The ancient Romans constructed numerous aqueducts (Latin aquaeductūs, sing. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. aquaeductus) to supply water to cities and industrial sites. These aqueducts were amongst the greatest engineering feats of the ancient world, and set a standard not equalled for over a thousand years after the fall of Rome. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another The Decline of the Roman Empire, leading to the Fall of the Roman Empire, or the Fall of Rome, was the end of the Western Roman Empire. Many cities still maintain and use the ancient aqueducts even today, although open channels have usually been replaced by pipes.
The Romans typically built numerous aqueducts to serve any large city in their empire, as well as many small towns and industrial sites. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The city of Rome itself, being the largest city, had the largest concentration of aqueducts, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of 500 years. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 They served potable water and supplied the numerous baths and fountains in the city, as well as finally being emptied into the sewers, where they performed their last function in removing waste matter. The methods of construction are well described by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura written in the first century BC. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c 80–70 BC died after c 15 BC was a Roman Writer, Architect and Engineer (possibly praefectus fabrum De architectura ( Latin: "On architecture" is a treatise on Architecture written by the Roman Architect Vitruvius His book would have been of great assistance to Frontinus, a general who was appointed in the late first century AD to administer the many aqueducts of Rome. Sextus Julius Frontinus (ca 40-103 AD was one of the most distinguished Roman aristocrats of the late first century AD but is best known to the post-Classical world as an Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 He discovered a discrepancy between the intake and supply of water caused by illegal pipes inserted into the channels to divert the water, and reported on his efforts to improve and regulate the system to the emperor Nerva at the end of the first century AD. Marcus Cocceius Nerva was also the name of a Roman emperor NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket The report of his investigation is known as De aquaeductu. De aquaeductu, in two books is an official report to the emperor on the state of the Aqueducts of Rome, and was written by Julius Sextus Frontinus
In addition to masonry aqueducts, the Romans built many more leats; channels excavated in the ground, usually with a clay lining. A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying They could serve industrial sites such as gold mines, lead and tin mines, forges, water-mills and baths or thermae. "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 A forge is the workplace of a smith or a Blacksmith. A forge is sometimes referred to as a smithy. This article is about a type of structure For other locational uses see Milldam. This page is on buildings used for Roman bathing For the activity in general see Ancient Roman bathing. Leats were very much cheaper than the masonry design, but all aqueducts required good surveying to ensure a regular and smooth flow of water. A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying
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Construction of Roman aqueducts
The aqueducts required very careful planning before building, especially to determine the water source to be used, the length of aqueduct needed and its size. Great skill was needed to ensure a regular gradient, so that the water would flow smoothly from its source without the flow damaging the walls of the channel. As the need for water grew, extra sources would be utilised, very often making use of existing structures as with the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus in Rome. Aqua Claudia ( Latin, literally "the Claudian water" was an Aqueduct which like the Anio Novus was begun by Anio Novus (named after a river Anio at the forty-second mile of the Via Sublacensis from which the water was taken originally is an Aqueduct Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The problems of aqueduct building and use are described by Vitruvius and Frontinus, the latter producing a long report on the state of the Aqueducts of Rome in the last years of the first century AD. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c 80–70 BC died after c 15 BC was a Roman Writer, Architect and Engineer (possibly praefectus fabrum Sextus Julius Frontinus (ca 40-103 AD was one of the most distinguished Roman aristocrats of the late first century AD but is best known to the post-Classical world as an
Several surveying tools were used in the construction of Roman aqueducts, one example being the chorobates. A chorobates (Greek χωροβἀτης from khŏros; "place" + -batos, "going" was a kind of level used in Classical The chorobates was used to level terrain before construction. It was a wooden frame supported by four legs with a flat board fitted with a water level. Another tool used in the construction of the aqueduct was the groma. Definition The Groma or gruma (altered from Greek gnomon γνόμων "indicator" possibly through Etruscan was Gromas were used to measure right angles. A groma consisted of stones hanging off four sticks perpendicular to one another. The instrument which is the forerunner of the theodolite was known as the dioptra, and was used to measure vertical angles. A theodolite ( is an instrument for measuring both horizontal and vertical Angles as used in Triangulation networks A dioptra is a classical astronomical and surveying instrument dating from the 3rd century BCE.
