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ANCIENT WATER SUPPLIES

A Thesis Submitted to

The Faculty of

KICHIGAU STATE COLLEGE
of

AGRICULTURE AUD APPLIED SCIENCE

BY

Gordon L. Chipman

_

Candidate for the Degree of

Bachelor of Science

June, 1955

INTRODUCTION

The subject of water supply is an extremely interesting
one entirely aside from its purely technical aspects. Its
importance in the development of ancient civilizations makes
it a subject of more general interest than most branches of
engineering. One might say, with little fear of exaggeration,
that water supply was the most important single factor in-
fluencing the-life of the ancients, determining, in most cases,
whether that life be nomadic, agricultural, or commercial. The
subject has the added historical interest to engineers in that
the first members of the profession were doubtless hydraulic
engineers. Certain it is that wells were sunk and lands irri-
gated before roads were built or engines of war developed.

In a study of this sort, we have only two sources of in-
formation--structural ruins, and written records. Unfortun-
ately, most of the writings that have come down to us were
written by non-technical writers whose knowledge of engineer-
ing was all too slight. Particularly is this so of the more
ancient civilizations, where we are further handicapped by the
paucity of structural remains. When one adds to this the
exaggeration found in many of the records, the difficulty of
study will, I think, be apparent. Of course, when we come
down to the period of the Roman Enpire, the conditions are
much more favorable for a detailed study. Both ruins and writ-
ten records exist in moderate profusion and may be used to

check each other on many salient points.

974541

A.

Thus much of the first of this paper is devoted to
ancient superstitions and beliefs about water, and to cas-
ual allusions to wells and springs. While it may be ob-
jected that this is not engineering, it should be remembered
that, in the main, it is all that we know of the earlier
water supplies.

While no comprehensive survey of the subject has been
possible in this brief space, I have endeavored to present a
broad account of these ancient works and give some idea of

their magnitude and importance.

PART I

"The chief thing is water“
Pindar.

In early ages water was reverenced as the vivefying
principal of which all things were made. Later it was thought
by Greek philosophers that different combinations of four

elements: earth, fire, air, and water, produced all the in-
finite variety found in the universe. Hence we find that
rivers, fountains, and wells have been worshiped from time
immemorial, with most nations, today, retaining some relics
of these superstitions.

Even the practical Romans were exceedingly superstitious

about wells and Springs. Frontinus, speaking of the early
water supply of Rome, has this to say: "Springs have held,
down to the present day, the name of holy things, and are ob-
jects of veneration, having the repute of healing the sick;
as for eXnmplp the springs of the Prophetic Nymphs (Camenae)
of Apollo, and of Juturna.“

This belief in the miraculous powers of certain springs
is a common one even today. In ancient times it was univer-
sally accepted. Pliny has much to say about the healing
effects of different waters; they reputedly offered cures for
everything from lunacy to barrenness (Nat. Hist. XXXI. 2).
Vitruvius says that alum springs will cure paralysis, and
that bitumen springs will remedy "interior defects”. .The
springs at Paphlagonia caused inebriety; those of Chtor in
Arcadia caused abstemiousness. An inscription at the spring
reads: "Shun by vine-hating spring; here Telampus restored

to sense the daughters of Proetus from their frenzy." there

was a spring in the island of Chios, the waters of which dulled
the wits of those drinking there. "Sweet is the flow of cool-
ing drink which rises in a fountain, but he who drinks of it
is turned to stone in his mind." At Susa, capitol city of
Persia, there was a small spring with this inscription:
Waters from the rock you see, stranger,
from which it is safe for men to take to
wash their hands;
But if you take of the fair water of the
leafy cave, and touch it but with the tip of
your lips,
Forthwith those banquet grinders, your teeth,
fall on the ground and leave empty the sockets
in your jaw.
Because of their sacred nature, springs and wells
were worshiped and special celebrations were held in their
honor. Among the ancient Peruvians, certain Indians were
appointed to sacrifice "to fountains, springs, and rivers.”
The Mexicans has their God of water, Tlaloc. In Egypt, wat-
er was identified with Osiris; Thales of Miletus (one of the
Seven Wise Men), who affirmed that the principle of all things
is water, is said to have been inspired by Egyptian priests.
The Fontinalia of the Romans were religious festivals held in
October in honor of the Nymphs of Wells and Fountains. The

Celts venerated lakes, rivers, and fountains, into which they

threw gold; as did the Britons and the Picts.

At what period in man's history he first had recourse
to wells, we can only conjecture; certain it is that it was
in very primitive times indeed. When man first penetrated

the earth in the search for water his wells were doubtless

mere shallow basins into which water would slowly percolate.
Examples of this elementary type of well can be found that
are in use today by primitive peoples.

It is quite probable that the art of constructing wells
was mastered before any other. The physical character of
Central Asia, its almost universal deficiency of water, its
swarms of inhabitants, would naturally contribute ot that re-
sult. Thus we find many very ancient wells dug to remarkable
depths, wholly through rock, and indicating highly advanced
knowledge concerning their construction and location. In
penetrating through loose soils or quicksands for example,

a curb was first constructed, of stone or brick, which settled
as the excavation proceeded.

Many of the most ancient wells were dedicated to the use
of travelers and the general public. These public wells are
often m entioned in history. At one of these Hagar rested
and refreshed himself, when she fled from the ill treatment
of Sarah. And it was by way of this well that Isaac was go-
ing when he met Rebecca and where he subsequently took up his
abode. A common custom in those days of congregating around
wells, often made them the neuclei of ancient villages and
cities. “Palmyra, one of the most Splendid cities of the old
world, was built by Solomen in the Syrian desert, and its lo-
cation was determined by springs and wells which were found
at that place only." Most of Sicilian cities took their names
from the fountains they were near or the rivers they bor-
dered upon. A deep well in Italy gave its name, Lilybe, both

to the cape and to the town near it. The numerous place

names in Palestine beginning with En or Ain, meaning spring,
point to the water supply as the determining factor in locat-
ing a town or village. Bath in England derives its name from
adflacent springs. It was named Caer-Badon, or place of baths,
before the Roman invasion. Similarly the city or Wells was
named. The Trojans are said to have given the name Xanthus,

or Chestnut, to the river which flows through the plains of
Troy because it was believed that the cattle in the neighbor-
hood, which were of a reddish color/had taken their hue from
the water (Vitru vius VIII 3.14). "Thus the property of liquid
when it enters the body produces the kind of quality with which
it is tinctured."

Conditions in Palestine and Syria favored individual rath-
er than community water supply. "Drink waters out of thine
own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well," says
the Hebrew proverb. The coastal plain of Palestine and Syria
was supplied by springs along the base of the Judean and Le-
banon highlands, and by wells. In the plains of Philistine,
the ground water level was high and furnished the ample springs
of Gaza and Ashdod, but on the steep coast of Lebanon, with
its rapid run-off, the ancient Phoenicians probably depended
mainly on mountain streams and springs. However, the Phoeni-
cians were famous as hydraulic engineers. Stabo tells of the
water works of the island city of Arudus. Rain water from the
roofs was collected in cisterns, and in addition a great in-
verted funnel, with hose attached, was placed over a submarine
spring that bubbled up in the sea a few hundred yards from

port.

