Of their many feats of ingenious engineering, it was Rome’s ancient aqueducts in which the Romans took most pride. As the encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder reflected in the first century CE:
If we only take into consideration the abundant supply of water to the public, for baths, ponds, canals, household purposes, gardens, places in the suburbs, and country-houses; and then reflect upon the distances that are traversed, the arches that have been constructed, the mountains that have been pierced, the valleys that have been levelled, we must admit that there is nothing to be found more worthy of our admiration throughout the whole universe.
Pliny the Elder (Natural History 36.24) on the Aqua Claudia
What the Romans managed to achieve through their aqueducts is nothing short of incredible. Based on the historical records — especially painstakingly detailed De Aquis Urbis Romae (“On Rome’s Water”) by the first-century CE water commissioner Frontinus — we know of nine aqueducts that were in operation during the early Roman Empire. The combined capacity of these aqueducts exceeded 992,000 cubic meters (992 million litres or 262 million gallons) per day.
Bearing in mind that Rome’s population under Augustus (31 BCE – 14 CE) numbered roughly one million, this means that each of Rome’s residents had access to 1,000 litres (264 gallons) per day. To put this in perspective, this is more than double the average per capita water consumption in the USA today, which is about 100 gallons per day, and is primarily used for activities like flushing toilets and running showers.
Since two additional aqueducts (the Aqua Traiana and the Aqua Alexandrina) were constructed after Frontinus’ death (103 CE), any subsequent information we have is unfortunately quite limited. But among the known aqueducts, seven run through what is now known as the Aqueduct Park — a natural park in the southeast of the city where I take curious travellers on private tours.
Aqua Appia: Rome’s First Aqueduct
As its name reveals, the Aqua Appia was the constructional feat of Appius Claudius Caecus: the man who was responsible for “overseeing” the Via Appia. I put overseeing in quotation marks because by the end of his life, Appius Claudius was completely blind, hence the name Caecus, which means blind in Latin (and gives the Italians their word cieco).
Anyway, as one of the censors for the year 312 BCE, Appius Claudius engineered this aqueduct in response to the growing city’s growing need for water (the well water that percolated through from the Tiber was no longer up to the task). So eager was he to see his work through to completion, that Appius held office beyond the normal 18 months a censor was allowed.
It was not Appius Claudius who located the aqueduct’s source, however, but his colleague for the censorship, Caius Claudius Venox. But while we know that the springs from which it took its source lay somewhere between the eighth and ninth milestones on the Via Praenestina, we have no idea exactly where. What we do know is the route that Rome’s first aqueduct took: it ran almost entirely underground for just under 10 miles before entering the city at the Spes Vetus (the site of the modern-day Porta Maggiore and the Tomb of the Baker).
The water of the Aqua Appia fed the Roman Forum and the Circus Flaminius. But its main recipient was the Forum Boarium: the bustling centre of trade and worship (close to today’s Mouth of Truth) whose ever-increasing number of construction projects towards the southern end was putting an increased strain on the water supply at the northern end.
We know of three occasions on which it underwent restorations: under Quintus Marcius Rex (144 BCE), Agrippa (33 BCE) and Augustus (11 – 4 BCE). In terms of volume (73,000 m3), the Aqua Appia would be superseded by the Aqua Anio Vetus, which more than doubled its capacity.
What remains of the Aqua Appia
Almost the entirety of the Aqua Appia’s channel lay underground and consisted of hollowed-out, interconnected blocks of tufa, some of which were periodically discovered beneath the Aventine Hill in the mid and late nineteenth century. But apart from the Spes Vetus at the present site of the Porta Maggiore, sadly nothing remains of the ancient Aqua Appia. In 2017, a 32-metre-long stretch of the Aqua Appia was discovered beneath Rome’s Piazza Celimontana.
