Rivers Of Civilization
Rivers Of Civilization
The Rise of Empires
The ceremony brought thousands to the new fountain built just blocks from the home of Gaius Fabius Scaeva. The owner of the dye works, where he worked, was there too. Lucius Cornelius was not only his boss, but was also his former commander in the Second Samnite War. He was also his father in-law. A giant of a man, Lucius hoisted up Gaius’s small twins, Marcus and Fabia, one each up on his broad shoulders. The children laughed in unbridled excitement as the brawny arms of their grandfather lifted them from the ground, as if birds to the sky. So did the wife of Gaius, who looked on at the spectacle. Cornelia was about to say something to her children, when horns blew and a crier admonished to crowd to silence.
Priests began the ceremony, sacrificing a white lamb to the god of waters and springs, Fontus, in thanks for the clean spring water, and prayed for blessings to keep the waters pure and abundant. As the priests closed their ceremony, the crowds shouted their approval and gave thanks themselves. When it was time for the magistrate to speak, horns sounded once again, and the crowd grew quiet. Appius Claudius, magistrate responsible for the first aqueduct to Rome, stood before the fountain, Lacus Appius, named in his honour.
“Citizens of Rome, today we witness a marvel of our own making. To our great city, this water has come great distances. From springs so far no man can see, even from our greaty city walls,the waters have been tamed and guided here. Bear witness the creations made possible through Roman will! We give thanks again to Fontus, keeper of springs, and Jaturna, for health. May this flow never fail and may it nourish our children, and the children of Romans yet to be born! May it quench our thirst, cleanse our streets and confirm to us that Rome grows strong when we labour together. Now…let the gates be opened!”
With that, horns blew again. Outside the city walls, a soldier commanded a group of Thracian slaves to move a heavy wooden beam, connected to a sluice gate underground. Water flowed though stone passages under the great city and spread to other fountains, and other ceremonies around Rome.
The crowd was silent. Moments later, from his place at the front of the crowd, Gaius Fabius heard a surging gurgle of water, then the fountain came to life, filling its basin with cold, clear, fresh water. Amidst the thunderous roar and applause from the crowd, he looked at Cornelia and smiled. He did not know exactly how, or even why, but his heart told him that life just got better.
The scene described above actually took place, and although the family is fictional, the magistrate in charge of the public works of Rome at that time was a real person. Appius Claudius Caecus knew that the city could not grow without plentiful and reliable clean water. He oversaw the construction of the first major public works project of the Roman Republic, with the finished aqueduct being commissioned in 312BCE. From its source at a hillside spring, the Aqua Appia as it was known, ran 16 km before entering Rome itself.
The aqueducts saved the Romans of the day from having to haul water in pails long distances from wells and cisterns, which, before the aqueduct s, were susceptible to human or agricultural contamination, tampering by enemies of Rome, or simply running dry. The aqueduct s allowed for the construction of scaled up industry such as mills, dyehouses and tanneries. They allowed for a healthier populace as well, due to the cleaner water and better hygiene. Bath houses were built, which became hubs for leisure and social life. The aqueduct s also tied into the first major sewer system of Rome, the Cloaca Maxima, which took waste away from the great city, draining it into the Tiber River.
Over the course of the next five hundred years, Rome transitioned from a city state of a hundred thousand people, to a bustling, vibrant metropolis bursting with a million Romans, soldiers and slaves. By the second century AD, a total of 11 major aqueducts fed the city, providing over a million litres of water each day. As the Roman empire expanded through conquest, aqueducts followed, some of which can still be seen today throughout Europe.
Similar stories, in different forms took place with the ascent of many other civiliazation. The Eqyptians, Mesopotamian and Persian empires all used sophisticated engineering works of canals to bring waters for irrigation and use by the citizens of their respective empires. Some of these works ran for hundreds of kilometers , stunning achievements today, let alone two millennia ago.
The use of water at such grand scale commands respect, and is testimony to the ingenuity of mankind.
Resources
1.) Appius Claudius Caecus | Roman Statesman, Aqua Appia & Appian
2.) Aqua Appia