In Rephidim there was but scanty water (Exod. 17-1 Num.
33-14). Amalek fought with the envading Israelites to defend
the good water supply of Wady Fieran, the most fertile oasis
of all the penninsula. Tells sunk in the dry wady beds were
private possessions fought over by the herdsmen of Abraham
and the neighboring king of Gerar. The extraordinary preser-
vation of sandstone sculptures in this region would indicate
no greater rainfall since 5000 8.0. (Petrie. Researches in
Sinai). It is therefore extremely probable that the popula-
tion never greatly exceeded that of the present. There is an
ancient Egyptian well at Maghareh, two miles distant from the
town, that is sunk eight feet in granite at the foot of a moun-
tain. If the ground water level had been any higher than that
at present this well would have been unnecessary.

Numerous wells of extreme antiquity are still to be found
inside the pyramids. The immediate successors of the Phar-
oah who patronized Joseph erected stations to protect the an-
cient wells at Wady Jasous. These wells still supply the port
of Philoteras or Aennum as they did four thousand years ago.
In Karnak, the house plan was very similar to that of the R0-
mans, and each house was generally supplied with a round well
and an oblong cistern.

The practice of building stations to protect wells was a
common one; often the roads were guarded near them. Many of the
ancient wells were left without curbs so they could be more
easily concealed, and thus guarded against destruction or poi-
soning.

Like her neighbors, Greece was well supplied with springs

and wells. Many of them sacred to Apollo and Demeter, sug-
gest their utilization for agricultural purposes. Other
springs arose in sacred groves and grottos. City Springs

are met with in Homer, in the fountain of Hyperia in Pegasae
on the Gulf of Volo, by the roadside in the city of Alcinous,
and in the fountain of Arethusa in the capitol of Ithica.
Plutarch preserved some of the laws of Solon respecting wells.
Persons living within four furlongs of a public well had liber-
ty to use it. Others had to dig their own, and they must be
dug at least six feet from their neighbors land. According
to Pliny, Danaus sunk the first wells in Greece. Plutarch
says the Athenians taught the rest of the Greeks how to sow
corn, how to construct wells, and the use of fire, indicating
that wells were among mans first inventions. In mythologic
ages the daughters of Danaus were punished for the murder of
their husbands by being forced to raise water out of deep
wells.

Phoenicia, Carthaginia, and Persia were apparently well
supplied with private as well as public wells. At Arar, are
wells excavated through sandstone of a considerable depth.

The celebrated Fountain of the Sun of the ancients was a well
eight feet square and sixty feet deep. Well and fountain were
terms often used synonymously. The Chinese used wells to wa-
ter their land. Many of the largest were lined with marble
and were of extraordinary depth. (M. Arago, in his Essay on
Artesian Wells, observes that the Chinese have sunk wells to

a depth of eighteen hundred feet.) The Egyptians irrigated
the borders of the desert above the reach of the Nile from

wells. When taken by the British, 50,000 wells were counted

in one district of Hindustan, many of them being of great an-
tiquity.

The ancients constructed many large tanks for the purpose
of collecting water for irrigation. In the Carnatic, some
were eight miles in length and three in breadth. In the plains
of Arabia water was drawn from wells and carried to the fields.
Watering the land with pots carried in yokes was one of the
labours of the Israelites in Egypt. "I removed his shoulder
from the burden, his hands were delivered from the pots."
(Psalms 81.6).

In India, as elsewhere, the rich often donated public
wells for the use of their less fortunate brethern. A good
sized well cost about two-thousand dollars and a celebration
was held at its dedication. During the ceremony a Brahmin in
the name of the donor would exclaim, "I offer this pond of
water to quench the thirst of mankind." Ferose, monarch of-
India in the fourteenth century, built fifty sluices to irri-
gate the land and over 150 wells. Near the village of Futteh-
pore is a large well ninety feet in circumference and thirty
feet to the water surface.

The wells of Asia were generally of considerable depth.
In Guzzerat they are from eighty to one hundred feet deep.

In the adjoining province of Mulwah, they are frequently three
hundred in depth; in Ajmeer, from one to two hundred; Cabaul
has one well three hundred forty-five feet deep and only about
three feet in diameter; a well of ancient Tyre was two hundred
sixteen feet deep. A tribe of Kabyles is said to have sunk

wells to a depth of two hundred fathoms.

Jacobs well near Sychar on the road to Jeruselem has
been in use for 3600 years. It is one hundred five feet deep
nine feet in diameter, with about fifteen feet of water. It
was excavated through solid rock.

The well Zemzem at Mecca is considered by Mohametans one
of three holiest things in the world, and as the source where
the great progenitor of the Arabs refreshed himself when he
and his mother left his fathers house. The Caaba was built
around the well, possibly by Abraham or Ishmael. In 979 A.D.
the Karmatians slew 17,000 pilgrims within the Caaba and fill-
ed the well with bodies. The well itself was two hundred ten
feet deep, fifty-six feet to the water surface. It had a
curb of white marble five feet high, seven feet, eight inches
in diameter.

E Roman well was discovered in Britain in the seventeenth
century near a road to Carlisle. It was lined with large pine
casks, six feet in length. The well was covered with oak
planking nine inches thick. In it were found urns, drinking
cups, sandals and shoes, the soles of which were stitched and
nailed.

Joseph's well at Cairo is two hundred ninety-seven feet
deep and one of the most remarkable wells ever constructed.

It is rectangular in shape, twenty-four by eighteen feet, and,
is excavated through solid rock one hundred sixty-five feet

to a capacious chamber, at the bottom of which is formed a
basin or reservoir to receive the water raised from below.

On one side of the reservoir, is another shaft fifteen by nine
feet, which penetrates down another one hundred thirty feet

where it emerges into a bed of gravel. Water was first raised

I.

into the reservoir by means of machinery propelled by horses
or oxen within the chamber. The well is surrounded by a spi-
ral passage-way to the chamber with a gentle descent. The
passage is six feet four inches wide and seven feet two inches
high. The partition between the passage and the shaft is only
about six inches thick and is of astonishingly uniform thick-
ness throughout. The passage is lighted by occasional open-
ings or windows to the shaft proper. In the lower shaft a
perilous passage-way is cut around the periphery of the shaft
to the bottom. Wheels at the top of each shaft carried end-
less ropes to which earthenware vases were secured-~the "Chain

of Pots".

Before the building of the aqueducts, Rome was chiefly
supplied from springs and wells, some of which are still in
use. The springs of the Camenae in the Egerian valley were
said, by Vitruvius to furnish the best of water. Equally fa-
mous springs were the Fons Apollinis and the Fons Juturnae
near the Lake of Curtius. The control and administration of
the wells and springs was under a different set of officials
than the aqueducts. Roman wells are found in every country
where that people conquered. Their armies often depended upon
them, the battles often going to the side with the best water
supply.

In 1711, while digging a well, a workman in Italy unco-
vered what proved to be the site of ancient Hurculaneum, which
had been buried by Vesuvius in 79 A.D. It was one of the most
important archaeological finds ever made. When the ashes were

removed, one of its public wells was found, which had been pro-

tected by an arch and a curb. It still contains excellent
water. During excavations in 1832, a well was found near
the gates of the Pantheon that was one hundred sixteen feet
deep and contained fifteen feet of water.

