1. WATER IN ROMAN EMPIRE
Water supply for an ordinary Roman city.

2. AQUEDUCTS
The Romans constructed
numerous aqueducts to
bring water from distant
sources into their cities and
towns, supplying public
baths, latrines, fountains
and private households.
Waste water was removed
by complex sewage
systems and released into
nearby bodies of water,
keeping the towns clean.
Segovia Aqueduct, Spain.

3. Aqueducts moved
water through gravity
alone, being
constructed along a
slight downward
gradient within conduits
of stone, brick or
concrete. Most were
buried beneath the
ground. Where valleys
or lowlands intervened,
the conduit was carried
on bridgework.
Pont du Gard, South France.

4. Aqueduct, Tarragona, Spain

6. AQUA CLAUDIA AQUEDUCT
(ROME)
- It was started by emperor
Caligula and finished by
Claudio.
- Caligula ordered its
construction because the
seven existing aqueducts
were by now inadequate
due to the demand for
water from consumption
and facilities such as the
baths.

7. - It was 69 kilometres
long and delivered
185.000 m3 of water
every day.
- The city of Rome had
640 kilometres of
aqueducts.

10. Aqua Claudia Aqueduct, Rome.

11. CISTERNS
Cisterns were constructed to store the rainwater
or water supplemented by aqueducts.

12. Cisterns were
constructed
underground. The
ceiling is supported by
columns.
Water from the
aqueducts was store
underground to use in
public fountains,
baths, houses, etc.

13. - The cistern was built in
the 6th
century by
emperor Justiniano.
- Historical texts claims
that 7000 slaves were
involved in the
construction.
- It has the capacity to
store 100.000 tons of
water.
Basilica cistern (Constantinople,
Istambul)

15. - The ceiling is supported
by 336 marble columns,
most of them recycled
from the ruins of other
buildings.
- One column is
represented by the head
of a Medusa. Legend
says that the tears are to
honour the houndreds of
slaves died during the
construction.

16. ROMAN BATHS (Thermae).
A public bath was built around three principal rooms:
the caldarium (hot bath), the (warm bath) and the (cold
bath).
The baths often included, aside from the three main
rooms listed above, a , or outdoor gymnasium where
men would engage in various ball games and exercises.
Often wealthy bathers would bring a slave that carried
his master's towels, oils, etc, to the baths and then
watched over them once in the baths, as thieves and
pickpockets were known to frequent the baths.

19. BATH (UNITED KINGDOM)
- This spring water was
treated as a shrine by
the Britons (before the
Romans).
- By the year 60-70 a
temple to the
Goddess Minerva and
the Bath complex
were constructed.

20. ANCIENT ROMAN PUBLIC
TOILETS
- You sat on the long
marble bench with key-
hole shaped cutouts.
There is a small trough in
the floor in front of you
running with clean water.
Depending on the quality
of the facility, a slave may
be ready to offer you a
sea sponge, freshly
cleaned in vinegar,
attached to the end of a
stick.
Ostia Antica, Italy.

21. IMPLUVIUM
• The impluvium is the
sunken part of the
atrium in a Roman
house (domus).
Designed to store the
rainwater coming
through the
compluvium of the
roof, it is usually made
of marble and placed
about 30 cm below
the floor of the atrium.