing to provide a social context for interaction between culture and nature, is problematic for archaeological understanding. In contrast, I suggest, Marxist analytical tools provide a more vibrant way forward in explaining both past developments and present climate crises.
... Water management and the construction of dams and water supply systems in Turkey is not restricted to the past few decades but can be traced back to the Hittites, who built one of the first dams for water storage near Karakuyu in central Anatolia (Emre, 1993). Improvement of water storage and distribution systems continued under the Greeks, Romans, and Ottomans with the establishment of numerous cisterns, aqueducts, dams, and irrigation networks (Hodge, 1992;Wikander, 2000). Modern water resource regulation in Turkey started with the construction of the C¸ubuk-1 dam in 1936, which was built to ensure the water supply of Ankara, and has intensified ever since (Akbulut et al., 2009). ...
... Llegada el agua hasta las puertas de las mismas, era distribuida por todo el perímetro intramuros a través de un cuidado sistema de redes subterráneas que configuraba un verdadero tejido urbano. Este entramado estaba compuesto por cuniculi, cisternae y specus cuya materia prima era de origen diverso (Trevor-Hodge, 2002). En Cádiz el registro arqueológico ha permitido analizar e identificar algunos de estos sistemas hidráulicos que han podido ser adscritos por su contexto al período altoimperial. ...
The Roman aqueduct of Cádiz has been the main subject of numerous studies, from the 16th century. Authors like A. de Horozco or Suárez de Salazar have approached to different aspects regarding to this hydraulic building, question that have occupied several chapters in their most known books. Despite this enormous bibliography, the hydraulic structures exhumed in the city of Cádiz have not been analysed enough. This situation is more surprising when it is stated that, though the volume of remains is not excessive, the available information indeed is abundant.This work aims to present a typological and functional analysis of the Roman structures for obtaining, storage and distribution of water at the Roman Gades pomerium associated. Its review and analysis has allowed us to detect the evolution of structures and techniques of hydraulic supply in the city, as well as the disposal of liquid waste. These data also provide significant information on the possible urban plan of Cádiz.
3D spatial data models are essential in city modelling, providing detailed and accurate representations of urban environments. However, underground urban spaces pose significant challenges for these data models, especially in managing underground utility networks. While most current data models primarily represent city objects, only a few are designed to specifically model utility networks. Data models lacking initial utility network support have often been later extended with specialised modules to include these networks. This paper evaluates the benefits and limitations of current data models in representing underground utility networks. It begins by identifying and categorising essential parameters needed for 3D underground utility modelling. These parameters are divided into two groups: common 3D underground utility network modelling parameters, such as 3D coordinate systems, topology, semantics, 3D visualization, and scale; and specific parameters relevant to underground utility networks , which include spatial relationships, specialised geometries, attributes, cadastral elements, and interop-erability features. Subsequently, the study assesses various spatial data models including CityGML, LandInfra, IFC, INSPIRE, ArcGIS Utility Network, SEDRIS, and PipelineML, against these parameters. Each parameter is mapped to corresponding class names in comprehensive tables. The findings suggest that an optimal modelling approach might involve integrating various data models or enhancing specific classes to address all aspects of underground utility networks.
Frontinus’ De aquaeductu urbis Romae is a profoundly political document written in part to assist Nerva at a perilous moment of dynastic rupture and uncertainty in the imperial court. A highly respected senator, Frontinus was a key figure both in legitimizing Nerva’s reign and in engineering Trajan’s succession. His tenure as curator aquarum was also fitted to this role. After the Praetorian uprising in summer 97 CE, his reforms of the aqueduct system took on greater urgency as he found ways to use water as a tool to sway senatorial opinions toward Nerva and, by fall of that year, toward Trajan. Yet he was adopting reforms and expansions of the system that had begun under Domitian. The large aqueduct projects Domitian had begun—including, it is argued, the early phases of the Aqua Traiana—were occupying Frontinus’ watermen when he entered office; this led him to misrepresent their efforts on Domitianic projects outside the city as petty thievery and corruption. He probably suspended the incipient Aqua Traiana but continued more advanced projects that promised a quicker political reward.