Aqua Anio Vetus
Paid for from the spoils of the costly Pyrrhic War, the Aqua Anio Vetus was constructed between 272 and 269 BCE. Its name derives from being the oldest of Rome’s ancient aqueducts that took its source from the River Anio, a tributary of the Tiber that lies in the upper Anio valley. But when it comes to exactly where it took its source, there’s some inconsistency between what Frontinus tells us in his treatise De Aquaeductu (“On Aqueducts”) and what we have in the archaeological record.
From the remains we have, Frontinus’ situating of the source “at the twentieth milestone” seems far too close. The source was more probably around 260 metres above sea level, some 850 metres upstream of San Cosimato’s gorge between Vicovaro and Mandela.
The Anio Vetus’s course largely set the precedent for future aqueducts. It first passed west through Tivoli before heading south towards the Alban Hills. It then turned west again towards Rome, arriving in the southeastern limits of the city (at the point near today’s metro station at Anagnina) before finally changing course at the fourth milestone. From here it went on to flow northeast to its final terminus at the Porta Esquilina.
The capacity of the Aqua Anio Vetus
Of its 180,000 m3 that flowed into the city each day, it’s doubtful any of it was drinkable. The Anio’s banks, loosened by centuries of agriculture, simply made its waters too muddied. But while the Anio Vetus was inundated with water from the Aqua Marcia, its own muddy waters managed to avoid flowing into the channels of other aqueducts because the aqueduct ran along a lower course. This meant that the Anio Vetus wouldn’t have supplied the higher places in Rome with water.
Only five per cent of its discharge went towards imperial buildings. The rest supplied many regions of Rome, including Porta Capena, Isis and Serapis, Templum Pacis, Esquiliae, Alta Semita, Via Lata, the Roman Forum, Circus Flaminius, Piscina Publica, and Transtiber.
What remains of the Aqua Anio Vetus
A fair amount of the Anio Vetus has survived into the present day, especially outside the city of Rome itself. The most atmospheric remnant of the aqueduct is its arched bridge, the Ponte Taulella, which stands in a wooded area to the northwest of Gallicano. Arguably the most intact portion of the aqueduct is the stretch that Hadrian had reconstructed (and rerouted) which runs across the Valle della Mola.
Aqua Marcia
Following the Aqua Anio Vetus by 130 years, the Aqua Marcia was built between 144 and 140 BCE by the praetor Quintus Marcius Rex, the paternal great-grandfather of Julius Caesar.
The aqueduct was funded by the sack of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BCE, and the plundering of these cities was inexorably tied up with the reason for the aqueduct’s construction. This was the decade in which we can start to refer to Rome not just as a city-state but as the capital of a rapidly expanding empire. And the reason the Aqua Marcia was needed was to relieve the water shortage that this rapidly expanding empire’s capital was facing.
Rome’s ancient aqueducts as a symbol of strength
While Rome’s first two aqueducts were subterranean channels with only minimal structures above ground, the Aqua Marcia also appeared above ground as the arched structures we are familiar with today. But why?
Because they come after the watershed year of 146 BCE.
By 144 BCE, the Romans had started to see themselves as being at the centre of the omnipotent empire we know today. With no immediate threats on their borders—Carthage lay in ruins, the Greeks had been subdued, and swords had yet to be drawn for the looming decades of civil wars—Rome found itself in a rare golden moment of security and stability.
This newfound peace allowed the city to turn its attention to grand architectural projects, constructing monumental structures above ground without the fear of an enemy laying siege, cutting off the water supply, and putting its people in peril.
For the first time, Rome could confidently build not only for mere function but for the grandeur befitting an empire, knowing that its hard-won dominance would safeguard her achievements.
The source of the Aqua Marcia
The Aqua Marcia took its source from a series of springs on the right bank of the Upper Anio (the same area in which the modern Acqua Marcia Pia derives its water). Frontinus describes these springs as “deep green and tranquil” while Tacitus tells us that the emperor Nero once took a dip in them and fell seriously ill:
Nero’s passion for extravagance brought him some disrepute and danger: he had entered and swum in the sources of the stream which Quintus Marcius Rex conveyed to Rome; and it was considered that by bathing there he had profaned the sacred waters and the holiness of the site. The divine anger was confirmed by a grave illness which followed.
