Aqueducts Are Among Most Exceptional Achievements Of Ancient Roman Engineers
A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Among all the achievements of ancient engineering, Roman aqueducts belong to the most exceptional ones.
Engineers in the ancient Roman Empire knew that one of the most fundamental requirements for any town or city to exist was to supply it with water because it is a basic human need.
Ruins of the Aqua Anio Vetus, a Roman aqueduct built in 272 BC. Image credit: Lalupa - CC BY-SA 3.0
In 312 BC, a Roman politician Appius Claudius Caecus ordered that an aqueduct be built to supply Rome with water. The aqueduct was one of two major Roman projects carried out during this period; the other was a road for military purposes.
The city must have water to drink, cook, and clean, but it also must have all the necessary arrangements to remove unwanted water. Both ancient and modern Rome has been well supplied with the means for delivering water to the city and taking it away.
Ancient Romans were highly skilled engineers. By the early fourth century AD, Rome was being supplied by more than twelve aqueducts, which cooperatively could bring more than a million cubic meters of fresh water to the city daily!
This massive amount of water was delivered to Rome's inhabitants through a complex network of tanks and pipes and to about 1,500 public fountains, pools, and almost 900 public and private baths.
"With so many indispensable structures for so many aqueducts," remarked Frontinus, "compare, if you will, the idle pyramids or the useless, though famous, works of the Greeks…." wrote Sextus Julius Frontinus around AD 98, in his book called "De Aquis Urbis Romae" (About the Waters of the City of Rome).
Much of our Roman water supply system knowledge comes from this book. Frontinus was a prominent Roman civil engineer and the top official overseeing Rome's water supply. In his book, he described Rome's aqueducts.
The multiple arches of the Pont du Gard in Roman Gaul (modern-day southern France). Source
Usually, we think of the Roman aqueducts as a series of tall, impressive stone arches visible above the ground. Later, aqueducts included some (less than 10 percent) sections carried on massive arches.
However, the first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia after its builder, was located underground. It took its water from some springs about 25 kilometers outside the city. It had a capacity of approximately 75,000 cubic meters of water per day, which was delivered to the area around Aventine Hill.
Frontinus tells us about the Aqua Appia:
'For four hundred and forty-one years from the foundation of the City, the Romans were satisfied with the use of such waters as they drew from the Tiber, from wells, from springs...'
The following Roman aqueduct (mostly an underground channel), Anio Vetus, was the second oldest after the Aqua Appia. It was built in 272 BC and funded by treasures seized after the victory against Pyrrhus of Epirus (318-272 BC).
Considered an engineering masterpiece, the Anio Vetus was unique due to the complexity of its construction. It was four times as long as the Aqua Appia, its source much higher, its flow was more than twice, and it supplied water to higher elevations of the city.
It had a capacity of around 180,000 cubic meters per day and, as its name suggests, drew its water from the Anio River valley (the source of its waters – dates back to 272 BC), located to the east of Rome.
The Aqueduct of Segovia is a Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain.The aqueduct was built of unmortared, brick-like granite blocks. source
The experiment with Aqua Appia was very successful and became an essential part of life in Rome. By the third century AD, the city had eleven aqueducts that provided over one million people with water. The eleven aqueducts had a total distance of approximately 800 kilometers, of which fewer than 50 km ran above ground on masonry support. Using a lot of water had become part of the lifestyle of Rome's inhabitants. Here, for example, there were lots of public bathhouses.
Together, the eleven aqueducts provided Rome with about one million cubic meters of water per day.
The aqueducts made it possible to live much better and more accessible. It was enough water for daily life, fountains, toilets, public baths, and flower gardens. Aqueducts also brought water to mines, mills, and agriculture.
Baths have also become social gatherings for the Romans. There were even gardens and libraries at more significant buildings, and water surrounded people, constantly pouring from the aqueducts.
The Romans were excellent engineers who were good at constructing aqueducts; they built much more prolonged and extensive structures than their predecessors. However, the aqueduct itself was not a Roman invention, but the Roman engineers knew the principle of the aqueducts used by Greeks and Etruscans.
The construction of aqueducts spread to other places in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia when the Roman Empire expanded further.
As the Roman Empire extended its range to other areas, "aqueducts appeared everywhere where the Romans appeared" (A. T. Hodge, Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply).
Written by – A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer
Updated on December 28, 2022
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesReferences:
Hodge A. T. Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply
Coarelli F. Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide
More From Ancient Pages
-
Day Of The Dead: From Aztec Goddess Worship To Modern Mexican Celebration
Ancient Traditions And Customs | Oct 30, 2019
-
Mysterious Artifacts Scattered Around Mount Baigong, China
News | Jun 23, 2014
-
Taweret – Powerful Egyptian Hippopotamus ‘Household Goddess’ Guarded Childbirth, House, Sleep And Dispelled Evil Forces
Egyptian Mythology | Jul 16, 2018
-
Champ Dolent “Field Of Sorrow” Menhir – Largest Standing Stone Was Built By Fairies Ancient Bretons Said
Featured Stories | Oct 10, 2022
-
Thoth: Ancient Egypt’s Most Mysterious, Highly Venerated God Of Knowledge And Writing
Egyptian Mythology | May 24, 2017
-
Inscription At Aquae Calidae Sheds Light On Last Years Of Ancient Thrace’s History
News | Aug 30, 2015
-
17th Century Medical Pop-Up Book Digitized
Archaeology | Jan 16, 2016
-
Mystery Of Merit Ptah And The Unknown Identity Of Peseshet Who History Forgot
Archaeology | Jan 8, 2020
-
Mysterious 1,800-Year-Old Roman Marble Inscription Found In The Ancient City Of Aigai Deciphered
Archaeology | Oct 5, 2022
-
Ancient Village Of Zalipie Where Flowers Are Painted On All Houses
Ancient Traditions And Customs | May 29, 2019
-
Ancient Monuments The World Is Not Allowed To See – Forbidden Zone – Part 2
Featured Stories | Aug 27, 2020
-
Ancient Roman Coins Thought To Be Fakes Are Authentic – Experts Say
Archaeology | Nov 23, 2022
-
Illness And Death Of The Edward Of Woodstock ‘Black Prince’ Changed The Course Of English History
Archaeology | Dec 21, 2022
-
Why Were Uncomfortable Poulaines High Fashion During The Middle Ages?
Ancient History Facts | Mar 16, 2024
-
Paracelsus: Physician, Alchemist, Philosopher Well Ahead Of His Time
Featured Stories | Apr 28, 2016
-
Francis Drake, Queen’s Pirate And One Of The Founders Of English Naval Force
Featured Stories | Apr 12, 2020
-
Saraswati – Hindu Goddess Of Knowledge, Learning And Vedic Symbol Of Speech, Vach
Featured Stories | Jun 23, 2021
-
Roman Naval Base of Haltern in Germany Was Rebuilt Four Times 2,000 Years Ago
Archaeology | May 8, 2023
-
Kalpa Tree ‘Kalpavriksha’: The Sacred Wishing Tree Has Been Object Of Adornment And Worship Since Ancient Times
Featured Stories | Jul 22, 2016
-
Khara-Khoto ‘Black City’ – Besieged By Genghis Khan But Flourished Under Mongol Rule
Featured Stories | May 13, 2021