It is interesting to note how the Romans located their
wells and springs. Vitruvius gives considerable information
on this point. "Those who look out for water must also ob-
serve the nature of the ground; for there are certain places
where it rises. In clay the supply is thin and scanty
and near the surface; this will not be of the best flavour.
In loose gravel the supplyis scanty but it is to be found
lower down; this water will be muddy and unpleasant. In
black earth, moisture and small drops are found; when these
gather after the winter rains and settle in hard solid re-
ceptacles, they have an excellent flavour .....In coarse gra-
vel, common sand and red sand,1 the supply is more certain
and this is of good flavour. The waters from red rock are
copious and good, if they do not disperse through the inter-

stices and melt away. At the foot of mountains2

and in flinty
rocks water flows more copiously; and this is more cool and
wholesome.” (De Architectura II,VIII 1. 2)

After a favorable location was found, a hole was dug,"not

less than three feet square and five feet deep". At sunset

an inverted basin was placed in the bottom and covered with

1The pebble beds and New Red Sandstone of the Triassic series
supply abundant water.

2Cretaceous formations containing water are found all along
the Apennines.

leaves and earth. If drops of water and moisture were found
on the oiled inside of the basin, water was indicated. The
water was sought in mountain regions because it was "of sweet-
er quality, more wholesome and abundant". When deep wells
were being dug, the air was tested with a lighted lamp, and,
if the lamp was extinguished, air-shafts were dug on each side
of the well to enable the work to proceed safely.

Where the locality was unfavorable for the location of
wells or springs concrete cisterns were built. The instruc-
tions for making the concrete were as follows: "First let
the purest and roughest sand be provided; then rubble is to
be made of broken flint, no piece weighing more than one pound;
the strongest lime is to be mixed in the trough, five parts
of sand to two of lime." The trench was rammed down with wood-
en rams shod with iron. The same concrete was used to cover
the floor. Several cistern were often placed in series, to
be used as settling basins. Sometimes salt was added to pur-
ify the water.

As to methods of testing water as to quality after the
Spring had been in use, the people that had been drinking of
it were examined. If they were healthy, the water was con-
sidered good. Also if fresh water from the spring was poured
over a vessel of Corinthian1 and did not tarnish it, the water
was considered good. The Romans also used a rough test for

turbidity in determining the quality of the water.

1 Alloy of gold, silver, and copper.

PART II

"Large reservoirs may be established for the
collection of rain water, such as will not
I!
fa11000000
Aristotle

The growth of large and populous cities became possible
only after the development of extended systems of water sup-
ply, utilizing not only water from local sources, but also,
bringing it in from distant rivers, lakes, and springs. No
very extended or accurate information of the earliest of
these water-works is extant, our knowledge of them being con-
fined largely to the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. It
isn't until the period of the Roman Empire, as a matter of
fact, that we can call our information anything but extremely
fragmentary. Certain it is, however, that extended systems
of water supply existed long before the time of Romulus.

All ancient literatures reflect the concern of the Mediterra-
nean peoples in securing a safe and adequate supply. Aris-
totle says, "There should be a natural abundance of springs
and fountains in the town; or lacking these, large reservoirs
may be established for the collection of rain water, such as
will not fail when the inhabitants are cut off from their
country by war......if the water supply is not all equally
good, the drinking water ought to be separated from that used
for other purposes."

One of the most remarkable works of the ancients was the
construction of Lake Moeris, by the Egyptians. Heroditus
gives its circumference as 3600 stades, or 430 miles, and a
maximum depth of 240 feet, (these figures are fairly well
authenticated by more recent investigations). It was exca-

vated by hand and connected to the Nile by a canal. During

low water the reservoir supplied water to the Nile and the
Nile in turn supplied the lake during high water. The lake
was also connected to the interior to the west by an under-
ground tunnel into Libya. An undertaking which indicates the
high degree of engineering science possessed by the Egyptians
was the removal of the Nile itself. In the reign of Menes
(about 5000 B.C.) it swept along the Libyan chain of mountains,
1.6. on the west side of the valley that constitutes Egypt.
In order to make it equally beneficial to both sides a new
channel was formed running down the center.

During the reign of Khufu, or Cheops, at the time of the
building of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh, Ptah-hotep, Chief of
Artificers, established a flood gauge on upper Nile so as to

determine the mean flow and, if possible, predict the future.

Babylonia, like most of her neighbors, suffered from a
acarcity of water and depended on wells and irrigation. There
was only about enough water to sprout corn, after which irri-
gation was necessary. The river does not, as in Egypt, over-
flow banks of its own accord, but it is spread into fields by
hand or enginel. "Whole of Babylonia is, like Egypt, inter-
sected with canals. The largest of them all, which runs to-
ward the winter sun, and is impassable except in boatsz, is
1This engine seems to have been the common hand-swipe which was
essentially a bucket on one end of a weighted lever, which could
thus be easily raised by hand.
2This probably refers to the original Nahr Malcha, the great

work of Nebuchadnezzar, Felugia and entered the Tigris in the
vicinity of the Gyndes (Dujalah).

      

.\ llutlmxml of Ancient ('rele ' [Carly ('retzm [.ilvzniun Vessel of

Black Steutite and Krystal
[Sir .-\r.lhur Evans. 'l‘lw I’ulun- nf .lliuux, Macmillan, London, l930] I]. A. HamIm-rlun, ll’oudvr: u/ llw l'u:!.

G. P. Putnam 81 Son, New York. 1924]

carried from the Euphrates into another stream, called the
Tigris." (Heroditus. Clio, Chap. 193)

These canals in Babylonia and Assyria were five to twen-
ty feet deep and thirty or more feet wide. They were many
miles in length, interlacing among themselves and intersect-
ing both the Tigris and Euphrates. Acurious feature was
their occasional arrangement in paralled groups of two or
three, separated only by embankments. These canals served
the entire Euphrates-Tigris valley from the Persian Gulf to
Modern Baghdad and possibly to ancient Nineveh. Later on,
during one of his victorious expeditions through this coun-
try, Alexander found masonry dams in the Tigris that blocked
his ships, (between 356 and 322 B.C.) These dams had been
built to furnish the irrigating canals with water and had,
like those of Egypt, regulating devices such as sluices and

gates.

Perhaps the most elaborate system of water supply and
distribution of any of the ancient peoples, down to the time
of the Romans, was possessed by Crete, a thousand years be-
fore the time of the Greek tyrants. The water supply was
piped from deep wells in the hillsides and from springs in
the higher gorges through pipes of stone and terracotta.
Homes were furnished with hot and cold running water. The
bathrooms and lavatories of the palaces were probably the
most beautiful and well equipt the world has ever seen. An
interesting commentary on the workmanship of the ancient in-
habitants of Crete is furnished by a comparison of the pipes

successively made by the Cretans, Romans, Venetians, Turks,

d‘

 

FIG. SO.—.\IYCE.\'A€A.\' PIPE OF TERRACO'I‘TA
SUPPLY.

 

FOR THE DRINKING \VATER

and the present municipality of Candia. The pipes were con-
tinually made of greater size, but the fineness of the clay,
the quality of cement, and exactness of shape gradually deter-

iorated.

The Greek Tyrants justified their beneficent despotisms
by improving the water supplies of their capitols. Pisistra-.
tus (605-527 B.C.) built, around the chief spring of Athens,
a hall of nine columns giving it the name of Enneacrunis, or
fount of nine mouths. Water was brought for it by two con-
duits from the upper course of the river Ilissus, one of them
passing underground out to the Piraeus. Other aqueducts, one
from Mt. Hymettus and two from Lycabettus, contributed to the
water supply of Athens, while a system of canals from the
Cephissus were used to irrigate the neighboring Olive groves
and gardens. These Greek conduits were generally subterra-
nean channels out of natural rock with shafts sunk at regular
intervals. At the entrance to Athens the aqueducts discharged
into large rbck settling basins.