Tacitus, Annals, 14.22
We believe they now lie some eight metres below ground level. This corresponds to the ancient aqueduct’s course: only the last six of its 56.5 mile total stretched above ground, entering Rome through the Porta Maggiore and terminating at the Viminal Hill, beneath the present site of the Ministry of Finance.
The capacity of the Aqua Marcia
As Ancient Rome’s longest aqueduct, it delivered 190,000 m3 per day into the city. Though terminating around the Viminal Hill, branches of the aqueduct went on to supply other parts of the city, most significantly the elevated area of the Capitoline Hill.
In fact, the Aqua Marcia was the first of Rome’s aqueducts to supply the city’s elevated areas, also reaching the Palatine Hill (through a siphon), the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the southern Campus Martius, and the Roman Forum. Almost half of its water was distributed for private use and three-quarters of its supply was used as drinking water.
Aqua Tepula
Constructed in 125 BCE, the Aqua Tepula is one of the lesser-known yet significant contributors to Rome’s complex water system. Unlike some of its grander counterparts, the Aqua Tepula was designed to transport warm, tepid water from its source in the Alban Hills, about 18 kilometres south of Rome. The aqueduct’s name, “Tepula,” meaning “tepid” in Latin, reflects the naturally warm temperature of its waters, which were slightly cooler than the famous hot springs but warmer than the other, colder sources feeding the city. This made the Aqua Tepula a unique and valued resource, particularly for the thermal baths that dotted Rome, where warm water was always in high demand.
Initially modest in its capacity, the Aqua Tepula was later merged with the Aqua Julia by Augustus around 33 BCE, effectively increasing its volume and extending its reach throughout the city. The combined flow of these aqueducts became integral to sustaining Rome’s ever-expanding population, especially in areas like the Esquiline and Caelian Hills, where the demand for water was constantly growing. The Aqua Tepula’s waters, though not as voluminous as those of the Aqua Marcia or Aqua Claudia, played a crucial role in ensuring that Rome’s citizens had access to the warm, soothing water that was ideal for bathing and other domestic uses.
Today, the remnants of the Aqua Tepula are less visible than those of Rome’s more famous aqueducts, but they remain a fascinating part of the city’s ancient infrastructure. Sections of its ancient channels, where they were later integrated into the grander Aqua Claudia, can still be traced in the Roman countryside, particularly where it overlapped with other aqueducts near the Porta Maggiore. But the most rewarding stretch is its conduit in the Aqueduct Park, where you can climb inside and admire the genius of Roman engineering.
Join me on a private tour of Rome’s Aqueduct Park
Aqua Julia
Built by Marcus Agrippa in 33 BCE, the Aqua Iulia derived its name from the Julian lineage of his princeps and patron, Augustus.
At this time Rome was emerging from a lengthy period of civil war, and as well as wreaking havoc on Rome’s citizenry the conflict had also taken its toll on the city’s public administration and civil works, leaving them in a dire state of neglect. So, as curator aquarum (curator of aqueducts), Agrippa implemented a remarkable construction project aimed at revolutionising Rome’s water supply and modernising it so it was up to the standards of Augustus’s “city of marble.”
Agrippa’s Aqua Iulia shared its source (in Tusculum, near the Via Latina’s twelfth milestone at the Ponte degli Squarciarelli) with the Aqua Tepula. And it shared its course through the city of Rome with the Aqua Marcia. The Aqua Iulia ran for around 14 miles from its source to its main terminus near the Porta Viminalis. It supplied several of Rome’s regions: not just the Caelian, Isis and Serapis, Alta Semita, Esquiliae, Piscina Publica, the Palatine and Forum Romanum, but also the Aventine through a subsidiary branch.
