Sanitation in Ancient Rome
Encyclopedia
Sanitation
in ancient Rome
was a complex system similar in many ways to modern sanitation systems. During the Dark Ages, the technical knowledge of the system was lost and has subsequently been investigated by modern-era historians and archeologists.
A system of eleven aqueducts provided the inhabitants of Rome
with water of varying quality, the best being reserved for potable supplies. Poorer-quality water was used in the public baths and in the latrine
s, which were an early form of toilet
. Latrine systems have been found in many places, such as Housesteads
, a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall
, in Pompeii
, Herculaneum
, and elsewhere that flushed waste away with a stream of water. Romans used sea sponges on sticks after defecation
.
The Romans had a complex system of sewers
covered by stones, much like modern sewers. Waste flushed from the latrines flowed through a central channel into the main sewage system and thence into a nearby river or stream. However, it was not uncommon for Romans to throw waste out of windows into the streets, at least according to Roman satirists. Despite this, Roman waste management
is admired for its innovation.
HII estimate that the first sewers of ancient Rome were built between 800 and 735 BC. Drainage systems evolved slowly, and began primarily as a means to drain marshes and storm runoff. The sewers were mainly for the removal of surface drainage and underground water (Farnsworth, p 942). The sewage system as a whole did not really take off until the arrival of the Cloaca Maxima
, an open channel that was later covered, and one of the best-known sanitation artifacts of the ancient world. Most sources believe it was built during the reign of the three Etruscan
kings in the sixth century BC. This "greatest sewer" of Rome was originally built to drain the low-lying land around the Forum
. It is not known how effective the sewers were, especially in removing excrement. (Gowers, p 27).
From very early times the Romans, in imitation of the Etruscans, built underground channels to drain rainwater that might otherwise wash away precious top-soil, used ditches to drain swamps (such as the Pontine marshes), and dug subterranean channels to drain marshy areas. Over time, the Romans expanded the network of sewers that ran through the city and linked most of them, including some drains, to the Cloaca Maxima, which emptied into the Tiber River. In 33 BC, under the emperor Augustus, the Cloaca Maxima was enclosed, creating a large tunnel. The Cloaca Maxima, it is presumed, built in the fourth century BC and reconstructed under Augustus
), still drains the Forum Romanum and surrounding hills. Strabo
, a Greek author who lived from about 60 BC to AD 24, admired the ingenuity of the Romans in his Geographica
, writing:
A law was eventually passed to protect innocent bystanders from assault by wastes thrown into the street. The violator was forced to pay damages to whomever his waste hit, if that person sustained an injury. This law was enforced only in the daytime, it is presumed because one then lacked the excuse of darkness for injuring another by careless waste disposal.
Around AD 100, direct connections of homes to sewers began, and the Romans completed most of the sewer system infrastructure. Sewers were laid throughout the city, serving public and some private latrines, and also served as dumping grounds for homes not directly connected to a sewer. It was mostly the wealthy whose homes were connected to the sewers, through outlets that ran under an extension of the latrine.
According to Lord Amulree, the site where Julius Caesar
was assassinated, the Hall of Curia in the Theatre of Pompey, was turned into a public latrine because of the dishonor it had witnessed. The sewer system, like a little stream or river, ran beneath it, carrying the wastes away to the Cloaca Maxima.
The Romans recycled public bath waste water by using it as part of the flow that flushed the latrines. Terra cotta
piping was used in the plumbing that carried waste water from homes. The Romans were the first to seal pipes in concrete to resist the high water pressures developed in siphons and elsewhere. Beginning around the 5th century BC, city officials called aediles supervised the sanitary systems. They were responsible for the efficiency of the drainage and sewage systems, the cleansing and paving of the streets, prevention of foul smells, and general oversight of brothels, taverns, baths, and other water supplies.
In the first century AD, the Roman sewage system was very efficient. In his Natural History, Pliny
remarked that of all the things Romans had accomplished, the sewers were "the most noteworthy things of all".
The aqueducts provided the large volumes of water that—after serving drinking, bathing, and other needs—flushed through the sewers. A system of eleven aqueducts supplied the city with water from as far away as the river Anio. Anio Novus
and Aqua Claudia
were two of the biggest systems. The distribution system was carefully designed so that all waste water drained into the Cloaca Maxima
.
