Water supply of Rome in antiquity and today

Abstract

In ancient Rome, water was considered a deity to be worshipped and most of all utilized in health and art. The availability of huge water supplies was considered a symbol of opulence and therefore an expression of power. The countryside around Rome offered a spectacular view: it was adorned with an incalculable number of monuments, temples, and villas, and it was crossed by sturdy aqueducts with magnificent arcades. The aqueduct as a superelevated monumental work is a typical concept of the Roman engineering, although it is possible to recognize that the inspiration and the basic ideas came from Etruscan technology. The Etruscans did not construct real aqueducts, even though they built hydraulic works as irrigation channels, drainage systems, dams, etc. The Greeks had also built similar hydraulic structures, before the Roman influence. Interesting aqueduct remains are in Rome, Segovia (Spain), Nimes (France), and Cologne (Germany), among other places.