In line with the public-orientated focus of the Augustan building regime, its daily yield of 48,000 m3 was for the most part directed towards public uses (usibus publici) with just under a third going towards public works and less than three percent going towards imperial properties. From the reign of Domitian onwards, the Palatine was fed not by the Aqua Julia but by the Arcus Neroniani, which the emperor built as an extension of the Aqua Claudia at Porta Maggiore.
The most impressive remains of the Aqua Iulia can be found at Porta Maggiore and Piazzale Labicano. Each of the three levels of the arched section shows the conduit of one of the aqueducts. Water from the Aqua Marcia (144 BCE) flowed along the bottom; water from the Aqua Tepula (125 BCE) flowed along the middle; and water from the Aqua Iulia flowed along the top. It made sense: as the water travelled the same course it was simpler to reuse the arches of the original Aqua Marcia.
Another section of the aqueduct still stands at Porta Tiburtina (though the channel you can see belonged to the Aqua Felice). Finally, if you want to know the site of its distribution reservoir, it once stood under the brick structure on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele known as the “Trophies of Marius”.
Aqua Virgo
The Aqua Virgo was a marvel of engineering that still feeds parts of Rome’s historic centre. Commissioned by Marcus Agrippa, the trusted general and son-in-law of the emperor Augustus, the aqueduct was completed in 19 BCE and stretched an impressive 13 miles from its source in the Salone area, east of Rome.
The Aqua Virgo was designed to supply the city’s growing population with a reliable flow of clean water, and delivered in abundance by providing some 100,600 cubic meters each day. This aqueduct became a vital artery in Rome’s urban landscape, feeding the bustling public baths (including those of Agrippa), fountains, and private homes of the Campus Martius, the city’s dynamic centre of public life.
Legend has it that the source of the Aqua Virgo was discovered by a young maiden, who guided Roman soldiers to a spring of pure, fresh water. This tale of the aqueduct’s origin is immortalised in the bas-relief panels of the Trevi Fountain. On the left, you can see the depiction of Agrippa, supervising the construction of the aqueduct; on the right-hand panel, we see the maiden who gave the Aqua Virgo its name—”Virgo” meaning virgin in Latin—showing Agrippa’s scouting legionaries the source.
Remarkably, the Aqua Virgo is one of few of Rome’s ancient aqueducts that continues to serve the city today, over two millennia after its construction. Its waters still flow beneath the streets of Rome, feeding the fountains of the Campus Martius, including the magnificent Trevi Fountain itself, which gushes with the same waters that once sustained the ancient Romans. The survival of the Aqua Virgo, both as a physical structure and as a living source of water, is a testament to the enduring legacy of Roman engineering.
Aqua Augusta
More commonly considered as an extended and improved section of the Aqua Marcia, the Aqua Augusta stands as a testament to the ambitious urban planning of the emperor after whom it was named. Ever mindful of the city’s expansion and the demands of an increasing population, Augustus undertook significant renovations and extensions of the aqueduct around 33 BCE, enhancing its capacity and reach. To commemorate these enhancements, this portion of the Aqua Marcia was often referred to as the Aqua Augusta.
The Aqua Augusta was a critical component of Rome’s water supply network, feeding some of the city’s most important public baths, fountains, and private households. With its origins in the cool springs of the Anio, the aqueduct maintained a remarkable flow that could deliver up to 190,000 cubic meters of water per day. This made it one of the most reliable sources of water for the city, ensuring that even during dry periods, Rome’s intricate web of public baths—like the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla—remained functional and that the city’s numerous monumental fountains could continue to cascade with life-giving water.