Reccopolis was a new city built in Visigothic Spain in the late 6th c. CE. Even rarer than this example of an ex novo urban foundation in the post-Roman West is the fact that the city was equipped with a brand-new aqueduct. The aqueduct has, until now, only been partially studied, but in this paper we update and re-assess the original, preliminary results. We consider the city's whole water cycle, including usage and drainage, employing new engineering calculations and GIS analyses. The results show that the aqueduct was an integral part of the city. Finally, we set our conclusions within their wider context, looking not only at the roles of aqueducts in the ideal of a city at this time, but also at urban water culture in the Late Antique West.
A gestão e o uso da água nas cidades romanas constituem uma temática de investigação que tem vindo a merecer um crescente interesse por parte da comunidade científca, destacando-se a publicação recente de vários estudos de síntese e a realização de reuniões científcas que têm procurado renovar os conhecimentos, as metodologias e as problemáticas no âmbito desta matéria. Tendo por base os dados propiciados pelas escavações realizadas em Braga, ao longo das últimas três décadas, no âmbito do Projeto de Bracara Augusta, ensaia-se com este trabalho uma abordagem preliminar da problemática do abastecimento, distribuição, drenagem e uso da água nesta cidade romana. Para o efeito serão valorizados os vestígios identifcados de construções associadas ao abastecimento, distribuição e armazenamento de água (aqueduto, poços, fontes, tubagens e cisternas), bem como aqueles que se associam ao escoamento das águas sujas e pluviais (canalizações e cloaca). Relativamente ao uso social da água serão tidos em conta os vestígios relacionados com as termas públicas e privadas identifcadas na cidade, bem como aqueles que sugerem a utilização da água como elemento decorativo das habitações, designadamente no âmbito da ornamentação dos átrios e peristilos.
Water management and use in the Roman cities is a subject of research that has been coming to deserve a growing interest for the scientifc community, when are standing out the recent publica- tion of several studies of synthesis and the organization of scientifc meetings that have been trying to renew the knowledge, the methodologies and the problems in the context of this subject. Using the data provided by the diggings carried out in Braga, along the last three decades, in the context of the Project of Bracara Augusta, is intention of this work to essay a preliminary approach of the problematic concerning the supply, distribution, drainage and use of the water in this Roman city. For the efect there will be valued the identifed archaeological remains of constructions associated to the supply, distribution and storage of water (aqueduct, wells, fountains, pipes and cisterns), as well as that associated to the drainage of the dirty and pluvial waters (piping’s and sewer). Relatively to the social use of the water there will be taken into account the remains connected with the public and private bathhouses that were existing in the city, as well as those suggesting the use of the water like decorative element of the dwellings, mainly in the context of the ornamentation of the atrium and peristyle areas
Μια αψιδωτή κρήνη στην επαρχία Πεδιάδος στην κεντρική Κρήτη. Η επιφανειακή έρευνα που διενεργήθηκε από τον γράφοντα στην Επαρχία Πεδιάδος έφερε στο φως ικανό αριθμό κρηνώνπου ανήκουν, στην πλειοψηφία τους, στην ενετική περίοδο. Μία αψιδωτή κρήνη, όμως, που βρίσκεται σε σημαντικό αρχαιολογικό χώρο, στους βόρειους πρόποδες της Κεφάλας Αστριτσίου, μια άλλη επίσης σημαντική θέση, φαίνεται ότι ανήκει σε πολύ παλαιότερες εποχές.Με βάση τα αρχιτεκτονικά στοιχεία της (ορθογώνια δεξαμενή και υδρομαστευτικές σήραγγες), η κρήνη θα μπορούσε να σχετίζεται με την αρχαϊκή ή την κλασική/ελληνιστική εγκατάσταση που απλωνόταν γύρω της. Στοιχεία, ωστόσο, όπως οι διακοσμητικές ταινίες από ερυθρά τουβλάκια και το πάτωμα από ερυθρές πλάκες, παραπέμπουν σε αντίστοιχες κρήνες και νυμφαία της ρωμαϊκής περιόδου.Το αν ωστόσο η κρήνη κτίστηκε και κοσμήθηκε την ρωμαϊκή περίοδο από κάποιον ευγενή της περιοχής (υπάρχει επίσης στο χώρο εκτεταμένη ρωμαϊκή εγκατάσταση) ή απλά επισκευάστηκε και κοσμήθηκε κατά τα Ρωμαϊκά πρότυπα, παραμένει ανοιχτό.
