Roman water supply
Roman aqueducts brought water from distant sources to fountains, baths and individual buildings. Routes combined underground conduits, near-surface channels and arcades across lower ground. Porta Maggiore in Rome originally monumentalised a road crossing beneath the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus channels under Claudius. Trier’s Porta Nigra, by contrast, is a city gate, not part of an aqueduct.
Porta Maggiore or Prenestina Gate (Latin: Porta Prenestina) I century AD,Rome (Italy),modern view
Porta Nigra or" black gate " (Latin: Porta Nigra) II century AD,Trier (Germany),modern viewWater normally flowed by gravity through a channel with a slight gradient. Routing required surveying, tunnels, supports and maintenance. Arcades are the most conspicuous part of a system, not the whole system. Deep valleys could also be crossed by pressurised pipelines known as inverted siphons. Greek and Hellenistic engineers already used aqueducts and siphons; Roman achievements cannot be explained by supposed Greek ignorance of arches or hydraulics.
Pont du Gard, arcade of the Nimes aqueduct in southern Gaul, mid-1st century CE. Three tiers of stone arches carried the water channel across the Gardon valley.
Aqueduct in Segovia (Spain) I century AD,modern view
Aqueduct in Tarragona (Spain) I century BC,modern viewWithin towns, tanks, fountains and pipes distributed water. Lead and ceramic pipes were used; Vitruvius discussed their properties and warned against lead (De architectura, VIII.6). Pressurised sections needed sound joints and pressure control. Distribution structures, channel cleaning and repair mattered as much as high arcades.
Rome’s first aqueduct was the Aqua Appia, built in 312 BCE. In Frontinus’s time, near the end of the first century CE, the city received water through nine principal aqueducts; the later conventional total is eleven. These numbers refer to different stages of Rome’s system, not to the beginning of imperial rule or all aqueducts of the empire.
Drainage formed a separate network. The Cloaca Maxima developed from early drainage works and was repeatedly altered. Water-supply conduits brought water in; sewers carried waste and rainwater away. Structures visible today combine ancient fabric, later modifications and modern maintenance.
Aqua Appia (Latin: Aqua Appia) IV century BC,Rome (Italy),modern view
Aqueduct of Marcia (Latin: Aqua Marcia) II century BC,Rome (Italy),modern view
Cloaca Maxima (Latin Cloaca Maxima) VII-VI centuries BC,Rome (Italy),modern viewRelated topics
Ancient Rome, Roman architecture, Roman bridges, Thermae, Pompeii
Literature and sources
1. Vitruvius. Ten books on architecture / translated from Latin by F. A. Petrovsky,Moscow: Librocom,2012-320 p. 2. Hartman K. O. History of Architecture [History Of Architecture].T1. Moscow: Izogiz Publ.,1936-267 p. 3. Gnedich P. P. Art History [Art history].Moscow: Eksmo Publ.,2002-848 p. 4. Choisy.A. History Of Architecture.Moscow: V. Shevchuk Publishing House,2005-708 p. 5. Emili Cole. A Concise history of architectural styles. L.: Gardners Books,2003-352 p. - Porta Maggiore: Sovrintendenza Capitolina - Pergamon aqueduct: National Technical University of Athens - Frontinus. De aquaeductu urbis Romae.
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