Like that which flowed through its antecedent, the Aqua Marcia, the water of the Aqua Augusta was prized not only for its volume but also for its purity. Today, while much of the original Aqua Marcia and its extension as the Aqua Augusta have been lost, some remnants still survive, particularly in the form of ruins and underground channels that occasionally come to light during excavations. Portions of the aqueduct’s path can still be traced in the countryside outside Rome, where ancient arches and tunnels blend subtly into the landscape.
Aqua Claudia
As a counterpart to the Aqua Anio Novus, the Aqua Claudia was started under Caligula in 38 AD and completed—as its name suggests—under his successor, Claudius, in 51 CE. Tacitus tells us that it was in use as early as 47 CE (it was common practice to utilise an aqueduct even if incomplete).
It would not remain in use for long. Unlike its twin, the Anio Novus, the Aqua Claudia experienced significant growing pains: soon after Claudius dedicated it on August 1 he had to close it for repairs. The aqueduct would not be operational again until the reign of Vespasian in 71 CE. But the first of the Flavians had little more luck in his restorative efforts, and the task of restoring the aqueduct was left to his son Titus who finally did so in 81 CE.
Once it was up and running, however, the Aqua Claudia was phenomenally effective. Running 45 miles from its source in the Anio Valley, it shared the same course as the Aqua Anio Novus. Its water flowed mostly underground until it arrived at its filtration tank near modern-day Campanelle (the seventh milestone on the Via Latina).
From here it ran along almost seven miles of arches before entering the city at Spes Vetus near the Porta Maggiore. Here Nero devised it so that the aqueduct split: some of the water being diverted towards the Palatine Hill while the rest made its way to a settling tank near the Temple of Minerva Medici from which it went on to water all fourteen of Rome’s regions.
The extent of the repairs needed to the Aqua Claudia in its early history is a mystery. Poor workmanship could have been a factor, as could the low quality of the material used. But this doesn’t explain why it took so long to repair. The answer probably lies in a combination of factors: a series of natural disasters (not least the Great Fire of 64 CE) putting an increased strain on the already poor state finances left by Nero and picked up in the wake of the Civil War of 69.
Capacity of the Aqua Claudia
When the aqueduct was finally operational, however, it supplied Rome with up to 184,280 m3 each day which, along with the Aqua Anio Novus, more than doubled the city’s water supply. Domitian carried out works on the Aqua Claudia, extending it so that if fed his imperial palace (the Domus Augustana) on the Palatine.
In the vicinity of Rome, the most famous and visually striking stretch of the Aqua Claudia is that which runs across Aqueduct Park. Its remains pay testament to the scale of the structure, especially when you consider that the 10,508 metres you can visually reconstruct are but a tiny part of the 68,681 metres the aqueduct ran in total. The double-arched Porta Maggiore also offers a valuable glimpse of the aqueduct’s history, not least through its inscriptions which testify not only to the Aqua Claudia’s original construction under Claudius but also to its restorations under Vespasian (71 CE) and Titus (81).
What remains of the Aqua Claudia
Three particularly monumental arches of the Aqua Nero (the extension that the all-singing all-dancing emperor built to direct water to his Domus Aurea and Temple of Claudius) still stand near San Giovanni in Laterano. These aren’t Neronian originals but the result of several restorations, most significantly under Septimius Severus. Yet more of its arches, which fed the Domus Augustana, can still be seen on the Palatine.
Several other remnants are visible within Rome: others are visible at the Villa of the Quintilii (just off the Appian Way) and Grotte Sconce, with another part of its channel running almost underneath the Monastery of San Cosimato.
Aqua Anio Novus
Regarded in its day as one of the ancient city’s four great aqueducts, the Aqua Anio Novus was truly a remarkable feat of Roman engineering. Construction started under Caligula in 38 CE in response to the growing demands (both practical and decorative) of the growing capital. But Caligula’s assassination in 41 meant that it wasn’t finished until the reign of his successor, Claudius, in 52. We’re fortunate to know quite a lot about the Anio Novus not only through its extant remains but also because Frontinus wrote about it in his treatise De Aquaeductu (“On Aqueducts”).
