Fountains of Rome
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No Water No Life ® Ancient Roman Aqueducts and Waste Removal Infrastructure Paradigm Investigation: May 13-22, 2018 A Mini-Expedition Led and Photographed by NWNL Executive Director Alison M. Jones An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. In a more restricted use, aqueduct (occasionally water bridge) applies to any bridge or viaduct that transports water - instead of a path, road or railway - across a gap. Large navigable aqueducts are used as transport links for boats or ships. Aqueducts must span a crossing at the same level as the watercourses on each end. The word is derived from the Latin aqua ("water") and ducere ("to lead") http://www.crystalinks.com/romeaqueducts.html NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 2 NWNL “Ancient Roman Aqueducts” Expedition What: Investigation of Ancient Rome’s high standard for its water-moving systems Why: Since Roman aqueducts still supplement water availability and quality, this provides an analog relative to impending urban water scarcity in NWNL case study watersheds and spotlights --as well as elsewhere. For instance, Beijing has run out of groundwater and is planning two massive aqueducts, each to carry water for 2,700 miles from southern to northern China. Where: NWNL will visit at least 4 ancient aqueducts just outside the city and several city fountains built hundreds of years ago to ensure healthy circulation of fresh water through Rome’s ancient leaded pipes Contact: To supply information on this subject, please contact NWNL Project Costs: The expenses of lodging and air miles for this mini NWNL Expedition are covered by in- kind donations; remaining costs by 3 individual donors. Parameters: This is a brief 1-time overview of early Roman infrastructure as it relates to current and future plans for water delivery/removal elsewhere. Why: Findings will add to NWNL study of other early water-moving systems from Africa’s Cradle of Humankind to America’s Mississippean Culture. Results: An expedition brief and imagery will be posted on the NWNL website. NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 3 "Aqueduct of Segovia" courtesy of Bernard Gagnon/Creative Commons AQUEDUCTS OF ROME NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 4 AQUEDUCTS IN ROME - http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P9.html [LEFT] The one that can be seen in the centre of the picture is the Aqua Claudia. This public work is one of the most remarkable of Rome. Terminated under Emperor Claudius, it fed the slopes of the Palatine (top left) and had its source in the moutains 68km far from Rome. In the centre of the picture, it goes through the Cælian Hill and, in the middle, along the wide architectural complex formed by the Temple of Claudius. The Emperor Domitian extended the Aqua Claudia {RIGHT[ up to the Palatine to supply the palace with water. The Aqua Claudia had to wind amid the mansions of the Ceaelian Hill. This aqueduct [BELOW] in the centre of the picture is actually a double aqueduct, the Appia on the left and the Marcia on the right. The Aqua Appia diverts directly from the Aqua Claudia which we saw above, meanwhile the Aqua Marcia had its source in the big Aqua Marcia Tepula Iulia, that fed the Baths of Diocletian. These two aqueducts went therefore through the Cælian Hill and fed the baths built on the Aventine, the Baths of Decius on the upper part of the hill and the smaller Baths of Sura towards the Circus Maximus The Aqua Virgo LEFT enters Rome on the north side through the slopes of the Pincian Hill and goes until the Sæpta Julia on the Campus Martius. On the picture, you see the Arch of Claudius on the spot where the aqueduct goes over the Via Lata, completely on the left of the picture. Today this is the famous Via del Co. NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 5 The Aqua Marcia Antoninianais [LEFT supplying the great cistern of the Baths of Caracalla. Third Roman aqueduct, [RIGHT]the Aqua Marcia Tepula Iuliawas built between 144 and 140 BC. It enters Rome through the Prænestina gate (today the Porta Maggiore – the Main Gate), goes alongside the Aurelian Wall to the Tiburtina Gate then comes into the city and divides in two separate branches. Here (LEFT) is the division of the two branches of the Aqua Marcia in the northeast Esquiline. The shortest is the Aqua Marcia Iovia. The tow branches feed the tanks of the Baths of Diocletian, becoming underground Here The New Anio Aqueduct [RIGHT] (Aqua Anio Novus) merges with the Aqua Claudia, with which it shares the same way on their 13 last kilometres before Rome. It diverges from it after the Prænestina Gate and feeds a great tank (Aqua conclusa). This was the longest and the one that brought the most water to Rome. BATHS OF ROME NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 6 B/W Photo Creative Commons photos gathered by www.sewerhistory.org The Roman Empire is in many ways the highest point of sewage management (and other public works) in the ancient world. Famous for public baths and latrines with quite complex engineering, Rome also excelled in the use of covered drains for storm water and sewage, with some houses connected directly to the drainage system. Water conveyance in large-scale aqueducts was another impressive accomplishment. With the spread of the Roman Empire into Europe and the Mideast, these technologies were introduced across large geographic areas, but the knowledge was largely lost in the Middle Ages. ----------------------- The Baths of Caracalla were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between 212 and 216 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction. Fed by Marcian Aqueduct The bath complex covered approximately 13 hectares (33 ac). The bath building was 228 meters (750 ft) long, 116 meters (380 ft) wide and 38.5 meters (125 ft) estimated height, and could hold an estimated 1,600 bathers. The Caracalla bath complex of buildings was more a leisure centre than just a series of baths. The "baths" were the second to have a public library within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equal sized rooms or buildings; one for Greek language texts and one for Latin language texts.Also at the and outside of them were shopping centers sort of like a mall in current times. The baths consisted of a central 55.7 by 24 meter (183x79 ft) frigidarium (cold room) under three 32.9 meter (108 ft) high groin vaults, a double pool tepidarium (medium), and a 35 meter (115 ft) diameter caldarium (hot room), as well as two palaestras (gyms where wrestling and boxing was practiced). The north end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The natatio was roofless with bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool area. The NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 7 entire bath building was on a 6 meter (20 ft) high raised platform to allow for storage and furnaces under the building. The libraries were located in exedrae on the east and west sides of the bath complex. The entire north wall of the complex was devoted to shops. The reservoirs on the south wall of the complex were fed with water from the Marcian Aqueduct. The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and wood underneath the ground to heat water provided by a dedicated aqueduct. It was in use up to the 19th century. (Wikipedia) Source: (Top) Rekonstruierter Grundriss der Caracalla-Thermen. Quelle: Wilhelm Lübke, Max Semrau: Grundriß der Kunstgeschichte. Paul Neff Verlag, Esslingen, 14. Auflage 1908. Wikimedia Commons. (Bottom) David Edgars/Wikimedia Commons. NWNL • 330 E 79th St., New York NY 10075 • [email protected] • 212 861-6961 • www.nowater- nolife.org 8 The Rise and Fall of the Roman Aqueduct By Christopher McFadden Dec. 6, 2016 https://interestingengineering.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-roman-aqueducts What did the Romans ever do for us? The very fact they still intrigue us should put this question to bed. And in terms of engineering, they did quite a lot. Let's take one prime example of revolutionary engineering: Roman aqueducts. If you travel around Europe and the Middle East, you'll quickly run into examples of aqueducts. Some are even still completely serviceable. The Trevi Fountain in Rome still gets fed by an ancient aqueduct (Aqua Vergine) (even though it's now pressurized). Did you know? Mention aqueducts and most people will instinctively think of a large stone bridge, perhaps arched, that carries or once carried water along its course. Aqueducts are a complex network of ground works, pipes and other structures designed to transfer water from a source to a destination. It's not just the iconic stone structures seen today. For the most part, aqueducts transport water long distances simply under the influence of gravity - absolutely simple but ingenious.