This is a list of ancient Roman aqueducts in the city of Rome.
Contents
This is a list of ancient Roman aqueducts in the city of Rome.
In order to meet the water needs of its population, the city of Rome was eventually supplied with 11 aqueducts by 226 AD[ citation needed ], which were some of the city's greatest engineering achievements[ citation needed ]. Estimates of total water supplied in a day by all aqueducts vary from 520,000 m3 (140,000,000 US gal) to 1,127,220 m3 (297,780,000 US gal) [1] : 156-7 [2] : 347 , mostly sourced from the Aniene river and the Apennine Mountains [ citation needed ], serving a million citizens[ citation needed ]. Most of our information about Roman aqueducts come from statistics compiled in the late 1st century AD by Sextus Julius Frontinus, the Curator Aquarum [1] : 152 .
These estimates may not have considered water loss. Modern engineers have questioned the validity of these figures and measured Anio Novus limestone deposits to estimate the average wetted perimeter and surface roughness corresponding to only 2/3 of the flow figure given below. [3]
| Name | Year begun | Year completed | Length (km) [2] : 347 | Height at source (m) | Height in Rome (m) | Average gradient (%) [2] : 347 | Capacity (m³ a day) [4] [2] : 347 | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqua Appia | 312 BC [5] : 23 | 16 | 30 | 20 | 0.06 | 73,000 | ||
| Aqua Anio Vetus | 272 BC | 269 BC [5] : 29 | 64 | 280 | 48 | 0.36 | 175,920 | |
| Aqua Marcia | 144 BC | 140 BC [5] : 67 | 91 | 318 | 59 | 0.27 | 187,600 | |
| Aqua Tepula | 125 BC [5] : 147 | 18 | 151 | 61 | 0.5 | 17,800 | ||
| Aqua Julia | 40 BC [6] : 406 | 33 BC [5] : 157 | 23 | 350 | 64 | 1.24 | 48,240 | |
| Aqua Virgo | 19 BC [5] : 167 | 21 | 24 | 20 | 0.02 | 100,160 | ||
| Aqua Alsietina | 2 BC [5] : 179 | 33 | 209 | 17 | 0.6 | 15,680 | Considered the worst in quality, and used as drinkable source only when other supplies were unavailable [2] : 169 . | |
| Aqua Anio Novus | 38 AD [7] : 150 | 52 AD [7] : 150 | 87 | 400 | 70 | 0.38 | 189,520 | Considered after Alsietina the worst in quality [2] : 169 . |
| Aqua Claudia | 38 AD | 52 AD [5] : 187 | 69 | 320 | 67 | 0.38 | 184,220 | |
| Aqua Traiana | 109 AD [5] : 331 | 58 | - | - | 0.38 | 113,920 | ||
| Aqua Alexandrina | 226 AD [5] : 341 | 22 | - | 50 | 0.1 | 21,160 | ||
AD 97 (XCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Rufus. The denomination AD 97 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Sextus Julius Frontinus was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontiers. A novus homo, he was consul three times. Frontinus ably discharged several important administrative duties for Nerva and Trajan. However, he is best known to the post-Classical world as an author of technical treatises, especially De aquaeductu, dealing with the aqueducts of Rome.
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture used in Rome was strongly influenced by Greek and Etruscan sources.
The Aqua Appia was the first Roman aqueduct, and its construction was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, who also built the important Via Appia. By the end of the 1st century BC it had fallen out of use as an aqueduct, and was used as a sewer instead.
The Aqua Virgo was one of the eleven Roman aqueducts that supplied the city of ancient Rome. It was completed in 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa, during the reign of the emperor Augustus and was built mainly to supply the contemporaneous Baths of Agrippa in the Campus Martius.
The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported mining operations, milling, farms, and gardens.
Aqua Anio Novus was an ancient Roman aqueduct supplying the city of Rome. Like the Aqua Claudia, it was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed in 52 AD by Claudius, who dedicated them both on August 1.
Aqua Claudia was an ancient Roman aqueduct that, like the Aqua Anio Novus, was begun by Emperor Caligula in 38 AD and finished by Emperor Claudius in 52 AD.
Sanitation in ancient Rome, acquired from the Etruscans, was very advanced compared to other ancient cities and provided water supply and sanitation services to residents of Rome. Although there were many sewers, public latrines, baths and other sanitation infrastructure, disease was still rampant. The baths are known to symbolise the "great hygiene of Rome".
The Aqua Julia is a Roman aqueduct built in 33 BC by Agrippa under Augustus to supply the city of Rome. The building of the aqueduct quite some time, the works begun in 40 BC. The length of the aqueduct was 23 km (14 mi), and its daily discharge was 48,200 m3 (63,000 cu yd).
The Aqua Traiana was a 1st-century Roman aqueduct built by Emperor Trajan and inaugurated in 109 AD. It channelled water from sources around Lake Bracciano, 40 km (25 mi) north-west of Rome, to ancient Rome. It joined the earlier Aqua Alsietina to share a common lower route into Rome.
The Aqua Tepula is an ancient Roman aqueduct completed in 125 BC by censors Gnaeus Servilius Caepio and Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla. The water the aqueduct carried was tepid, and probably thus unpalatable. It is not known how much water the original aqueduct carried, but the amount conducted to the city was smaller than that of the Aqua Marcia. After a (major) reconstruction by Agrippa in 33 BC the aqueduct delivered to the city daily 400 quinariae -- 17,800 m3 (4,700,000 US gal).
In Ancient Rome, the Aqua Alsietina was the earlier of the two western Roman aqueducts, erected sometime around 2 BC, during the reign of emperor Augustus. It was the only water supply for the Transtiberine region, on the right bank of the river Tiber until the Aqua Traiana was built.
De aquaeductu is a two-book official report given to the emperor Nerva or Trajan on the state of the aqueducts of Rome, and was written by Sextus Julius Frontinus at the end of the 1st century AD. It is also known as De Aquis or De Aqueductibus Urbis Romae. It is the earliest official report of an investigation made by a distinguished citizen on Roman engineering works to have survived. Frontinus had been appointed Water Commissioner by the emperor Nerva in AD 96.
The Aqua Marcia is a 91 km (57 mi) long Roman aqueduct, and the longest of eleven aqueducts that supplied the city of Rome. The aqueduct was built between 144–140 BC. The still-functioning Acqua Felice from 1586 runs on long stretches along the route of the Aqua Marcia.
An aqueduct is a watercourse constructed to carry water from a source to a distribution point far away. In modern engineering, the term aqueduct is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. The term aqueduct also often refers specifically to a bridge carrying an artificial watercourse.
Aqua Crabra was a Roman aqueduct supplying villas in the hinterland of the ancient town of Tusculum.
The Aqua Anio Vetus was a Roman aqueduct, commissioned in 272 BC by censor Manius Curius Dentatus and funded from the war booty seized after the victory against Pyrrhus of Epirus.
Water theft is illegal tapping of water supply systems. Together with losses from water leaks in the piping, water theft is one of the major factors contributing to non-revenue water. Thames Water estimated losses by theft to amount to 2 to 3 million litres per year in 2017, flowing through 734 unauthorized connections. The basic controversy, however, of whether there can be such a thing as water theft, is open.
The Curator Aquarum was a Roman official responsible for managing Rome's water supply and distributing free grain. Curators were appointed by the emperor. The first curator was Agrippa. Another notable Curator Aquarum was Frontinus, a Roman engineer.
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