Frontinus tells us that, as the tallest of all Rome’s ancient aqueducts, the Aqua Anio Novus took its source from the River Anio, situated at the forty-second milestone on the Via Sublacensis. The river’s discharge tended to be very muddy, particularly when there was heavy rainfall. So the Romans installed a filter tank to clean the aqueduct’s supply as it flowed towards the city. In terms of its course, the Anio Novus followed practically the same as that of the Aqua Claudia, with whose waters it mixed. After passing Tivoli to the northeast, it arrived in Rome near modern-day Capanelle. From here it went on to its final destination within the city of Rome which was the large castellum in the Esquiline Hill.
Unlike previous aqueducts, the Anio Novus and the Aqua Claudia weren’t built to feed one particular site or monument but served multiple uses within the city. Around a quarter of its discharge was directed towards imperial properties: particularly, after its extension under Trajan, the extensive Domus Augustana built during the reign of Domitian on the Palatine Hill. Less than a third of it was put towards public uses (usibus publici). That said, together with the Aqua Claudia the aqueduct did double the amount of water brought into the city; more than offsetting the enormous financial and administrative cost of building and maintaining it.
What remains of the Aqua Anio Novus
Fortunately, a fair amount of the Anio Novus has survived into the present day. The Fosso di Gregorio in the Valle Barberini for example offers an incredible view into one of its channels, as does the site just south of the Ponte Arcinelli. Equally impressive are its arch structures: the most monumental being those east of Tivoli, situated between Osteriola and Gericomo and visible from the Via Empolitana.
In the city, the most impressive part of the Anio Novus can be found in Rome’s Aqueduct Park and at Porta Maggiore—embedded into the gate which, in turn, was embedded into the Aurelian Wall in 271 CE. An inscription on the gate tells us that the Claudian aqueduct spanned a total length of nearly 55 miles (until Trajan lengthened it to just over 57 miles). The Claudian inscription, dated to 52 CE, reads as follows.
Ti(berius) Claudius Drusi f(ilius) Caisar Augustus Germanicus pontif(ex) maxim(us), | tribunicia potestate XII, co(n)s(ul) V, imperator XXVII, pater patriae, | aquas Claudiam ex fontibus, qui vocabantur Caeruleus et Curtius a milliario XXXXV, | item Anienem novam a milliario LXII sua impensa in urbem perducendas curavit.
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the son of Drusus, pontifex maximus (=chief priest), in his twelfth year of tribunician power, consul for the fifth time, imperator twenty-seven times, father of his country, saw to it that, at his own expense, the aqua Claudia be brought from the 45th milestone, from the springs which are called the Caeruleus and Curtius, and too the Anio Novus be brought from the 62nd milestone into the city of Rome.
Aqua Felice: Rome’s Baroque Era Aqueduct
The Aqua Felice was built in 1586 by the decree of Pope Sixtus V. Born Felice Piergentile, a name that ironically translates to “Happy Gentle Pier”, Sixtus was one of Rome’s most formidable rulers and left an indelible mark on the early modern city. His merciless crackdown on crime led to the execution of thousands of brigands, and he extended his unforgiving justice even to clergy and nuns who broke their vows of chastity.
Pope Sixtus’ rule was as ironclad as the spikes that lined the Ponte Sant’Angelo, where it was said more severed heads adorned the bridge than melons filled the marketplace. Yet, alongside this brutal legacy, Sixtus V was a builder of remarkable ambition and vision, whose projects would shape the skyline of Rome for centuries to come.
He was the force behind the completion of the majestic dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, a symbol of spiritual and architectural grandeur that crowns the Vatican to this day. His hand can also be seen in the erection of four of Rome’s eleven iconic obelisks, which now stand like ancient sentinels across the city, as well as in the creation of chapels within St. John in Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore, each a jewel of Renaissance craftsmanship.
