Roman Aqueducts
This Rome information blog article is written for the guests of the Hostel Chaplin Bed and Breakfast in Rome.
Rome’s “long-noses”
Everywhere you go in Rome you will see water fountains in the streets. The water from these “long-noses” as the Romans call them is perfectly drinkable and even in mid-summer, when the temperatures are very high, so fresh that it would seem to come straight from the fridge.
The acqueducts
What most visitors to Rome are not aware of is that this is thanks to the aqueduct system invented by the Romans more than 2000 years ago.
The ancient Roman canalization system (260 miles, except for 35 of these, mostly subterranean) was built and maintained by a legion of workers (a legion, during emperor Augustus’ reignin the 1st century B.C., consisting of more than 5000 men), under the supervision of the curator aquarum.
The aqueducts were ingeniously built, with possible repairs already in mind, by installing ways of access (with marble covers) at always the same distances from each other.
Rome’s oldest acqueduct
The oldest aqueduct is the Acqua Appia and dates from 312 BC. It is 16 kilometers long, nothing compared to the Acqua Claudia, which, with its 68 kilometers, is the longest acqueduct. Like most of the acqueducts, it passes by Porta Maggiore.