Industrial aqueducts
Many aqueducts were built to supply water to industrial sites, such as gold mines, where the water was used to prospect for ore by hydraulic mining, and then crush and wash the ore to extract the gold. "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of Mining that employs Water to dislodge rock material or move sediment They usually consisted of an open channel dug into the ground, with a clay lining to prevent excessive loss of water and sometimes with wooden shuttering. They are often known as leats. A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying However, they were built just as carefully as the masonry structures, but often at a higher gradient so as to deliver the greater volumes needed for mining operations. In Vector calculus, the gradient of a Scalar field is a Vector field which points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar
The large quantities of water supplied by the aqueducts were used for prospecting for ore-bodies by stripping away the overburden, and for working the ores in a method known as hushing. Hushing is an ancient Mining method using a flood or torrent of water to reveal mineral veins The technique was used in combination with fire-setting, which involved creating fires against the hard rock face to weaken the rock and so make removal much easier. A method of mining fires were set against a rock face to break the rock by Thermal shock after dousing with water These methods of mining survived into Medieval times until the widespread use of explosives. An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied The water could also be used to wash ores, especially those of gold and tin, and probably to work simple machines such as ore-crushing hammers and water wheels. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower.
The remains of such leats are visible today at sites like Dolaucothi in south-west Wales, and at Las Medulas in northwest Spain. A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying The Dolaucothi Gold Mines ( also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are Roman surface and deep mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, Las Médulas, located near the town of Ponferrada in León province, Spain, used to be the most important Gold mine in the Roman Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. These sites show multiple aqueducts, presumably because they were relatively short-lived and deteriorated rapidly. There are, for example, at least seven major leats at Las Medulas, and at least five at Dolaucothi feeding water from local rivers direct to the minehead. The palimpsest of such channels allows the mining sequence to be inferred. A palimpsest is a Manuscript page whether from scroll or Book that has been written on scraped off and used again
Apparent Decline of Aqueducts
With the fall of the Roman Empire, although some of the aqueducts were deliberately cut by enemies, many more fell into disuse from the lack of an organized maintenance system. The Decline of the Roman Empire, leading to the Fall of the Roman Empire, or the Fall of Rome, was the end of the Western Roman Empire. The decline of functioning aqueducts to deliver water had a large practical impact in reducing the population of the city of Rome from its high of over 1 million in ancient times to considerably less in the medieval era, reaching as low as 30,000. On the other hand, many others elsewhere in the empire continued in use, such as the aqueduct at Segovia in Spain, a construction which shows advances on the Pont du Gard by using fewer arches of greater height and so greater economy in its use of the raw materials. The Aqueduct of Segovia (or more precisely the Aqueduct bridge is one of the most significant and best-preserved monuments left by the Romans on the Iberian Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Segovia in Castile-Leon. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Pont du Gard is an aqueduct in the South of France constructed by the Roman Empire, and located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins The skill in building aqueducts was not lost, especially of the smaller, more modest channels used to supply water wheels. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. Most such mills in Britain were developed in the medieval period for bread production, and used similar methods as that developed by the Romans with leats tapping local rivers and streams. A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying The massive masonry aqueducts and the many other visible and massive remains (such as the Pantheon, Coliseum, and Baths of Diocletian) were to inspire architects and engineers of the Renaissance. The Baths of Diocletian ( Thermae Diocletiani) in Rome were the grandest of the public baths or Thermae built by successive emperors The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere
Lists of Roman Aqueducts
- List of aqueducts in the city of Rome
