Aqua Crabra was a
Roman aqueduct
The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported mining o ...
supplying
villas
Villas may refer to:
Places
* Villas, Florida, United States
* Villas, Illinois, United States
* Villas, New Jersey, United States
* Las Villas, a region of Spain
* Las Villas (Cuba), a former Cuban Province
* The Villas, a housing estate in Stok ...
in the hinterland of the ancient town of
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...
.
The Aqua Crabra is described by
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
in his treatise ''De Lege Agraria'' ("On the Agrarian Law") where we learn it supplied his villa near Tusculum.
The aqueduct is also attested in the text of
Frontinus
Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...
.
The Crabra is sometimes referred to as Aqua Mariana or Aqua Maranna del Maria.
The evidence offered by was interpreted by
Mommsen
Mommsen is a surname, and may refer to one of a family of German historians, see Mommsen family:
* Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903), classical scholar, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
* Hans Mommsen (1930–2015), historian known for arguing ...
to be connected with the Aqua Crabra, even though there is no specific mention of it in the fragmentary text.
Archaeological discoveries announced in December 2014 in conjunction with Rome's
Metro C excavations have been preliminarily linked with the Aqua Crabra. This discovery consists of a large hydraulic reservoir, perhaps the largest known from the ancient city, along with a
water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
and agricultural implements.
["Largest ancient Roman water basin uncovered Massive structure dates back to 3rd century BC" ''ANSA'' 3 December 2014 http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2014/12/03/largest-ancient-roman-water-basin-uncovered_45e03972-aedf-4899-8c3e-ea6b21a180fb.html]
See also
*
List of aqueducts in the Roman Empire
This is a list of aqueducts in the Roman Empire. For a more complete list of known and possible Roman aqueducts and Roman bridges see List of Roman bridges.
Aqueducts in the Roman Empire
See also
* List of aqueducts
Map of Roman Aqueduct ...
*
List of Roman aqueducts by date
This is a list of aqueducts in the city of Rome listed in chronological order of their construction.
Ancient Rome
Modern Rome
* Acqua Vergine Antica
** built in 1453
** source: springs in Salone, east of Rome
** length: ; underground from ...
*
Ancient Roman technology
Roman technology is the collection of antiques, skills, methods, processes, and engineering practices which supported Roman civilization and made possible the expansion of the economy and military of ancient Rome (753 BC – 476 AD).
The Roma ...
*
Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
References
External links
"Metro C, a San Giovanni trovato il più grande bacino idrico della Roma Imperiale" ''La Repubblica'' 3 December 2014
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Roman sites in Lazio
Roman aqueducts in Italy