The management and maintenance involved in keeping the aqueducts flowing is well described by Frontinus, a general appointed by the emperor Nerva
as water commissioner toward the end of the first century AD. He described his work on the distribution system in De aquaeductu
published at the end of the first century AD. When first appointed, he surveyed and mapped the entire system, and strove to investigate the many abuses of the water supply, such as the act of tapping into pipes illegally. He also systematized aqueduct maintenance with gangs of specially trained workmen. He also tried to separate the supply, so that the best-quality water went to drinking and cooking, while second-quality water flowed to the fountains, baths, and, finally, sewers.
The system in Rome was copied in all provincial towns and cities of the Roman Empire
, and even down to villa
s that could afford the plumbing. Roman citizens came to expect high standards of hygiene, and the army was also well provided with latrines and bath houses, or thermae
. Aqueducts were used everywhere in the empire not just to supply drinking water for private houses but to supply other needs such as irrigation
, public fountain
s, and thermae
. Indeed, many of the provincial aqueducts survive in working order to the present day, although modernized and updated. Of the eleven ancient aqueducts serving Rome, eight of them entered Rome close to each other on the Esquiline Hill (Aicher, pg 34). Also, the first aqueduct was the Aqua Appia built in 312 BC by the censor Appius (Aicher, pg 34). Other aqueducts of importance to Roman sanitation was the Aqua Marcia built between 144-140 BC, which provided large amounts of quality water to Rome (Aicher, Pg 36). One Aqueduct with some major importance to Rome was Traiana, which tapped from the clear springs of the northern and western slopes above lake Bracciano (Aicher, Pg 36). It is said that the “Romans fully appreciated the importance of plentiful and wholesome supply of water, for domestic purposes to health of the Community (Amulree, pg 244). It was stated by Amulree that for 441 years after the building of Rome, it depended on water from the Tiber for drinking and other domestic purposes, but in 312 BC Appius Claudius Crassus provide Rome with water from the Springs of the Alban hills and brought to consumers by the mean of Aqueducts (Amulree, pg 244). The Amulree notes state that this practice is in line with the teachings of Hippocrates: that stagnant water should be refused, not the spring water from the hills or rain water (Amulree, pg 244).
rubbish was often left to collect in alleys between buildings in the poorer districts of the city. It sometimes became so thick that stepping stones were needed.
"Unfortunately its functions did not include house-to-house garbage collection, and this led to indiscriminate refuse dumping, even to the heedless tossing of trash from windows."
As a consequence, the street level in the city rose, as new buildings were constructed on top of rubble and rubbish.
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
in ancient Rome
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....
was a complex system similar in many ways to modern sanitation systems. During the Dark Ages, the technical knowledge of the system was lost and has subsequently been investigated by modern-era historians and archeologists.
Sewer system
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with water of varying quality, the best being reserved for potable supplies. Poorer-quality water was used in the public baths and in the latrine
Latrine
A latrine is a communal facility containing one or more commonly many toilets which may be simple pit toilets or in the case of the United States Armed Forces any toilet including modern flush toilets...
s, which were an early form of toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
. Latrine systems have been found in many places, such as Housesteads
Housesteads
Vercovicium, now known as Housesteads Roman Fort, was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia. Its ruins are located at Housesteads in the civil parish of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, England, somewhat to the south of Broomlee Lough.-History:In the 2nd century AD,...
, a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
, in Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, Herculaneum
Herculaneum
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
, and elsewhere that flushed waste away with a stream of water. Romans used sea sponges on sticks after defecation
Defecation
Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus. Waves of muscular contraction known as peristalsis in the walls of the colon move fecal matter through the digestive tract towards the rectum...
.
The Romans had a complex system of sewers
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
covered by stones, much like modern sewers. Waste flushed from the latrines flowed through a central channel into the main sewage system and thence into a nearby river or stream. However, it was not uncommon for Romans to throw waste out of windows into the streets, at least according to Roman satirists. Despite this, Roman waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
is admired for its innovation.
HII estimate that the first sewers of ancient Rome were built between 800 and 735 BC. Drainage systems evolved slowly, and began primarily as a means to drain marshes and storm runoff. The sewers were mainly for the removal of surface drainage and underground water (Farnsworth, p 942). The sewage system as a whole did not really take off until the arrival of the Cloaca Maxima
Cloaca Maxima
The Cloaca Maxima is one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste of one of the world's most populous cities, it carried an effluent to the River Tiber, which ran beside the city....
