Original photo by kavram/ iStock
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a motto that works well for Rome. Because of the incredibly advanced craftsmanship of ancient Rome’s architects, as well as their remarkably long-lasting building materials (more on that below), many of the ancient empire’s most marvelous construction projects can still be seen by millions of tourists today — some 6 million people visit the Colosseum each year alone. However, the most amazing engineering achievement might be Rome’s eye-catching aqueducts, one of which still supplies Rome with water millennia after it was built.
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It's a factAs befits Rome’s millennia-long history of being at the forefront of water engineering, the Italian capital still boasts more fountains than any other city in the world. Although estimates for the number of fountains run as high as 3,000 and beyond, many are no longer in use.
While the Romans didn’t invent the aqueduct — primitive irrigation systems can be found in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian history — Roman architects perfected the idea. In 312 BCE, the famed Roman leader Appius Claudius Caecus erected the first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia, which brought water to the growing population of the Roman Republic. Today, the Acqua Vergine — first built during the reign of Emperor Augustus in 19 BCE as the Aqua Virgo — still supplies Rome with water more than 2,000 years after its construction (though it’s been through several restorations).
The main reason for the aqueduct’s longevity, along with that of many of Rome’s ancient buildings, is its near-miraculous recipe for concrete. An analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that Roman concrete could essentially self-heal due to its lime clasts (small mineral chunks) and a process known as “hot mixing” (mixing in the lime at extremely high temperatures). Today, researchers are studying how the material functioned in the hopes of applying secrets from the “Eternal City” to today’s building materials.
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The famous ______ fountain is one of the end points of the Acqua Vergine aqueduct.
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The famous Trevi fountain is one of the end points of the Acqua Vergine aqueduct.
New York’s Croton Aqueduct, built in 1842, was based on ancient Roman engineering.
The fall of Rome in the fifth century coincided with a decline in sanitary conditions in many of the world’s cities. By the 18th and 19th centuries, disease ran rampant due to poor sanitation and water management. One of the first aqueducts in the U.S. was the Croton Aqueduct, designed by engineer John B. Jervis, which provided fresh water for the growing metropolis of New York City. Although ancient Rome’s last aqueduct had been built some 1,600 years prior, Jervis based his design on these impressive examples of engineering, and the aqueduct similarly used simple gravity to carry water 41 miles from the Croton River to reservoirs in Manhattan. Upon its completion in 1842, the aqueduct drastically improved health and hygiene in New York City and continued providing the booming metropolis with fresh water until it was decommissioned in 1955.
Interesting Facts writers have been seen in Popular Mechanics, Mental Floss, A+E Networks, and more. They’re fascinated by history, science, food, culture, and the world around them.
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