Aqueducts: How Ancient Rome Brought Water to Its People

The water supply for up to 1 million residents of ancient Rome relied on the city's 11 aqueducts. And many more across the Roman empire used the technology.

By Eric Betz
Oct 26, 2020 9:10 PMOct 26, 2020 9:12 PM
Roman aquaduct - shutterstock
The Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard carried water through underground tunnels and over bridges like this one to reach the city of Nîmes, now part of modern France. (Credit: ER_09/Shutterstock)

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Ancient Rome was a thirsty place. The city was adorned with lush gardens and dramatic fountains. Its citizens took steaming public baths and enjoyed running water delivered to their homes — and sewage carried away. Rome’s booming industries used vast amounts of water to power machinery and create goods for the city, which had a population of roughly half a million to 1 million people at its peak. 

None of this would have been possible without the 11 Roman aqueducts that supplied water to the capital from the surrounding countryside. The Roman aqueducts were a crowning technological achievement of the ancient world. Rome’s first aqueduct was built in 312 B.C., and many more would be built over the next five centuries.

They didn’t invent the idea of using aqueducts to move millions of gallons of freshwater, though. The Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians and more had all used aqueducts to supply dry, thirsty cities. But the aqueducts of ancient Rome stand out thanks to their grand scale and breathtaking architecture, which often used elevated bridges to pass water across valleys and over urban areas. In fact, some carry water even now, some 2,000 years later. 

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