Roman lead pipe inscription
Encyclopedia
A Roman lead pipe inscription is a Latin
inscription on a Roman
water pipe
made of lead
which provides brief information on its manufacturer and owner, often the reigning emperor himself as the supreme authority. The identification marks were created by full text stamps
, the hypothesized use of movable type
s could not have been substantiated.
Lead, a plentiful by-product of the ancient silver
smelting process, was produced in the Roman Empire
with an estimated peak production of 80,000 metric tons per year – a truly industrial scale. The metal was used along with other materials in the vast water supply network of the Romans
for the manufacture of water pipes, particularly for urban plumbing
.
The method of manufacturing the lead pipes is recorded by Vitruvius
and Frontinus. The lead was poured into sheets of a uniform 3m length, which were bent to form a cylinder and soldered at the seam. The lead pipes could range in size from approximately 1.3 cm (0.511811023622047 in) up to 57 cm (22 in) diameter depending on the required rate of flow.
. A recent investigation by the typesetter and linguist Herbert Brekle, however, concludes that all material evidence points to the use of common text stamps. Brekle describes the manufacturing method as follows:
Brekle lists the following reasons for the employment of stamps and against that of movable type: for printing on lead sheets the way the Romans created them, it would be much more practical to use single stamp blocks than sets of individual letters, since the latter would be unstable and would have required a clamp or some similar mechanism to maintain the necessary cohesion. Neither impressions of such clamps nor of the fine lines between the individual letters typical for the use of movable type are discernible in the inscriptions. By contrast, the outer rim of one examined stamp block left a raised rectangular edge running around the inscription text, thus providing positive evidence for the use of such a printing device.
In addition, evidence of the poor positioning of movable type, such as individual letters tilting to the right or left or deviating from the baseline – something which could have been expected to occur at least in a few extant specimens – is notably absent. In those inscriptions where the letters are not properly aligned, the entire text is blurred, which clearly points to the use of full text stamps. Finally, it needs to be considered that archaeological excavations have never unearthed ancient sets of movable type, whereas moulds with reversed inscription texts for stamp printing have indeed been recovered.
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription on a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
water pipe
Water pipe
Water pipes are pipes or tubes, frequently made of polyvinyl chloride , ductile iron, steel, cast iron, polypropylene, polyethylene, or copper, that carry pressurized and treated fresh water to buildings , as well as inside the building.-History:For many centuries, lead was the favoured material...
made of lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
which provides brief information on its manufacturer and owner, often the reigning emperor himself as the supreme authority. The identification marks were created by full text stamps
Stamp
A stamp is a distinctive mark or impression made upon an object, a device used to make it, or a distinctive sticker applied to an object. It may also include other vouchers or records with similar purposes...
, the hypothesized use of movable type
Movable type
Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....
s could not have been substantiated.
Manufacture of pipes
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
smelting process, was produced in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
with an estimated peak production of 80,000 metric tons per year – a truly industrial scale. The metal was used along with other materials in the vast water supply network of the Romans
Roman aqueduct
The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to serve any large city in their empire, as well as many small towns and industrial sites. The city of Rome had the largest concentration of aqueducts, with water being supplied by eleven aqueducts constructed over a period of about 500 years...
for the manufacture of water pipes, particularly for urban plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
.
The method of manufacturing the lead pipes is recorded by Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
and Frontinus. The lead was poured into sheets of a uniform 3m length, which were bent to form a cylinder and soldered at the seam. The lead pipes could range in size from approximately 1.3 cm (0.511811023622047 in) up to 57 cm (22 in) diameter depending on the required rate of flow.
Creation of inscriptions
Since the 19th century, the hypothesis has occasionally been put forward that the Roman inscriptions were created by movable type printingPrinting
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
. A recent investigation by the typesetter and linguist Herbert Brekle, however, concludes that all material evidence points to the use of common text stamps. Brekle describes the manufacturing method as follows:
Brekle lists the following reasons for the employment of stamps and against that of movable type: for printing on lead sheets the way the Romans created them, it would be much more practical to use single stamp blocks than sets of individual letters, since the latter would be unstable and would have required a clamp or some similar mechanism to maintain the necessary cohesion. Neither impressions of such clamps nor of the fine lines between the individual letters typical for the use of movable type are discernible in the inscriptions. By contrast, the outer rim of one examined stamp block left a raised rectangular edge running around the inscription text, thus providing positive evidence for the use of such a printing device.
In addition, evidence of the poor positioning of movable type, such as individual letters tilting to the right or left or deviating from the baseline – something which could have been expected to occur at least in a few extant specimens – is notably absent. In those inscriptions where the letters are not properly aligned, the entire text is blurred, which clearly points to the use of full text stamps. Finally, it needs to be considered that archaeological excavations have never unearthed ancient sets of movable type, whereas moulds with reversed inscription texts for stamp printing have indeed been recovered.
Sources
- Lanciani, R.Rodolfo LancianiRodolfo Amedeo Lanciani was an Italian archaeologist, a pioneering student of ancient Roman topography, and among his many excavations was that of the House of the Vestals in the Roman Forum....
: "Topografia di Roma antica. I commentarii di Frontino intorno le acque e gli acquedotti. Silloge epigrafica aquaria", in: Memorie della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Serie III, Volume IV, Classe di Scienze Morali, Rom 1881 (Reprint: Quasar publishing house, 1975), pp. 215–616