Colonia Iulia victrix Philippiensium was founded by Mark Antony after the battle of Philippi in 42 BC and was re-founded by Octavian as colonia Iulia Philippiensis, then Augusta, after the naval battle in Actium in 31 BC. Philippi was one of the most important stations along the Egnatia Road. During the Antonine period, in the second half of the 2nd c. AD, the city’s center was reconstructed in its most monumental form. The aqueduct for the water supply of the city has been dated to the same period. It is an open-channel aqueduct with a barrel vaulted cover that collected water from the Kefalari area (karstic springs of Voirani), about seven kilometers north-northwest of Philippi.
The book investigates the cultural and political dimension of Roman arboriculture and the associated movement of plants from one corner of the empire to the other. It uses the convergent perspectives offered by textual and archaeological sources to sketch a picture of large-scale arboriculture as a phenomenon primarily driven by elite activity and imperialism. Arboriculture had a clear cultural role in the Roman world: it was used to construct the public persona of many elite Romans, with the introduction of new plants from far away regions or the development of new cultivars contributing to the elite competitive display. Exotic plants from conquered regions were also displayed as trophies in military triumphs, making plants an element of the language of imperialism. Annalisa Marzano argues that the Augustan era was a key moment for the development of arboriculture and identifies colonists and soldiers as important agents contributing to plant dispersal and diversity.
The fragmented remains of five plain-ware Sicilian-made pots were recovered from the fifth-century destruction deposits of the late fourth-century bath-building at Gerace in 2019. While their shape raised the possibility that they may have been used as chamber pots, further evidence was required to improve confidence in this interpretation. One of the pots contained mineralized concretions inside the bottom of the container. A sample of this was removed, so providing the opportunity for laboratory analysis to determine whether human faecal waste had been present in this pot at the time when the concretions formed. Multiple eggs of whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) were found in the mineralized material (Figure 2), at a concentration of 40 eggs per gram. They are identifiable by their lemon shape, wall thickness, overall dimensions, and also the location of the original polar plugs at each end (although the plugs themselves did not survive). The mean egg length without polar plugs was 46.6 micrometers (standard deviation +/-3.5), and the mean width was 25.6 micrometers (SD +/-1.3). The presence of human intestinal parasite eggs embedded within the mineralized concretions which had formed inside this pot shows that human faeces was present on a sufficiently regular basis for some of its contents to become incorporated into the matrix as it formed. In this context, the most plausible explanation is that this particular vessel, and no doubt its companions as well, were used as chamber pots by those visiting the bath-house.
This Atlas aims to provide a comprehensive overview of water resources, infrastructures, usages and management issues in the Orontes River basin. It is developed within a research program led by the Graduate Institute of International and development Studies with the support of the Global Program Water Initiatives of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency as part of an overall project on Water Security in the Middle East. The program aims to analyze water management challenges and perspectives and to establish a multidisciplinary scientific and technical network on water management in the Orontes River basin including Lebanese, Syrian and Turkish organizations. It is conducted in collaboration with the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, the Hydrogeology Center of the University of Neuchâtel, the Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems of the Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment of University of Lausanne, the “Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée”, Lyon.
The Atlas is under development, the current version focuses on the upper and middle reaches of the basin. The Turkish section of the basin will be addressed in the third phase of the program. The atlas presents maps, short descriptions, tables and charts addressing several topics from the physical environment to water usages and their evolution in a spatial and historical perspective. It will be gradually completed with additional topics and will also examine the lower reach of the basin.
The history of human settlement in the Orontes River basin and the spatial distribution of activities are largely related to the availability and exploitation of water resources. The oldest dated water infrastructures, dating back to the Bronze Age, are found in the upper reach of the basin. These installations were extended in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods and restored from the 1920s. While the Orontes River and the numerous springs located in the basin were the main source of water until recently, underground resources currently provide over 50% of the water extracted in the basin. Furthermore, over 80% of the surface water originates from springs. Groundwater management has become a critical issue.