Megara was furnished with a long canal, built by the Ty-
rant Theagenes in 620 B.C., which brought water from the moun-
tains to a beautiful and famous fountain in the market place.
Polycrates of Samos, about 530 B.C., employed an engineer
from Megara to supply Samos with water. Samos was built on
a small island with a high mountain core. The mountain was
pierced by a tunnel nearly a mile long to reach the springs
of Mt. Ampelus. Corinth had the most famous city fountain of
all Greece, the upper spring of which was said to be the gift

of the river god Asopus.

The finest Greek aqueducts were the underground conduits
of Syracuse, which were destroyed by the besieging Athenians

in 413 B.C.

The ancient city of Laodicea in Phrygia is supposed to
have been founded by Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.) The water
supply was probably of Grecian origin and was obtained from
the river Caprus. Conduit commenced about 225 feet above the
highest part of the city and three miles south of it. The to-
tal length of the aqueduct was over four miles. Water was
first conveyed in a masonry conduit across the plain of Deniz-
la, then across two short viaducts intd‘a settling basin com-
posed of two chambers, 42' by 42', and 14' by 14'. From the
smaller chamber an inverted siphon led across a valley and
to the city. The siphon was formed by two lines of stone
pipe two feet apart. Pipes were made of limestone blocks
about two and one-half feet in length and two feet wide, that
had bored out. The pressure at the bottom of the siphon was

about sixty pounds per square inch.

One of the most impressive examples of works for distri-
buting and storing water for a large city is to be found on
the site of ancient Carthage. Built more than 2,500 years ago,
parts of the ancient aqueducts and reservoirs are still in use.

We must remember that Carthage flourished over seven hun-
dred years before its destruction by the Romans about 150 B.C.
and then rose again to be one of the most magnificent cities
in the world for seven hundred years under Roman rule. It
was destroyed again and taken apart piecemeal for a thousand

years. Thus most of the remains left are of Roman origin.

The great reservoir of Eaalaka, in Carthage, was half
mile from the sea. The Arabian work Maalaka means "connected
together" and typifies the collection of vaulted communicating
chambers, which covered a space of about 750' by 500', and
served to collect and store the rainwater from the marble paved
area around the reservoir, and the streets of the city. It
was of excellent workmanship and was made of concrete and rub-
ble masonry.

All over the ancient site, similar cisterns are found.
There was another reservoir near the sea, 400' by 110', vault-
ed, with eighteen compartments--two for filters or settling
basins, and the rest for the storage of settled water. These
reservoirs have been restored and are now used for the water
supply of the towns of Goletta and Marsa, water being brought
to them from the hillS*of Zaghouan, some forty miles distant,
utilizing for a part of the way the magnificent aqueduct built
by the Emporer Hadrian in 221 A.D.

The conduit of this aqueduct was carried for over five
miles on piers from seventy to eighty feet high. It still is
' used for its original purpose. The piers are twelve feet by
' fifteen feet, with a foundation of cut stone on which is built
the column of pise,or earth, from the vicinity, mixed with
lime and thoroughly rammed in cubicle blocks about three and
one-half feet each way. The horizontal joints were made by
embedding laths of olive wood in the freshly laid pise, cov-
ering them with a bed of lime mortar and wood ashes, and driv-
ing through the mortar and lath wooden pegs about six inches

long. On this the next course of pise was laid.

The voussoirs are of cut stone, and there is a band of cut
stone at the spring of the arches. The conduit, on top, is
about five feet high, arched, built of pise and lined with

cement.

The cities of Palestine, with their concentrated popula-
tions, felt the need of exploiting all local resources to as-
sure their water supply. The city provided public pools or
reservoirs by damming valley streams, and often supplemented
these by aqueducts from distant springs. Jeruselem had the
pools of Siloam and Bethesda, the Upper Pool, the Lower Pool,
the King's Pool, Old Pool, and Hezekiah's Pool. Josephus also
mentions four others as existing at the time of the Roman con-
quest. The Pools of Solomon may be seen today, eight miles
beyond Bethlehem. They are still in use. "These reservoirs
are really worthy of Solomon..........they are three in num-
ber, the smallest being between four and five hundred feet in
length." (Lindsay. Travel Lect.) The pools are in series and
the water is conveyed to the city by an ancient conduit which
tunnels the hill of Bethlehem. The Pool of Siloam was fed in
part by a tunnel conduit which brought water from the Fountain
of the Virgin, and which must date from the eighth century B.C.
or even earlier. King Hezekiah dammed the upper water course
of Gihon and ran a conduit to his pool on the west side of the
city of David. The channels were mainly hewn in rock and were
covered with stone slabs. On the arid eastern escarpment of
the Judean plateau, tanks and aqueducts fed by limestone springs

supplied water to cities like Jericho and Bethsham.

There was a water tunnel at Gezer in Palestine that was
built during the XII Dynasty in Egypt. It ran from a spring
in a natural cave ninety feet below the courtyard of the pal-
ace. It was an arched passage in solid rock, twenty-three

feet wide and twelve feet high, at a slope of thirty degrees.

On the westward facing escarpment of the Arabian plateau,
conservation of water was necessary wherever towns grew up.
Ruins of a tank at Heshbon show it to have been 191 feet long,
139 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. madeba had a reservoir of
pool nearly three acres in extent. Aden, Arabia, had a Splen-
did system of water tanks for the collection of water. The
town is situated at the base of the Shumshum mountains on the
floor of the crater of an extinct volcano. The sides of the
crater are entirely of lavas, breccias, and gypsum, and en-
tirely devoid of any vegetation. The tanks were built in a
deep cleft in the sidewall of the crater. The date of its
construction is doubtful; probably about 600 B.C. The tanks
are artificial pockets in the narrow gorge, no two of which
are alike. There were originally fifty of them. When the
British captured Aden in 1839 they restored fourteen of them
at a cost of $180,000, with a capacity of over thirty-six
million gallons. The construction of these tanks is most
interesting. The lava sides and bottom of the gorge were
lined or covered with a most peculiar cement. When examined
closely it resembles old ivory, but from a distance it ap-
pears translucent. Beginning far up the gorge, the tanks in-

crease in size as they approach the bottom. The capacity of

the bottom tank being 5,574,330 gallons. Dikes were run out
at salient angles diagonally down the sides of the gorge walls.
During a rain a number of small aqueducts along the side of
the gorge emptied into the tanks. Some of these tanks were
eighty feet deep and very narrow; others were wide and fairly
shoal.

The remains of all the highland cities of eastern Syria
show the ruins of Roman aqueducts, baths, reservoirs, and
occasionally a naumachia, or naval pool, like that at Gerasa.

The Romans built a thirty mile aqueduct to supply Gadara.

On this side of the Atlantic, the Peruvians had probably
the most extended system of supply of any of the ancient Ameri-
cans. The people were allotted square fields which they sur-
rounded with walls of stone. They irrigated these fields by
open canals, called Rarccac, and subterranean conduits, called
Pinchas. The Spaniards destroyed these channels; the land has
been arid ever since. Many of the underground conduits con-
tained pipes of gold. The largest space of these canals which
has been preserved entire is found in the valley of Nosca,
which owes its rare fertility to the water brought by the ca-
nals of the ancients. The subterranean aqueducts were paved
with flagstones closely joined, from four to six feet long and
about three feet wide, and had an inside height of six to eight
feet.

