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34-572: The Anio Vetus was an engineering masterpiece, especially considering its early date and complexity of construction; it was four times as long as the Aqua Appia , its source much higher, its flow was more than twice, and it supplied water to higher elevations of the city. However, the Anio Vetus had muddy and discoloured water and probably did not supply drinking water to the Roman aristocracy. It

68-407: A long loop. Therefore the moderate slope of 1.1 m over 142 m of length (3½ ft over 466 ft) (0.77%) of the first 18 arches was followed by the considerable slope of 4.1 m over 25 m (13 ft over 82 ft) (16.3%) of the last four arches, as it was safer to lose energy in a short waterfall. The central part, a stretch of three double arches, collapsed in 1965 and an adjacent fourth double arch

102-683: A new branch called the ramus Augustae whose source was near the source of the Appia "at the sixth milestone, on the Via Praenestina, on a crossroad, 980 paces to the left, near the Via Collatina". The ramus Augustae ran an independent course of 6,380 paces to the spes setus where it joined the Appia. It is this point that Frontinus refers to as Gemelli (the Twins). By the end of the 1st century BC, part of it seems to have been used as

136-510: A sewer as a recently found section in the Metro C line below Piazza Celimontana contained household waste, particularly food remains. 41°53′22″N 12°30′40″E  /  41.88944°N 12.51111°E  / 41.88944; 12.51111 Opus quadratum Opus quadratum ("squared work") is an ancient Roman construction technique, in which squared blocks of stone of the same height were set in parallel courses, most often without

170-573: Is believed that the Etruscan water channel system, the cuniculi is a form of the qanat and the Romans' contacts with the Etruscans influenced them. After all, the earliest aqueduct at Rome, The Aqua Appia, was itself entirely underground and in engineering if not in purpose of function, can have differed little from an Etruscan cuniculis The conduit was carved out of the bedrock and the walls of

204-423: Is most likely that there were shafts with footholes within the countryside giving access. Regular cleaning up of debris was necessary since, as Frontinus' records indicate, there was no settling tank in the route of the Appia, "Neither Virgo, nor Appia, nor Alsietina has a receiving reservoir or catch-basin". For the most part, the channel was 50–55 centimetres (20–22 in) underground throughout its course which

238-488: Is one of the most majestic aqueduct bridges and is located near the village of San Vittorino. It crosses the Mola stream with a series of 22 arches mostly in two-tier arrangement over a length of 155 m (509 ft) and a height of 24.5 m (80 ft). Earlier routes of the aqueduct passed over two other bridges starting higher upstream which were successively abandoned when they became excessively damaged. Hadrian built

272-479: Is relatively shallow in comparison to the other aqueducts perhaps because the Romans were adapting what they knew about their practice in sewers. Over the years more aqueducts were built with increasing sophistication and the Aqua Appia was neglected for some time. Nevertheless, the Appia was still kept in use, a few renovations were made, and it was expanded by Augustus to allow it to supply more water. In 144 BC

306-719: The Caelian and Aventine Hills and an elevated section. A detailed modern model of ancient Rome shows the aqueduct running along the top of the Servian Wall above the Porta Capena . It dropped only 10 metres (33 ft) over its entire length, making it a remarkable engineering achievement for its day. The Appia ended at the Clivus Publicus at a place called Salinae below the Aventine Hill. The water

340-442: The Appia was kept in use into the era of Augustus Caesar through regular maintenance, renovations and even an expansion. Little of the original material remains today and much of information on the aqueduct comes from Frontinus who was appointed as water commissioner and recorded the technical, and some historical, details of the Appia about four hundred years after its completion. Although there were no formal Roman predecessors for

374-532: The Appia, which provided almost 22% to such buildings. It had 35 castella for distribution in the city. Three major restorations were done along with the Appia aqueduct: in 144 BC by the praetor Quintus Marcius Rex during construction of the Aqua Marcia, by adding a secondary conduit in the Casal Morena area and other improvements; in 33 BC when Agrippa took control of the entire water system of