Cities of North Africa experienced a long occupation up to the late 7th c. CE. Despite numerous studies on Late Antique urbanism, no systematic investigation of urban hydraulics has been carried out so far. This paper examines the hydraulic topography of three cities in the Byzantine period (ca. 6th c. CE): Leptis Magna (Tripolitania), Sbeitla (Byzacena), and Timgad (Numidia). This analysis assesses to what extent Late Antique societies managed the cities’ water supply by maintaining or transforming preexisting hydraulic networks. It considers the continuity of aqueducts and the reorganization of water networks, the state of hydraulic management and technology, and the perception of water resources. The hydraulic networks inherited from the Early Roman period were to some extent preserved, although greatly adapted to new concerns for security and new technical and environmental constraints, illustrating the resilience of Late Antique societies.
This volume pays tribute to the great career and extensive and varied scientific accomplishments of Walter Alvarez, on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2020, with a series of papers related to the many topics he covered in the past 60 years: Tectonics of microplates, structural geology, paleomagnetics, Apennine sedimentary sequences, geoarchaeology and Roman volcanics, Big History, and most famously the discovery of evidence for a large asteroidal impact event at the Cretaceous–Tertiary (now Cretaceous–Paleogene) boundary site in Gubbio, Italy, 40 years ago, which started a debate about the connection between meteorite impact and mass extinction. The manuscripts in this special volume were written by many of Walter’s close collaborators and friends, who have worked with him over the years and participated in many projects he carried out. The papers highlight specific aspects of the research and/or provide a summary of the current advances in the field.
Streaming media are often placed in a lineage of electrical technologies that promise connectivity at a distance. We argue, however, that the material-discursive entanglement of streaming is a technological descendent of pre-electrical attempts to control essential resources through flow. Inspired by John Durham Peters’s emphasis on elemental media, we examine streaming media practices that date to antiquity in order to assess infrastructures of flow today. By considering material technologies that capture and channel critical resources to be the “original” streaming media, we demonstrate how the idealized metaphor of streaming conceals the imbrication of human--technology--nature that underpins the capture and channel of flows. Consequently, we position streaming media as infrastructural, indebted to environments, and as part of a lineage that includes not only the telegraph, telephone, television, and film, but also rivers, canals, aqueducts, and pipelines.
This article reports the findings of the fieldwork exploring the cisterns at the Bisti promontory of Hermione, executed as part of a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Argolid and the Swedish Institute at Athens. In order to better understand the function of the cisterns within the water supply system, the article begins by presenting an overview of existing water resources in the area, primarily the naturally occurring sources and the city’s 2nd-century AD Roman aqueduct. Following this the study describes the remains of the 14 potential cisterns on the Bisti. Based on the empirical material the similarities and contrasts between these are explored, as well as what they can tell us about the history and life in ancient Hermione. In particular, the article suggests that the presence of the cisterns contributes to our understanding of the urban fabric of the city, and reveals important information about when the city was moved from the Bisti to the nearby Pron Hill.
This article explores the technological and cultural history of the Roman aqueduct of Aquincum in Budapest. The only one in the Roman province of Pannonia that was elevated to a continuous line of arches, this aqueduct conveyed water from its source in what is now Budapest’s third district to its final destination over three miles to the south, where a Roman military town was located. Apart from the aqueduct’s technological and archaeological aspects, this article also examines several cultural practices that it engendered including the ritualistic significance of the springs that fed it, its appearance as a ruin in various medieval documents, the transformation of its last, above-ground pier into a Christian shrine in the nineteenth century, as well as the relocation of two of its piers to give way to the construction of a road junction.
Bu makale stanbul Teknik Üniversitesi adına Çiğdem Özkan Aygün
başkanlığında yürütülmüş olan arkeolojik yüzey araştırmalarının bulgularının bugüne kadar yayınlanmayan kısmını kapsamaktadır. Bugüne kadarki araştırmalarımız, günümüzde Ayasofya, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi, İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri ve Hipodrom yani İstanbul’un antik akropol bölgesi ve Doğu Roma şehrinin
birinci tepesinde bulunan sarnıçlar, kuyular, su kanalları/ galeriler ve dağıtım sistemlerini kapsamaktadır.