Garcilasso de la Vega speaks of two aqueducts: one made
by the Inca Viracocha ran from the heights of the Sierras for

a distance of more than one hundred twenty leagues; another

[‘b

ran north more than one hundred fifty leagues along the top of
the steepest Sierras. "We may compare these canals to the
greatest works which the world has seen, and give them the
first place, considering the lofty Sierras over which they
are carried, the large stones which they broke without instru-
ments of iron or steel, and which were broke with other stones
by mere force of arms; we must remember too that they knew
not how to make scaffoldings with which to build the arches of
bridges and span the chasms and small rivers. If they had to
cross any deep river they headed its sources, thus encircling

all the Sierras which presented themselves before them."

PART III

”Why should I Iiriention the ac111edi1cts.s1is.1aired
upon lofty 8103108, to which Iris could sca a1cely lift the
waters of the clouds? One m:ight say these were mountains
that had grown Skyward.......hiv~1 are intercepted.and
hidden in thy walls.” (Finder)

"But i: an one will note tie abundance of water
*

skillfully orougli nto the city, 101 public uses,......
for baths, for hous s,......suburban ga1dens,.....;if he
will note the high aqueducts,...... the mountains Ihich
had to be picrccd......, and the valleys it was necessary
to fill up, he will conclude that the whole terrestrial

orb offers nothing more marvelous.”

As was mentioned at the befiinnin' of this paper, the

water supply of ancient Rome is the only one of which we

have fairly complete knowledge. There is a comparative

D

profuseness 01 both structural remains and written records

that enables us to follow, w th comparative accuracy, the

{'0

develOpnent of Rome's supply almost 1rom the founding of the

City. While in some ways not the fines. the supply of Rome
0 U , .. .~ 9
was certainly the most extensive of any of the ancient

).

O

H.

supplies and was such as nspire wonder and admiration

even today. Surely we can agree with Frontinus when he

asks ”Will anybody compare the idle pyramids, or those other

useless thoumh much renouned works of the Greeks, with these

V

Q

aqueducts with their indispensable structures?"

The presence of an ample water supply undoubtedly

C)

influenced he nomans in the location of the City. icero

H

says He (Romulus) choose a place abounding in springs"

(De Rep II 6). The City 3 located among a group of detached
hills and spurs and was originally ahout eight miles from the
sea. It is interesting to note that the sea has been reced-
ing at the rate of thirty feet a year. The Campagna is a
rolling plain resembling the prairies of Iowa or Illinois.
There is a marhed ridge across the prairie which many of the
aqueducts naturally followed.

We are indebted principally to two sources for our

1

knowleoge of the Me an water supply, Brontinus and Vitruvius.
Sextus Julius Frontinus may be properly called a Roman
engineer, although he was a man of many public affairs.
r’esides filling the post of water commissioner (C “ator
Aquerur ‘.) of the city he was three times consul and was
governor of Eritain (under Vespasian) besides various and
sundry other accompli hmc cnts. he wrote at least seven boohg
”A Treatise on Surveying”, "Art of War", "Shategematics",

"Essays on Iarminr”

, "Treatise on Boundaries, aoads, Etc."

"A Work on Roman Colonies”, and his account of the water

works of Rome, ”De Aquis". His book, "De Aqueductibus

Vrbia Romae” is a sort of official report on the we ter supply

of Rome in the re ign of Tvajan. The translation of this

Work from the Latin was made from the ”hontecassino hanu-

script” by Clemens jers ehel in his entert ining and valuable

work, "Frontinus, and the Mater Supply of the City of Home”
Iuch interesting information is given by Vitruvius in

his book, ”De f'1rchit ectura” He goes much more into practical

details than does Frontinus with regard to the construction

of aqueducts, cisterns, filters, lead p‘ipes and the like,

while Frontinus gives fiaures as to the lengths of the

aqueducts and their discharge into the city.

i

There were three means of supplying water to the city,

viz, aqueducts with channels of stone 0 concrete (canales

’1

structiles), lead pipes (fistulae plumbeae) and clay pipes
(tubuli fictiles), used mainly for agricultural purposes.

Pottery mi nes (tubuli) were also in use as rainwater and

overflow pipes.
Before we consider the supply system of the Romans it
would be well to see how extended their knowledge was of

l';]‘

ydraulics. ney knew that water seeks its 0 n level but
were handic ed by havin3 no accurate concept ion of rates
of flow. The capacities of pipes were measured in quin-

ariae, which were essentially units of area. The fact that

the disch ”39 epended also on velocity was taken no c03-

ML)"

L1

nizance of by the Romans althouph the Gre :s before them
had understood it. Hero of A103 :andria, at about this
period, wr te, ”Observe always that it does not suffice to
determine the section of flow to know the quantity of water
furnished...... It is necessary to find the velocity of its

current for the more apid the flow the 3reater will the

*3

discaarse be . He recommended that the discharge of a pipe
be measure ed by dischar3in3“ it into a small reservoir and
measuring the qua ntityc ischarged in one hour. Thus the
Roman quinaria as a measurement of flow is to be taken with
a good deal of salt, as it were. It apparent y ranjed from
about 2,850 3.p.d. to 9,250 3.p.d. witi an average value of
five or six thousand gallons per day.

s of different

CD

Pip

as guinaria, senaria, septenaria, etc. Accordin: to Vitru-

'1

vius they were named from the width of the plate be:ore it
was rolled into a tube. Frontinus, however, thought it more
probable that the names were taken from the finished diam-

10 ed used to m3a M11 the pnly through these

eters. The net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J

pipes and o prevent fraua lS interesting: The juncture of

the public main and a private supply was made with a bronze
adjtage (calix) with its diameter staqped upon it. They
varied in diameter from .907 to 8.964 inches and were
inally made of lead. The Romans were evidently familiar
with the action of a Venturi Tube, because the ajutafies were
required to be at least nine inches long and must be without
any type of flange on the intake end. Also the pipe below
the calix was required to be of the same diameter for at
least fifty feet.

The pipe distribution in the city itself was very
complete and compares favorably in its extent tith modern
systems. Street mains were laid in practically all streets
supvlying houses and fountains along the way. In the more
important streets the Romans ran their mains through tunnels
so they could be repaired without tearing up the pavement.
The pipes were completely fitted with valves, turncocks,
stepeocks and junctions.

The Romans were perfectly familiar with the const;Lction

ail how

(I)
CI‘

in or

t‘
O

of inverted siphons. Vitruviu describes qui

they should be designed. They were usually made of lead

pipes although earthenware pipes were occasionally used. The
pipes were carried down one slope, across tae valley, and up
the other side, the bottom of the "U" being called the

"venter". All elbows were guanded by using a single 2iece of

stone into which the pipes wer inserted from each direction.

\f

The pipe sections were ten feet in length. Standpipes were

connected at the "venter" to allow air to escape. Water was
admit ted in a gradual manner and ashes were throzn in when
the siphon was liPSt used to close up any existing leaks.
Ancient lead iipe siphons of Roman ori5in, 12 to 18
inches in diane- 110k, have been found at
Lyons, Fr nce, that were huilt to withstand a 200 foot head

A drain pipe siphon wits masonry reinforcement was built at

ab

1

Alatri, Italy about 125 B.C. to carry water under a nead of
540 feet. Some of the inverted siphons were constructed of
lead pipe in edded in concrete.

