The Waters of Rome

MEFRIM: Melanges de l'Ecole française de Rome: Italie et Mediterranee, vol. 118, no. 1. Rome: Ecole Francaise de Rome, 2006. 202 pp. ISSN 1724-2142 Reviewed by Cheryl Bradbee Published on H-Italy (September, 2012) Commissioned by Gregory Hanlon (Dalhousie University) For many in the twenty-first century, the con‐ markets for the transport of goods to and from the nection between cities and water has been lost. city. Due to recurrent foods from the late me‐ Railroads had replaced much of the travel and dieval period through the 1800s, the residents of transportation by water in the nineteenth century Rome had to imagine new solutions. This led to an and left urban waterfronts to languish from ne‐ eventual grand transformation of their relation‐ glect. Owing to the increased urgency regarding ship to the river with the construction of walls changes to hydrologic cycles due to climate shifts along the shore. The articles pick up on these there is renewed interest in water, how it relates themes in rough chronological order. to urban spaces, and the ways we use it. These It is one thing to harness the energy of the riv‐ eight articles form a special section of volume 118 er, but what happens during a food? The Tiber of the Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome: Ital‐ has a long history of foods, which Anna Esposito ie et Méditeranée dedicated to water and water explores in an essay focusing on the period from control in Roman history. They explore the rela‐ the late ffteenth century into the sixteenth centu‐ tionship between Rome and her river, from the ry. She uses poems, letters, diplomatic dispatches, distress of foods to the ingenuity of foating mills and diaries to present the response to recurrent and iron bridges. For many modern First World floods in the city. The foods were disruptive people, understanding the historical role of water enough that some local imaginations blamed in a city requires a leap from our own experi‐ them on the presence of a malevolent serpent in ences of centralized water management and land- the waters. Alternatively, a food was God’s judge‐ based transportation. It takes this kind of re‐ ment on the city, particularly on unsavory papal search to remind us of the vital role of water in activities. cities throughout history. Silvia Enzi picks up the story from 1500 to Carlo Travaglini introduces the eight articles 1700 in a study of how foods were represented in with a reminder that the Tiber River has been es‐ library sources. She chronicles an increasingly sential to the city of Rome throughout its history. systemized approach to the river and its behav‐ Over time it has formed part of the imagination of iors. Records were kept of peak levels and heavy the urban residents and is often given visual rep‐ rains. An analytic connection was made between resentation. The Tiber was of critical strategic im‐ snow melt and heavy rains in the mountains up‐ portance to the Papal States and international river and subsequent foods in the city. When the H-Net Reviews river fooded, the drainage and sewage systems Maria Segarra Lagunes also focuses on the within the city would back up to add to the debris, impact of the river on the daily life of Romans in rubbish, mud, and damage left behind. It was un‐ her study of the mills that both lined the shores derstood that the river fow had been obstructed and foated in the river. The foating wooden mills by the bridges and an increase in the number of were understood to be essential, as they brought mills in the river. These frst two articles lay a food basics into the city. Yet they were also obsta‐ foundation for what is to come. cles that increased the threat of foods. Frequent‐ The third article elaborates on the issue of ly, Lagunes notes, the mills were given as conces‐ backed-up sewage, refuse, debris, and the damage sions by the Camera Apostolica to churches to caused by the foods. The Tiber fooded with regu‐ manage, repair, and operate. The siting of the mill larity from 1530 to 1750 and caused trauma and was crucial, especially in relationship to the distress, especially in the low-lying neighbor‐ bridges. Laura Giustini adds more information hoods. The blocked sewage system and drains left about the mills in her essay, which is based on water sitting for long periods in parts of the city, Napoleonic records from 1810 and tax assessment which contributed to disease and death. Laura records from 1824. A detailed description is pro‐ Megna’s essay explores the role of the Presidenza vided for how a foating mill actually worked and delle Strade in the efforts to clean up the city after the differences between the design and construc‐ floods and to devise methods to prevent further tion of the two types of mills. backups. Edicts and decrees attempted to change The use of GIS (Geographical Information Sys‐ people’s behavior and make the city cleaner. Arti‐ tem) for historical research is examined by Keti sans and businesses were taxed to pay for clean- Lelo and Francesco Palazzo, who describe in de‐ up of streets. Overall, the article explains the in‐ tail a methodology to plot the food of 1870 with creased level of administration required to man‐ records on food levels from across the city. They age the city and the damage left by foods. At also rely on climate data, especially rainfall times, though, this article wandered and could records. GIS maps of the city permit them to as‐ have benefited from further organization. sess the damage to structures and loss of goods. The industry of transporting wood into the One outcome of this food was the formation of a city is explored in Francesco Colzi’s well-orga‐ city commission to study the issue and make rec‐ nized article, which offers a welcome change ommendations to limit future floods. from descriptions of fooded neighborhoods. In Simonetta Ciranna focuses on some such rec‐ this article we see how vital the river was to daily ommendations in the volume’s fnal essay. She life in the city. Wood was essential for life in Rome tells the story of an engineer, Andrea Busiri Vici in the 1700s. People used it in all sorts of indus‐ (1818-1911), and his proposals to deal with urban tries, in construction, and as fuel for the necessi‐ floods. One of the more fantastical schemes was to ties of life. Colzi taps into a wealth of records on build balconies and bridges across the city that es‐ river travel and the commerce in wood in ar‐ sentially would have raised the ground level of chives primarily from the Presidenza della Ripe, the city above the food peaks. In a way, in food the municipal administrator for river traffic. This times Rome would become like Venice, going article looks at the amount of wood transported, about its business just above a city flled with wa‐ the location of city markets and their regulation, ter. Ciranna illuminates some of the nineteenth- and legislation that controlled most aspects of the century technological advances and how they ulti‐ production of wood. mately changed the relationship between river and city. 2 H-Net Reviews While some of the articles show more organi‐ zational strength than others, all make good use of archival materials that range from the diaries of people who described the foods to the ac‐ counts of municipal officials who grappled with the regular problems of everyday urban econom‐ ics. Taken together these eight articles shed light on the long and dynamic relationship between the city of Rome and the Tiber River. If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-italy Citation: Cheryl Bradbee. Review of MEFRIM: Melanges de l'Ecole française de Rome: Italie et Mediterranee, vol. 118, no. 1. H-Italy, H-Net Reviews. September, 2012. URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=25674 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 3.

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