This article refers to the unpublished findings of the archaeological surveys directed by Çiğdem Özkan Aygünon behalf of Istanbul Technical University. The researches sofar covers the cisterns, water distribution channels/galleries and the distribution systems in the area of today’s Hagia Sophia , Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul Archeology Museums and Hippodrome. This zone refers to the acropole of the ancient settlement and first hill of East Roman city.
The principal aims of the book Urbanisation in Roman Spain and Portugal: Civitates Hispaniae in the Early Empire are to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the urban systems of the Iberian Peninsula during the Early Empire and to explain why these systems looked the way they did.
While some chapters focus on settlements that were cities or towns from a juridical point of view, the implications of using a purely functional definition of towns are also explored. Key themes include continuities and discontinuities between pre-Roman and Roman settlement patterns, the geographical distribution of cities belonging to various size brackets, economic relationships between self-governing cities and their territories, and the role of cities as nodes in road systems and maritime networks. In addition, it is argued that a considerable number of self-governing communities in Roman Spain and Portugal were polycentric rather based on a single urban centre.
The volume will be of interest to anyone working on Roman urbanism as well as those interested in the Iberian Peninsula in the Roman Period.
In the Early Roman period the High-Level Aqueduct conveyed water to Jerusalem. The widely accepted view has been that before reaching the city, the aqueduct made a detour to the Mamilla Pool and then merged with the Mamilla Street Aqueduct on its way to the city. The article argues that this route is implausible. It presents data from excavations that set a consistent dating of the Mamilla water system to the Byzantine period. The Mamilla Pool and the Mamilla Street Aqueduct constituted a stand-alone water supply system that merely collected run-off water outside the urban area. The final stretch of the High-Level Aqueduct remains unknown.
A hydrological and hydraulic engineering analysis has been carried out on the Valens aqueduct system constructed from around AD 345 and serving Constantinople. A GIS analysis of previous field observations combined with a digital elevation model confirmed the aqueduct’s likely route and slope. Macrophysical Climate Modelling revealed that contemporary weather data was an appropriate proxy for the time of the aqueduct’s construction, and modern flow data was obtained for some of the springs that fed the aqueduct. Existing, previously documented remains, especially at intakes, were considered, and the industry standard software HEC–RAS was used to simulate the performance of the aqueduct system with a view to understanding the amount of water it could have delivered to the city, the seasonal variation in supply and the most likely configuration of the aqueduct, where this was not clear from existing archaeology. It was concluded that the most likely configuration for the aqueduct system was a fourth and a fifth century channel continuing separately and in parallel to the city walls, which might have delivered flow the range of 0.73 m ³ /s in the driest month of October to 1.73 m ³ /s in the wettest month of March over an average year.
The peninsula of Piraeus is composed of the Mounichia Hill and the rocky Akti, connected through the NE-SW trending isthmus between the Kantharos and Zea harbors (Figure 1a). The great geomorphological advantage of the peninsula is its natural and safe harbors – Kantharos with the innermost Kophos Port, Zea and Mounichia – at a reasonable distance of eight kilometers from Athens.
We report on an important spring source among the headwaters of the Aqua Traiana, the aqueduct introduced by the emperor Trajan to Rome in 109 CE. Located at Vicarello, adjacent to the celebrated thermal bathing complex of Aquae Apollinares, the vaulted gallery and its various intake and offtake branches are preserved in a restoration of the 17th century for use in the Acqua Paola. The question of when precisely this sector of the aqueduct was begun gains special relevance when one considers that Domitian built a large villa in the immediate vicinity and seems to have exerted his personal influence over the development of the bathing complex, too. We argue that Vicarello may have been the birthplace of the Aqua Traiana and that the collection of water there initially was confined to the villa, the nearby bath complex, and within the complex, a monumental nymphaeum. As more springs in the region became available, Domitian may have laid plans for what would become the Baths of Trajan in Rome. We trace the hypothetical stages through which his vision for a small local aqueduct expanded into a grand urban project, eventually to be appropriated and largely implemented by Trajan.