The aquefaucts leading into tie city itself were con-
structed along the hydraulic grade line he, ocause of the
expense and difficulty of making lead pipes that would -
stand much pressure. Bronze was even more expensive.
Another excellent reason for constructing stone and concrete
conduits lies in the extreme hardness of the water brougat
into Rome. The large stone conduits offered a cozupz ratively
easy access for cle anin; out tne deposited carbonate, where
lead piles would have been extremely difficult, if not
impossible to keep clean. Vitruvius, speaking of aqueducts
says the "structure must be on a very solid “Hounda ion ,
and 3ive s a minimum 5rade of SIX incnes per hundred feet or
about .OiBfl. They ha to be "arched over to protect the

water from the sun."

1
l.

t—J

In the earliest aqueducts, both the support-n5 ar01es
and the covered channel (Specus) were made of large blocks

of tufa (mixture of volca_ic ash and sand). The channels

1 W

were lined Witl a hard mortar made of lime, possolana, and
pounded pet Mt y or brick. ater “edict" were built of
concrete faced on the outside with brica. In some cases the
roof of the specus was formed by two lar5e tiles (te5ulae
bipedales) set leanin5 torether and support :Lng the mass of

e that was poured in above (Iidd le ton p. 522). At
intervals of a few yards blow holes (spiranina) were made
for imprisoned air to escape and for ventilation when work-
me were repairin5 the channel.

Hany of the conduits were in good part subterranean,
only emer5in5 at or above the surface at a few points. Air
shafts (putci) were built at intervals of one actus (120
feet).

At the end of a conduit in the city there was a large
dis tributing reservoir (castellum aquarusn) fr m which the
district was supplied. Also there were a number of small
reservoirs throughout each district. Aqua Karcia had over
fifty of these. The main distributing reservoir was divided
into from three to seven separate compartments, each with a
separate main supplying a certain classification such as

fountains, private houses, public baths, etc. Some of these

reservoirs were very ma5n nif icent. They were line d witil rich
marbles and decorated with statues and large public fountains.
iae se were at the time of Frontinus, 24? delivery tanks or

0 .1

small reservoirs, about one- SiXth of the supply bein5 eon-

sumed bv 59 orna7ncntal fountains and 591 water-basins.

 

 

 

 

 

Water Tower of

the Rivus Herculaneus

‘.
hwaur m. _..w. .

The constructing of the aqueducts was carried out by
public contractors (redemptores cperum publicorum) and done

with slave labour. The buildin.

"r
.3

material used (tufa,
peperino, pozzolana, and clay for bricks) were state prep-
erty. The A ua Caludia and Anio Uovus, both started by
Cali5ula and completed by Claudius in 50 A.D. are stated by
Frontinus to nave cost only 55% million sesterces - about
$2,800,000.

much care was taken to insure wholesome and potable
water. At the intakes of a n nber of the aqueducts reser—
voirs or basins were constructed which acted as settlin5 or
sedimentatia basins (pieinae). Similar basins were constructed
at different points alon5 the aqueducts to act both as
settlin5 basins and stora5e reservoirs in case part of the
aqueduct had to be repaired. These basins were constructed
in a number of compartments in a two storied arran5ement,
the water fl wi15 from one compartment to another. In some
cases salt was used for clarifyin5.

These aqueducts were subject to serious leaha5e and
large forces of workmen were constantly employed in maintain-
ing and repairin5 them. A thirty foot strip was reserved
alon5 the courses of the channels of all the aqueducts on

which no encroaching was allowed. Alone

U

the three older
aqueducts, the mar5in of the strip was marked with boundry

stones (cippi ju5erales) set at intervals of two actus, or

H

20 feet, to indicate the distance from Rome.

Until the last century of the Republic, the Censors had

char5e of all the a1u educts and subterranean channels (Vivi
subterranae); and then for a ssort time they were under
Quaestors and Aediles. A15ustus instit'
The supply system w-s Lirected by the Curator Aqua run, or
ater commissioner, who was appointed for life. It was an
office of 5reat di5nity. The Curator was surrounded by a
number of minor ofiicials and personal attenaar ts (appari-

i), three public

a:
0
'3‘
I...)
0‘
J
O
I..J
[-40
O
"5
a:
I...”

tores), such as secretaries (
slaves (servi publici), and several en5in cers (architecti),
and many 0 hers. There were sevelal classes of artisans:
Aquarii, who made and laid the lead pipes; Libratores, who
measured the water levels; Castellarii, who kept the
reservoirs in order; Silicarii, who tore up and relaid the
lava (silex ) pave1ents; besides briclclayers, masons, and
crus hers of pottery with which to line the channels.

As would be expected, Home had a well deveIOped code
of water law. Hater 5rants were for life only, and had to
be renewed by each subsequent owner. This of course did
not apply to bathin5 and other public est ablism .1 ents. In
the case of synidcates, the water grants were good until
the last me1r ber dissolved his interest in the estate.

The power of eminent domain was well established, the

lands bein5 appraised and paid for much as at present. The

fine fer po lutin5 the waters was 10,000 sesterces ($500),
and wh rater was illegally used for irri5ation, the land
was confiscated. In the ti1e of the Emperor Herve, thirty

days notice was 5iven before the water was shut off.

1

Fri

,.
‘J

AQUEDUCTS OF HOME

In the time of Frontinus, water con1issioner from 97
to 106 A.D., there were nine aqueducts supplying Rome.

I. The AQUA APPIA was built at the same time that the
Via Appia was constructed by the Censor Appius Claudius
Caecus in the year 515 B.C. The so‘rce has been discovered
in some ancient quarries, now called "latomie della rustica"
about 50 feet below the level of the 5round. The Aqua
Appia is mostly an under5round waterway, only about 500
feet of it being carried on masonry arches. Its cross
section was 2% feet wide by 5 feet hi5h. The subterranean
"specus" is well preserved for a long distance and is
accessible at some points. The termination of the viaduct
was near the Tiber, close by the harmoratum. The elevation
of its water surface in Home was probably about 60 feet
above sea level. Additional Springs were brought to the
Aqua Appia by a branch added by Augustus, which was called
the Aqua Appia Augusta. Its discharge into the city was
over four million gallons per day.

II. -he ANIO VETUS was begun in 272 B.C., forty years
later than the Appia, by the Censor Manius Curiui Dentetus
out of the spoils won from Pyrrhus, and was completed in 269
B.C. by E. Fulvius Flaccus (Frontinus 80). It was 43 miles
in length; it took its water from the river Anio and pursued
an extremely circuitous route to the city. About 1100 feet

were above ground on an artificial structure. It too, was

a low level aqueduct, its elevation in Rome bein5 about 150
feet above sea level. Where he specus was above 5round,
it was built of massive blocks of peperino, laid in cement.

Its channel was about 5.7 feet wide by 8 feet hi5h.

like a small circular tower, ajout 18 feet hi5n and 10 feet
in diameter. It is built of massive blocks of tufa and
travertine. Au5ustus built a branch subdiv Mdi 5tLe waters
of the Anio Vetus into two parts, startin5 about two miles
from its termination in Rome. The dis 1ara5e of the Anio
Vetus was nearly ten million 5.p.d.

III. The AQUA MARCIA was built by the Prae tor Q.
Iiarcius Rex in 144 B.C., by the order of he Senati at the
same time that the two earlier aqueducts were restored.