- List of aqueducts in the Roman Empire
- List of Roman aqueducts by date
See also
References
- Bossy, G. This page is a list of ancient Roman aqueducts in the city of Rome. This is a list of Roman aqueducts outside the city of Rome itself sorted by modern country This is a list of Roman aqueducts listed in chronological order of their construction An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another De aquaeductu, in two books is an official report to the emperor on the state of the Aqueducts of Rome, and was written by Julius Sextus Frontinus De architectura ( Latin: "On architecture" is a treatise on Architecture written by the Roman Architect Vitruvius The Dolaucothi Gold Mines ( also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are Roman surface and deep mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, Sextus Julius Frontinus (ca 40-103 AD was one of the most distinguished Roman aristocrats of the late first century AD but is best known to the post-Classical world as an Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of Mining that employs Water to dislodge rock material or move sediment Hydrology (from Greek Yδωρ hudōr, "water" and λόγος logos, "study" is the study of the movement distribution and quality of A leat (also lete or leet) is the name common in the south and west of England, for an artificial Watercourse, or Aqueduct, supplying The Architecture of Ancient Rome adopted the external Greek architecture for their own purposes which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new Origins The Romans are generally famous for their advanced Engineering accomplishments although some of their own inventions were improvements on older ideas concepts Sanitation in Ancient Rome has been investigated by Historians and Archeologists for centuries Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c 80–70 BC died after c 15 BC was a Roman Writer, Architect and Engineer (possibly praefectus fabrum ; G. Fabre, Y. Glard, C. Joseph (2000). "Sur le Fonctionnement d'un Ouvrage de Grande Hydraulique Antique, l'Aqueduc de Nîmes et le Pont du Gard (Languedoc, France)" in Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes, Vol. 330, pp. 769-775.
- Chanson, H. (2002). "Certains Aspects de la Conception hydrauliques des Aqueducs Romains", Journal La Houille Blanche, No. 6/7, pp. 43-57.
- Chanson, H. (2008). "The Hydraulics of Roman Aqueducts: What do we know? Why should we learn ?" in Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2008 Ahupua'a, ASCE-EWRI Education, Research and History Symposium, Hawaii, USA, Invited Keynote lecture, 13-16 May, R. W. BADCOCK Jr and R. WALTON Eds. , 16 pages (ISBN-13: 978-0-7844-0976-3)
- Coarelli, Filippo (1989). Guida Archeologica di Roma. Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore.
- Claridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Fabre, G. ; J. L. Fiches, J. L. Paillet (2000). L'Aqueduc de Nîmes et le Pont du Gard. Archéologie, Géosystème, Histoire, CRA Monographies Hors Série. Paris: CNRS Editions.
- Gebara, C. ; J. M. Michel, J. L. Guendon (2002). "L'Aqueduc Romain de Fréjus. Sa Description, son Histoire et son Environnement", Revue Achéologique de Narbonnaise, Supplément 33. Montpellier, France.
- Hodge, A. T. (2001). Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply, 2nd ed. London: Duckworth.
- Leveau, P. (1991). "Research on Roman Aqueducts in the Past Ten Years" in T. Hodge (ed. ): Future Currents in Aqueduct Studies. Leeds, UK, pp. 149-162.
- Lewis, P. R. ; G. D. B. Jones (1970). "Roman gold-mining in north-west Spain", Journal of Roman Studies 60 : 169-85.
- Lewis, P. R. ; G. D. B. Jones (1969). "The Dolaucothi gold mines, I: the surface evidence", The Antiquaries Journal, 49, no. 2: 244-72.
- Mango, Cyril (1995). "The Water Supply", in C. Mango, G. Dagron: Constantinople and Its Hinterland. Aldershot: Variorum.
- O'Connor, C. (1993). Roman Bridges, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
External links
- Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae (On the water management of the city of Rome), translated by R. Sextus Julius Frontinus (ca 40-103 AD was one of the most distinguished Roman aristocrats of the late first century AD but is best known to the post-Classical world as an H. Rodgers. University of Vermont, 2003.
- Waters of the City of Rome - sophisticated maps and images.
- Imperial Rome Water Systems
- Roman Aqueducts Today
- Lacus Curtius - entry on Roman waterworks.
- 600 Roman aqueducts - with 25 descriptions in detail.
- (Italian) Map of Roman aqueducts
- Roman Aqueduct Manual - NOVA outline.
- Hydraulics of Roman Aqueducts - "Myths, Fables, Realities. A Hydraulician's perspective".
- Hubert Chanson - A dozen freely available published research articles on Roman aqueduct hydraulics and culvert design, and related topics by Professor Hubert Chanson, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland.
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