However, Sixtus V’s fervour came at the cost of Rome’s ancient heritage. Under his orders, the grand palace of Septimius Severus on the Palatine Hill was demolished, a casualty of his relentless pursuit for urban modernization. Similarly, he crowned Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius with incongruous statues of saints (Peter and Paul respectively). To Sixtus V, antiquity was not something to be revered, but rather a canvas for his own imperial aspirations.
Among his many achievements, the Acqua Felice stands out as a testament to both his ingenuity and his desire to stamp his legacy across the city. This aqueduct, named after himself, brought vital water supplies to the Viminale, Quirinale, and Esquiline hills, transforming these areas into thriving hubs of activity. It also fed the monumental Montalto Palace, a grand estate owned by his family, which later made way for the construction of Termini Station and residential buildings in the Rione of Castro Pretorio. The aqueduct’s course stretched an impressive 15 miles, with eight of those running underground, from its source in the River Anio to its filtration at Campanelle, and finally to Spes Vetus, where it cleverly piggybacked on the ancient Aqua Marcia.
Sixtus V’s legacy is a complex tapestry woven with threads of both ruthless ambition and architectural brilliance. His contributions to Rome’s physical landscape are undeniable, yet they often came at a steep cost to the city’s historical integrity. As we wander through Rome today, the remnants of his reign invite us to reflect on the delicate balance between preservation and progress, and the ever-present tension between honoring the past and forging a future. In Sixtus V’s Rome, that balance was tipped decisively towards the latter, leaving us with a city that bears the scars of his ambition as much as it does the glory of his achievements.
Seeing Aqueducts up close in Rome’s Aqueduct Park
I like to think of Rome’s Aqueduct Park as a microcosm that narrates the rise and fall of Rome and its Empire. Visiting the park takes you right the way through Rome’s history: from its expansion as a small settlement that could no longer satiate its population from the River Tiber, and so had to source its water from further afield, to its fall as an imperial power when its invaders destroyed the aqueducts to starve Rome’s citizenry.
If you’re visiting Rome, I would like to share this story with you.
Join me on a private tour of Rome’s Aqueduct Park
What is an aqueduct?
An aqueduct is an artificial channel which leads water from an elevated source to a settlement downhill using gravity. Our word is a compound of two Latin words aqua (water) and conducere (lead). This also gives us our word for leader (dux) which survives in the noble title of ‘duke’.
What was the purpose of aqueducts in ancient Rome?
Rome’s ancient aqueducts served several purposes. They supplied the city’s population with drinking water, fed Rome’s many public baths and provided wastewater for latrines (public toilets). Their water was also put to agricultural and industrial use, feeding farms and powering mills and mines.
How were aqueducts used?
Roman aqueducts used gravity and the natural slope of the terrain to channel water from a freshwater source, such as a lake or spring, to a city. Where intervention was required, the Romans engineered their aqueducts to accommodate a gradual downward gradient averaging 1.5m – 3m per km, maintaining constant flow without exceeding pressure in the conduits.
How many aqueducts did Rome have?
Eleven aqueducts served the city at the height of the Roman Empire.
Who used the Roman aqueducts?
In Rome, the public had priority for the use of aqueduct water, firstly through public fountains and then through public baths. Private use was permitted, but the average citizen probably still drew their supply from cisterns or wells. People were also encouraged to keep water buckets at home to fight fires.
Where can you see the aqueducts in Rome?
The best place to see Rome’s aqueducts is in the Parco degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park). This is situated south of the city centre, between the Via Appia Antica and the Via Appia Nuova, not far from Metro Giulia Agricola on the Metro A line.
How much water did Rome’s aqueducts provide?
Rome’s 11 aqueducts supplied more than 992,000m3 / 992 million litres / 262 million gallons each day. That’s about 1,000 litres / 264 gallons per person, per day which is more than double what we use today, mainly to flush toilets, run showers and do the dishes.