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408-593: The Aqua Appia, there were plenty of examples in the Greek and Etruscan world. The difference between them is the fact that the Romans favoured masonry conduits rather than the terracotta pipes which were generally used by the Greeks throughout the history of their aqueducts. The Romans could indirectly have been influenced by the Iranian qanat , a tunnel driven into a hillside to tap an aquiferous stratum deep inside it. It

442-452: The Senate ordered Quintus Marcius Rex to repair the leaks that were forming in the channel and to reclaim the water that was being illegally redirected by citizens who had tapped into the aqueduct. Agrippa made minor repairs again in 33 BC. This phase of renovation is thought to be part of the promise made by Augustus to renovate all of the older aqueducts and add to the Appia by building

476-589: The Via Appia and the Aqua Appia. The Appia fed the city of Rome with an estimated 73000 m of water per day. Its source was "on the vast Lucullus estate, between the seventh and eighth milestones, on the Via Praenestina , on a crossroad, 780 paces (1150 m) to the left. It is probable that the source was a group of springs in a stretch of marshland with a single collecting basin or reservoir. It flowed for 16.4 km (10.2 mi) to Rome from

510-503: The assignment) and Flavius Flaccus . Its source is believed to be between Vicovaro and Mandela , 850 m (2,790 ft) upstream of the gorge at the Convent of San Cosimato , near Vicovaro . Like the Aqua Appia, its route was mainly underground, but it emerged at many points to cross river valleys especially after bridges using better technology were later used to shorten its course considerably. It descended from its source along

544-400: The blocks would be placed in one of two rotations. "Stretchers" would be placed so the longer side was on the face of the wall, and "headers" would be placed so the shorter side was on the face of the wall, and would thus extend further back into the wall thickness. Various patterns could be produced by changing how the blocks were placed, and it was common to strengthen the wall by ensuring that

578-432: The bottom of the gorge are two rooms dug out of the tuff bank which were most likely used to house workers during aqueduct construction and completely submerged when the dam was built. [REDACTED] Media related to Aqua Anio Vetus (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons Aqua Appia The Aqua Appia was the first Roman aqueduct , constructed in 312 BC by the co-censors Gaius Plautius Venox and Appius Claudius Caecus ,

612-401: The bridge also to shorten the route by about 1.5 km (0.93 mi). The bridge is made of Roman concrete covered with opus reticulatum with the use of tufa blocks in the abutments and brickwork for the arch. It has a notable asymmetry due to the connection with the original channels at each end which were of widely different levels at this point in the valley as they previously followed

646-604: The bridge derives from the unit of measurement in force in the Papal States (the Taulella = 72 square rods) The bridge crossed the gorge of Caipoli, with two parallel arches, one for the aqueduct and another for the service viaduct. The abutments of the bridge are made of opus quadratum (45 cm [18 in] blocks on each side) reinforced in the Augustan era with opus reticulatum walls. The downstream channel

680-401: The channel were lined with carved tufa stone. Furthermore, the stones were poorly cut and poorly fitted which speaks to the structural integrity of the conduit. The roof was ridged with broad shelves on either side. The earliest archaeological evidence was excavated by Raffaello Fabretti and Rodolfo Lanciani whose records show "It consisted of a considerable stretch of channel cut into the tufa of

714-655: The city; and between 11 and 4 BC by Augustus . With this latter, an underground branch was built, the specus Octavianus , that started from the current Pigneto area and followed the Via Casilina and reached the area where the Baths of Caracalla were later built. Other restorations in the first two centuries AD include the construction of bridges across valleys on the route to shortcut long underground diversions. Remains of several bridges still exist: Ponte Della Mola, Ponte Taulella, and Ponte Pischero. The Ponte della Mola

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748-442: The collapse of the bridge. The northern bridge abutment rested on a large block of travertine , which in turn rested on a tuff bank. The water apparently acted as a lubricant between these structures and, probably in conjunction with a flash flood or earthquake, the travertine block slid downstream, causing the bridge to collapse. The resultant flood then caused the collapse of the dam and the failure of this stretch of aqueduct. At

782-620: The east and emptied into the Forum Boarium near the Porta Trigemina . Nearly all of its length before entering the city was underground, which was necessary because of the relative heights of its source and destination, and which also afforded it protection from attackers during the Samnite Wars that were underway during its construction. After entering the hilly area of Rome, the aqueduct alternated between tunnels through

