Roman Aqueducts

• A Roman Aqueduct was a channel used to transport fresh water from spring and rivers to highly populated areas. They required lots of planning and consisted of pipes, tunnels, canals and bridges.
• The aqueduct was a large bridge consisting of round stone arches and was built going through mountains and uneven land the height of arches would vary as the bridge moves along
• The freshwater was sourced from a lake or spring and flowed through a conduit (a tunnel/pipe within a mountain) and then to the channel of the bridge, where the fresh water would be brought long distances to towns and cities
• The freshwater received from the aqueduct was used for drinking, irrigation, and to supply hundreds of public fountains and baths
• The first aqueduct was commissioned in 312 BC by the emperor Caligula and was completed by his successor Claudius, who built it to come across as a man of the people and show he cared for the people of Rome
• The Romans were incredible engineers which gave them the ability to create aqueducts along with many other structures. The invention was described as a marvel and unsurpassed. However, after the Romans it took humans over a thousand years to regain such creativity and skills
• The aqueducts were so spectacular that Dioysus of Halicarnassus described them a as a testament to the greatness of the Roman Empire due to their usefulness and expense
• The building of aqueducts showed that Rome had conquered nature - Rome didn’t go to the water, the water cam to Rome