, an open channel that was later covered, and one of the best-known sanitation artifacts of the ancient world. Most sources believe it was built during the reign of the three Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
kings in the sixth century BC. This "greatest sewer" of Rome was originally built to drain the low-lying land around the Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
. It is not known how effective the sewers were, especially in removing excrement. (Gowers, p 27).
From very early times the Romans, in imitation of the Etruscans, built underground channels to drain rainwater that might otherwise wash away precious top-soil, used ditches to drain swamps (such as the Pontine marshes), and dug subterranean channels to drain marshy areas. Over time, the Romans expanded the network of sewers that ran through the city and linked most of them, including some drains, to the Cloaca Maxima, which emptied into the Tiber River. In 33 BC, under the emperor Augustus, the Cloaca Maxima was enclosed, creating a large tunnel. The Cloaca Maxima, it is presumed, built in the fourth century BC and reconstructed under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
), still drains the Forum Romanum and surrounding hills. Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, a Greek author who lived from about 60 BC to AD 24, admired the ingenuity of the Romans in his Geographica
Géographica
Géographica is the French-language magazine of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society , published under the Society's French name, the Société géographique royale du Canada . Introduced in 1997, Géographica is not a stand-alone publication, but is published as an irregular supplement to La...
, writing:
- The sewers, covered with a vault of tightly fitted stones, have room in some places for hay wagons to drive through them. And the quantity of water brought into the city by aqueducts is so great that rivers, as it were, flow through the city and the sewers; almost every house has water tanks, and service pipes, and plentiful streams of water...In short, the ancient Romans gave little thought to the beauty of Rome because they were occupied with other, greater and more necessary matters.
Around AD 100, direct connections of homes to sewers began, and the Romans completed most of the sewer system infrastructure. Sewers were laid throughout the city, serving public and some private latrines, and also served as dumping grounds for homes not directly connected to a sewer. It was mostly the wealthy whose homes were connected to the sewers, through outlets that ran under an extension of the latrine.
Public latrines
In general, the poor used pots that they were supposed to empty into the sewer, or visited public latrines. Public latrines date back to the 2nd century BC. Whether intentionally or not, they became places to socialise. Long bench-like seats with keyhole-shaped openings cut in rows offered little privacy. Some latrines were free, for others small charges were made (Amulree, p 247).According to Lord Amulree, the site where Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
was assassinated, the Hall of Curia in the Theatre of Pompey, was turned into a public latrine because of the dishonor it had witnessed. The sewer system, like a little stream or river, ran beneath it, carrying the wastes away to the Cloaca Maxima.
The Romans recycled public bath waste water by using it as part of the flow that flushed the latrines. Terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
piping was used in the plumbing that carried waste water from homes. The Romans were the first to seal pipes in concrete to resist the high water pressures developed in siphons and elsewhere. Beginning around the 5th century BC, city officials called aediles supervised the sanitary systems. They were responsible for the efficiency of the drainage and sewage systems, the cleansing and paving of the streets, prevention of foul smells, and general oversight of brothels, taverns, baths, and other water supplies.
In the first century AD, the Roman sewage system was very efficient. In his Natural History, Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
remarked that of all the things Romans had accomplished, the sewers were "the most noteworthy things of all".
Aqueducts
The aqueducts provided the large volumes of water that—after serving drinking, bathing, and other needs—flushed through the sewers. A system of eleven aqueducts supplied the city with water from as far away as the river Anio. Anio Novus
Anio Novus
Anio Novus is an aqueduct of Rome. Together with the Aqua Claudia, it was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed in 52 AD by Claudius, who dedicated them both on August 1.-Details:...
and Aqua Claudia
Aqua Claudia
Aqua Claudia was an aqueduct of ancient Rome that, like the Anio Novus, was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed by Emperor Claudius in 52 AD. Its main springs, the Caeruleus and Curtius, were situated 300 paces to the left of the thirty-eighth milestone of the Via Sublacensis...
were two of the biggest systems. The distribution system was carefully designed so that all waste water drained into the Cloaca Maxima
Cloaca Maxima
The Cloaca Maxima is one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste of one of the world's most populous cities, it carried an effluent to the River Tiber, which ran beside the city....