816-434: The growing city and population which may have suffered a prolonged drought and major sanitary issues which affected their existing water supplies. The Aqua Appia was the first test of Roman engineering of its type and is unsophisticated in comparison to Rome's ten other aqueducts. Raffaelo Fabretti, one of the first to excavate the Appia, characterises it as "The first fruits of Rome's Foresight and greatness". Nevertheless,

850-551: The hill, and lined, possibly at a later time, with walls of rough cut stone". Furthermore, "the channel that was cut into the rock was five and a half feet square with a vaulted roof with a rise of six inches. The walls with which the channel was lined consisted of three courses of cappellaccio (tufa) blocks, 50 to 55 cm high, laid without mortar". Later, a second section was found at the corner of Via di Porta S. Paolo and Via di San Saba which measured 6 feet (1.8 m) in height and 2 feet (0.61 m) in width. The characteristics are

884-489: The same Roman censor who also built the important Via Appia . Gaius Plautius Venox chose the source of the aqueduct thus giving him the nickname Venox (Hunter). However, Appius Claudius had the aqueduct named after him as at the time that the aqueduct was being built the 18 month terms of Plautius and Appius as censors was coming to an end and Plautius resigned in a timely manner. However, Appius kept his position by "various subterfuges" in order to extend his term to finish

918-490: The same as those described by Fabretti in his excavations except for the roof. The roof was ridged by the joining of two slabs of cappellaccio to form a gable. This is a similar construction found in the Anio Vetus aqueduct which could be evidence of renovations made in 144 BC. As with most aqueducts, the conduit was big enough to allow maintenance crews to walk inside to clean out any debris or make any repairs. Also, it

952-512: The size of the blocks, and the way the blocks were put together can all be used to help archaeologists date structures that display the technique. In early usage (often called the " Etruscan way "), the joints between the block introduce discontinuities, making the blocks uneven. Examples of such construction can be found in reservoirs, basements, terrace walls, and temple podiums in Etruscan cities and Rome . Subsequently (the " Greek way "),

986-466: The use of mortar . The Latin author Vitruvius describes the technique. This technique was used by the Romans from about the 6th century BC, and over time the precision and accuracy of the block cutting improved. The technique continued to be used throughout the age of the Roman Empire , even after the introduction of mortar, and was often used in addition to other techniques. The type of stone,

1020-784: The valley to Tivoli , where it left the Anio towards the Alban Hills to near Gallicano , below Palestrina . It crossed under the Via Latina near the seventh milestone and at the fourth milestone turned northwest to enter Rome. It entered the city underground at the Porta Praenestina and terminated inside the Porta Esquilina . Only 5.8% of the Vetus' total flow supplied imperial buildings, an important difference from

1054-413: Was blocked causing the water to fall into the gorge in which a dam held the water to create a settling tank and another conduit then transported the water to a tower via a siphon, and into a new channel (by-passing the dilapidated Inverso bridge). From the resultant lake, water was used for a nearby system (perhaps a nymphaeum or thermal baths). However this created instability over time which slowly led to

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1088-507: Was commissioned in 272 BC and funded by treasures seized after the victory against Pyrrhus of Epirus . The aqueduct took water from the Anio river and acquired the nickname of Vetus ("old") only after the Anio Novus was built almost three centuries later. Two magistrates were appointed by the Senate to instigate the project, the censors Manius Curius Dentatus (who died five days after

1122-456: Was distributed to twenty reservoirs through piping. The aqueduct served the private Baths of Decius and Baths of Licinius Sura on the Aventine. The level of the channel was too low to be able to provide water to the hills. In 2017, a section of the aqueduct was excavated beneath Piazza Celimontana and has been removed for reconstruction elsewhere. Rome's first aqueduct was in response to

1156-486: Was soon demolished because it was unsafe. The bridge allowed the Anio Vetus to cross the Rio Secco gorge and thus avoid several valleys along the route. It was first built in brick, resting on pillars in opus quadratum from the Augustan age, later reinforced with thick opus reticulatum supports which greatly reduced the width of the span. Erosion at the base has now revealed the oldest structures again. The name of

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