About 30,000, 000 were voted to build this aqueduct. Its

source is about 58 miles from Home. About seven-eighths of

‘3

itu len5th was subterranean but the last six miles was on

ma sive peperino arches. It is nearly 58 miles lon5 and its

(.0

channel at th e head of the aqueduct was 5-7/8 feet by 8-5/10
feet, but farthe° do1rn the channel was reduced to 5 feet by
5-7/10 feet. The water was of a most excellent quality and
was brou5ht into Rome at an elevation of about 195 feet above
sea level (Burr, p. 40). Dis c11ar5e was about 11,600,000 5.p.d.
A short branch, called the Agua Au5usta, was added by
Au5ustus, and this doubled the original supply of water.

The Harcian water is still brou5ht to Rome under the name

Date of en5th
Construction Carried

L

TO
0

1’1"

ta -1
5th

flame of builder

T *- .. -. _ -_.—-.. .-~‘. v . -Q‘“- --—--- ~ . o- . o -—-.--- . “-m-“o—

 

Above
_ "w - - _____ (1r ound
Aqua Appia 512 B.C. 300'
Avis Vetus 272~200 " 1,100'
Iarcia 144-140 " 523,000Y
Tepula 12 "
Julia 3 " 57,000!
Vir5o 19 " 5,000'
Alsietina 10 A.D. 1,600'
Claudia 38-52 " 53,000'

Anio Novus

e» to
01 :0

H

N

Appius Claudius
Caecus

n. fiulvius Tlaccus

Q. iarcius Rex

A5rippa
¢n1 81‘. ippa
Augustus

Cali5u1a
Claudius

Cali5ula
Claudius

Aqua Pia, a restoration completed in 1870.

The Marcian aqueduct, like its two predecessors, was
built of dimension stone, 18 inches by 18 inches by 42
inches, or larger, laid in cement; but concrete and brick
were used in the later aqueducts, with the exception of
Claudia.

IV. The aqueduct called the AQUA TEPULA, about 11 mikm
in len5th, and completed about 125 B.C., was built to bring
into Rome the sli5htly warL waters from the volcanic Sprin5s

on the tents albani southeast of Rome. The tcm_e:ature of

was 2.7' by 5.5'.

V. The AQUA JULIA was built by A5rippa in 55 B.C. from
some Springs about a mile from the monastery of Grotta
ferrata up in the same valley from whence the Aqua Tepula
started. Its water was considerably cooler than that of
Tepula. It was about 14 miles lon5 with about half of its
course subterranean. The Julia, Tepula, and jarcia, were
for a 1015 distance carried on the sane row of arches, one
above the other with Julia the hi5hes . (The Julia was the
third highest of all the aqueducts; the first was the Anio
Novus, and the second was the Aqua Claudia.) Restorations
were carried out by Au5ustus in 5 B.C., by Severus in 190
A.D., and by Cavacalla in 212 A.D. In Rome itself the thraz
separated and carried in different directions. The water

from the Aqua Julia entered Home at an elevation of 212 feet,

a-Kmdfl" ¢ \ .
:.;;.‘:~"“"F“

 

The Terminal Fountain of the Aqua Julia

 

Kano Size of Channel Discharge Discharge Discharge
Elevation in in
__ ‘ Quinarin - in.g.q.
Appia 2%' x 5' 60' 704 4.2

Anio Votus

fiarica

Virgo
Alsietina
Claudia

Anio Novus

'3
o
q

s-v/lo y 8' 150' 1,610

I’

5-7/8 x 8-8/10 195' 1,955 11.”
5 x 5-7/10

2-7/10 x 3-8/10 201' 445 2.7

2-5/10 x 4-8/10 812' 808 4.8

5-5/10 x 6-8/10 185' 2,812 16.9

5-5/10 x 9 ‘ 8,818 16.9

“m... - ov -——-v-—no-—.—u--

Total Discharge 14,018 84.1

that of Aqua Tepula at about 201 feet aoove sea level.

Julia had a channel of 2.5 feet by 4.6 feet and a
discharge of slightly under five millions gallons per day.

VI. The VIRF AQUEDUCT - "See how the aqueducts of
Rome centriLute to her ornamentation. Virgoh strean is so
pure that the name, according to common opinion, is lerived
from he fact that hose Waters are never sullied; since,
while all others give evicence of the violence of rainstorms
by the turbidity of their w ters, Virgo alone over maintains
her purity."

Virgo was begun by Agrigpa in 55 B.C. and completed in
19 B.C. (Pliny. Nat. Hist. 51, 42). In the sane year (35
B.C.) Agrippa is said to have constructed for public use no
less than 700 basins or pools, 500 fountains, and 150
reservoirs, many of then richly decorated with fountains and
statues. Three hundred statues of marble and bronze were
used in these works, as were 400 rarblc columns. (Hiddleton
II, p. 542.)

The main object of Virgo was to supply the Thernae (baths)
of Agrippa. It took water from springs about 8 miles from
Rome and 80 feet above sea level, but the length of the channel
was about 15 miles. It discharged into the city at an eleva-
tion of 67 feet. The channel cross-section was 1.6 feet by
6.6 feet. About one-thirteenth of its length was above
ground. The waters of this aqueduct were distributed from

eigiteen reservoirs. Virgo has been r stored and new supplies

and streets in Home. Its

03

a large number of fountain

 

:AIIITTI I 6!

Reservoir of the Virgo near the Spanish Stepsr

discharre was over fizteen million gallons per day.

VII. QUA ALSIETIYA - The preceding aqneducts were all
located on the left or easterly side of the Tiber, but the

Aqua Alsietina was on the ri 1t. It was constructed by
Augustus in 10 A.D. mainly to supply his great Naumachia or
show naval fights.

"I gave the pee-1e the spectacle of a naval combat
beyond the Tiber where is new Caesar's grave; and for the
purpose I caused the ground to be excavated for 1800 feet
in length and 1200 feet in width. Thirty beaked triremcs
and quadrirenes were engaged in thi sfight. Besides the
rowers, 3000 men ught on the ose fleets." (Paragraph 25,
Aucyrean Inscript).

Its source is a small lake (now called Lago de Yarti-
guano) about 20 r1i es from Zone. The elevation of this
lake is 680 feet, and the water was delivered at about 55
feet above sea level. The water was of a very poor quality

er dar.

0

nd disc ha god something over two million gallons

*d

VIII. The AQUA CLAUDIA - "But how much more beautiful
than the Kile) it is to see Claudia at Home, carrying to

the baths and domiciles, across the arid summits of the
hills (It. Aventine) the waters that disclwar go from its
productive channels."

Because of the increa mi1g public needs and the growing
demamn1s of private luxury, Caligula began, in 38 A.D., the
construct M01 of the two most magnificent of the aqueducts,

«0 'v in

the Claudia and the Anio Hovus. Upon Caligula's death, the

 

Remains of the Claudia of the Time of Hadrian

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remainder of t work was completed by Claudius, his
successor, in 52 A.D.

At the time of Frontinus, the sources of the Claudia
were four in number, consistins of the two original Springs,

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Curtius, the nearby fons

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the fons Caeruleus and the fOL
Alhudinus, and, as a supplementary source in time of need,

a part of the system of the Karcia known as the Aqua Augusta.
Originally the conduit had but a single channel and a clear-
ing tank near Capannelle. In the time of Hadrian,however, a
supplementary channel was built in its upper stretches.

From the terminal reservoir in the city, the water, wlich

was there mixed with that of the Anio Novas, was distributed
through 02 smaller reservoirs to all the fourteen regions of
he city.