It is hereby proposed that the Romans were directly involved in several major engineering projects which were carried out in Judea. These projects included the architectural planning of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem, the use of Hydraulic Pozzolanic Mortar in the Caesarea harbor and the simultaneous cutting of the Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem. The complexity of these projects called for highly professional and experienced engineers. It is further proposed that the planning of Herod's Jerusalem temple and the availability and use of hydraulic pozzolanic mortar in the Caesarea marine harbor are to be attributed to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa who was a senior Roman architect and a close friend of Herod the Great.
Historic waterworks, including aqueducts and sewers, are civil engineering achievements with unique heritage management challenges. Often designed to be silent and unseen, the subgrade and inaudible infrastructure that delivers water and removes waste is frequently ignored by the public unless it stops working. Although these systems can benefit from official designation as heritage, they are infrequently given this benefit, as the water and wastewater management community that is responsible for them often remains disconnected from the heritage management community. I argue for the establishment of best practice guidelines on the stewardship of historic waterworks infrastructure. Further, I examine the need to evaluate historic significance and identify character-defining features as well as to promote rehabilitation, redundancy, and sustainability of active elements. This discussion is illustrated by the cases of the Aqua Virgo and the Cloaca Maxima of Ancient Rome, the karez of China’s Turpan Province, the Jerome Park Reservoir and Water Tunnel No. 3 in New York City, and the mamanteo canals of Peru. In addition, I recommend strongly that water and wastewater managers and preservationists consider adaptive use of historic waterworks infrastructure after they are decommissioned from active use. Vibrant examples of repurposing are included from around the world, including subgrade sewers, cisterns, and weirs, as well as above-grade gatehouses, wastewater treatment plants, and pumping stations. The heroic civil engineering achievements of the past were often realized amidst the need for social change. In particular, water infrastructure systems, such as gravity-fed aqueducts, delivered reliable sources of potable water to communities while also consistently reducing outbreaks of disease and fire. Preservation of this heritage poses multiple challenges, owing, in part, to the inaudibility and invisibility of these systems, the general public’s limited awareness of this heritage’s civil engineering significance, underrepresentation in World Heritage listings, and limited funding from government agencies that often privilege utility over aesthetics. Although it is inextricably linked to cultural, agrarian, industrial, and maritime landscapes in urban and rural communities worldwide, this infrastructural heritage can suffer unsympathetic alteration, encroachment, obsolescence, demolition, and abandonment. Nonetheless, some waterworks heritage has been preserved within active systems, and some decommissioned sites have successfully been repurposed. All merit closer study by modern planners, engineers, and policymakers as they work to meet water delivery and wastewater removal needs today. In regulatory and political climates where heritage is increasingly threatened, there is a need for management guidelines for historic waterworks infrastructure, in order to consistently apply best practices to analysis, decision making, and modes of treatment. Conservation must be balanced with the demand for new construction and upgrades, in a process that (1) acknowledges significance and identifies character-defining features; (2) evaluates the choice between rehabilitation and replacement for prudence and feasibility; (3) views preservation as a pragmatic and cost-effective means to extend purpose-built service life; (4) replaces sacrificial elements; and (5) repurposes decommissioned elements.
To make sense of Rome's water system, some preliminary observations on Roman hydraulic engineering and water distribution are in order. Although both Claudian aqueducts appear to have been planned to supplement the existing system, to increase the total delivery for all functions and uses, their height and capacity made them the master part of Rome's water supply. Like the aqueducts, however, in antiquity, Roman sewers were considered marvels of hydraulic engineering, earning the praise of both Strabo and Pliny. Rome's aqueducts in Frontinus's time certainly met public needs, but in terms of actual volume delivered, almost 40% of the water they supplied went to consumers who were willing to pay for it or had been granted water rights by the emperor. Waste disposal in Roman cities was no doubt primitive by modern standards, with open sewers and gutters along the streets and widespread use of chamber pots, and Rome itself was no exception.
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