.
The management and maintenance involved in keeping the aqueducts flowing is well described by Frontinus, a general appointed by the emperor Nerva
Nerva
Nerva , was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became Emperor at the age of sixty-five, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65...
as water commissioner toward the end of the first century AD. He described his work on the distribution system in De aquaeductu
De aquaeductu
' is a two-book official report given to the emperor on the state of the aqueducts of Rome, and was written by Julius Sextus Frontinus at the end of the 1st century AD. It is also known as or . It is the earliest official report of an investigation made by a distinguished citizen on Roman...
published at the end of the first century AD. When first appointed, he surveyed and mapped the entire system, and strove to investigate the many abuses of the water supply, such as the act of tapping into pipes illegally. He also systematized aqueduct maintenance with gangs of specially trained workmen. He also tried to separate the supply, so that the best-quality water went to drinking and cooking, while second-quality water flowed to the fountains, baths, and, finally, sewers.
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....
, and even down to villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s that could afford the plumbing. Roman citizens came to expect high standards of hygiene, and the army was also well provided with latrines and bath houses, or thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. Aqueducts were used everywhere in the empire not just to supply drinking water for private houses but to supply other needs such as irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
, public fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s, and thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. Indeed, many of the provincial aqueducts survive in working order to the present day, although modernized and updated. Of the eleven ancient aqueducts serving Rome, eight of them entered Rome close to each other on the Esquiline Hill (Aicher, pg 34). Also, the first aqueduct was the Aqua Appia built in 312 BC by the censor Appius (Aicher, pg 34). Other aqueducts of importance to Roman sanitation was the Aqua Marcia built between 144-140 BC, which provided large amounts of quality water to Rome (Aicher, Pg 36). One Aqueduct with some major importance to Rome was Traiana, which tapped from the clear springs of the northern and western slopes above lake Bracciano (Aicher, Pg 36). It is said that the “Romans fully appreciated the importance of plentiful and wholesome supply of water, for domestic purposes to health of the Community (Amulree, pg 244). It was stated by Amulree that for 441 years after the building of Rome, it depended on water from the Tiber for drinking and other domestic purposes, but in 312 BC Appius Claudius Crassus provide Rome with water from the Springs of the Alban hills and brought to consumers by the mean of Aqueducts (Amulree, pg 244). The Amulree notes state that this practice is in line with the teachings of Hippocrates: that stagnant water should be refused, not the spring water from the hills or rain water (Amulree, pg 244).
Rubbish
RomanAncient 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....
rubbish was often left to collect in alleys between buildings in the poorer districts of the city. It sometimes became so thick that stepping stones were needed.
"Unfortunately its functions did not include house-to-house garbage collection, and this led to indiscriminate refuse dumping, even to the heedless tossing of trash from windows."
As a consequence, the street level in the city rose, as new buildings were constructed on top of rubble and rubbish.
See also
- Aqueduct (Roman)
- Cloaca MaximaCloaca MaximaThe Cloaca Maxima is one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste of one of the world's most populous cities, it carried an effluent to the River Tiber, which ran beside the city....
- Frontinus
- Roman architectureRoman architectureAncient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
- Roman engineeringRoman engineeringRomans are famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments, although some of their own inventions were improvements on older ideas, concepts and inventions. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology...
- Roman technologyRoman technologyRoman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years....
- History of water supply and sanitationHistory of water supply and sanitationThis article covers the history of water supply, plumbing, sanitation and sewage collection and disposal.-Ancient age:During the Neolithic, man dug the first permanent water wells, from where vessels could be filled and carried by hand. The size of human settlements was largely dependent on nearly...
- Sanitation of the Indus Valley CivilizationSanitation of the Indus Valley CivilizationThe ancient Indus Valley Civilization of Pakistan and modern-day northwest India was prominent in hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices that were the first of their kind....
External links
- The History of Plumbing - Pompeii & Herculaneum
- Waters Of Rome
- http://www.plumbingworld.com/historyroman.html The History of Roman plumbing and sewers
- http://www.sewerhistory.org/chronos/early_roots.htm Ancient Sewage
- Imperial Rome Water Systems
- WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS IN IMPERIAL ROME