DeSpite the time and money Spent in its construction,
the aqueduct clearly revealed, with the passage of the years,
the worthless materials and careless methods too often
employed by its builders. It seems to have been in almost
constant need of repair, the restoration of Vespasion in 71
A.D. being followed ten years later by another restoration
by Titus. Fifty years later the aqueduct was again threatened
with collapse and was restored, together with several other
aqueducts, by the architect-emperor Hadrian. Still another
restoration was made in the last great period of building
activity in Rome - that of the Severans.

The arches of this aqueduct had clear Spans CI 18 to

20 feet with thickness at the crown of about 5 feet. The

channel was 5.5 feet by 5.5 feet, and it delivered water at
the Palatine 185 feet above sea level. .The tote 1 length of
this aqueduct was over 45 miles, wi 31 9E “11303 on lofty
arches, and about 5000 feet on solid masonry.

IX. -HIO EOVUS — "All previous aqueducts yield in rank
to the one commenced by Caligula and finished by Claudius.
The waters.....were brought 40 miles to Rome in manner such
as to rise up on all the hills of the city. 55,500,000

Sesterces were Spent on this work." (Plky. Nat. Fist. 56,

“'3

2~).

This aqueduct, together with the a flu Claudia, belong
to the hizlw st type of Roman hydraulic engineering, and were
greatly esteemed by the Roman people. The combined cost was

rly $5,000,000, or about $6.00 per lineal foot for the
two.

The Anio Iovus was ~2 miles long, with 9% miles carried
on arches. Some of the arches were as much as 109 feet high.
It joined the Aqua Cla itdia about 5 miles outside home from
which point both were carried on the same arches. Within
the city the two waters were 1nixcd. Its channel was 5.7
feet by 9 fee . The structure was built of brick masonry

lined w th concrete. Anio Novus clischar rged nearly seventeen

million gallons per day into the city.

Thever Roman colonies were watered vast en 3 were Spent
in the construction of aqueducts, such constructions being

found at many points in Spain, France, and other countries

 

The Anio liovus and the Liarcia at Ponte degli Arci

that were once under the wing of Home. It is estimated
that the remains of 200 or more of these aqueducts are
still extant in different parts of the world.

One of the prominent ancient aqueducts is the Pont du
Gard at Eimes in the south.of France. It is supposed to have
been built between the years 51 B.C. and 18 A.D. (by Agrippa?).
It has three tiers of arches with a single channel on tOp.
The greatest height above the river Gardon is nearly 180 feet
and its length along the second tier of arches is 885 feet.
The arches in the lowest tier are 51 feet, 65 feet, and 80.5
feet in Span, while the arches in the top tier have a Span
of 15 feet 9 inches. The thickness from face to face at the
tOp is 11 feet 9 inches, at the middle tier of arches 15
feet, and 20 feet 9 inches at the lower tier of arches. The
largest arch has a depth of keystone of 5 feet 5 inches as
compared to a keystone depth of 5 feet in the other arches
of the lower tier. The depth of ring stone of he upper
arches is 2 feet 7 inches. The lower tier is made up of
four separate arch-:ings placed side by side, the middle
tier of three archrings, but the top masonry in the top tier
iaéontinuous from face to face. These parallel series of
arches in the middle and bottom tiers are in no way bonded
or connected with each other. There is no cementing material
in any of the arch-rings, but cement mortar was used in
rubble masonry around the water channel above the tOp row
or arches. The velocity of flow was about one foot per

second.

The aqueduct at Se5ovia in Spain was built by the
Emperor Trojan about A. D. 109. It was built without mortar,
and has 109 arches, 50 of them bein5 modern reproduction of
the old. It is 2700 feet lon5 and in places nearly 100 feet
hi5h. It was still in use at the be5innin5 of the twentieth
century. The old Tarragona aqueduct is built with two
series of arches, twcn' cy-five in the upper and eleven in the
lower. It is 876 feet lon5 and 80 feet in maximr: 1hei5ht.

At mayence there are ruins of an aqueduct about 16,000 feet

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long. hear Metz are found t3
aqueduct with a sin5le row of arches. The aqueduct at
Antioch, alt though of crude construction, had a height of

200 feet and a length of 700 feet. A solid wall, with the
exception of two openin5s, made up its lower portion and a
sin5le row of are cLe es extended on tOp of Mlis to make up the
upper portion. Similar ruins are found in Dacia, A-_rica,

and Greece.

The aqueduct of Pyrogos, near ConstantinOpa, was built
not earlier than the tenth century. It consists of two
branches at ri5ht an5 le s to each other. The greater branch
is 670 feet lon5 with a maximum.height of 106 feet, the
lesser branch is 500 feet long and was built with twelve
semicircular arches. At the longer branch there are three
tiers of arches, the lowest of Gothic and the two upper of
semicircular outline, the len5th of Span increasing from the
lowest to the upper tier, thus aw Icine the top tier the

VJ

li5htest. The lowest row of piers is reinforced by buttresses.

The thickness varies uniformly from 11 feet at the tOp to

21 feet at the bottom.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Esaiaiiaelai
Evolution of Hater Supplies

Eng. Rec. 1896. 54:162.

Water-Wprks, Ancient & Modern. I'Avi5nor.

Engr. 1876. 21:405

Fountains of Peirenc. Stevens, G. P.

Am. Jour. Archaeal. 58:55-8, Jan. '54.

Ancient Tater Supply of Athens

Engr. 1906. CI, p. 215.

Aqueduct of Tempoala, Hexico

tr]

n5. Hews 1888. 20:2.

Ancient Tater Works on Iediterraneaz. Semple

Geog. R. 21:466-74, J1.'51.

Underground waters Kharga Oasis
Geog. J. 80:569-409, U. '52

Old Water Supply of Seville. Higgins
Proc. Inst. C.E. 78:554.
Water Works of Carthage

Eng. Rec. 1891. 25:8

Evolution of Water Supplies (In U.S.)

Eng. Rec. 1896. 54:162.

water Works of Laodicea, Asia liner. Wegmann

Ens. Rec..1899. 40:554.

Q

Water Tanks of Aden, Arabia

Eng. hews. 1904. 52:25.

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Brodenr, A. G.

Pageant of Civilization. New York, 1951.

TT

Burr, 3. n.

Ancient & hodern En5ineerin”. flew York, 1905, John Wiley

Ewbank, Thomas

Hydraulic d Other hashines for Raising Tater

Charles Scribner & Co., 1870.

Hauhs, F. L.
(,9 V p/j' a '7'}
Pereivean Antiquaties (trans. from original Spanish)

-v

Putnam a 00., Lew York, 1855.

Herschel, Clemens

O

Frontinus a Hater Supply of Home, Boston, 1899.

Lanciani

Ancient Rome in the Li5ht of Recent Discoveries.

hou

Pompeii, Its Life and Art.

I-Iayef', A. L.

Old Spain.

Kiddleton, J. H.

Remains of Ancient Rome, Vol. II, London, 1892.

Kosso, Angelo

(\_‘_ y' ~‘ ":2
Palaces of Coeti, New York, 1907.

P 6 171219, 1:4? g I: o F .

History of Egypt.

Petrie, w. x. r.

P

Researches in Sinai, how York, 1900.

Pliny's

Natural History, London, 1655.

Ricaut, Sir Paul
Garcellasso's Royal Commentaries of Peru ttrans.)

London, 1688.

Shadwell

Architectural History of Rome.

Turneaure

Public Water Supplies.

Van Deman

Building of the Roman Aqueducts. 1954.

Vitruvius
odr‘t-i“
DeArchitectina (trans.) New York, 1954.

The History of Heroditus.

, Roofing only

0.....1 ”.11- 7 ‘

 

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