The Aqua Tepula is an ancient Roman aqueduct completed in 125 BC by

censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

Gnaeus Servilius Caepio, who had served as consul in 141 BC, and

Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla was a Roman politician. He served as consul in 127 BC and censor at the following lustrum in 125 BC. His first recorded office was that of tribune of the plebs in 137 BC. As a tribune of the plebs, he ...

. The water from the Aqua Tepula was, as implied in the name, lukewarm at 16–17 °C at the springs and perhaps due to the sulphurous content was, as

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 ...

states, originally not fit for human consumption. The original daily flow was very low and barely reached 190 quinariae (about 8000 m³ per day).

Route

Its source was at the volcanic area of the Alban hills on the estate of

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingd ...

, between today's municipalities of

Grottaferrata Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby comm ...

and Marino, a mere 18 km from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Until the Augustan era the aqueduct flowed along an underground route from source to terminus. In 33 BC,

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agri ...

modified the aqueduct concurrently with the construction of the Aqua Julia and added 92 quinariae of water flow from the Julia. The conduit was made to join the newly built one for Julia until it reached the current locality of Capannelle near the Aqua Marcia where there was a ''limaria'' pool (settling basin) and by which time the water had cooled. The water was then split again (for an unexplained reason) into two conduits for the Tepula and the Julia, the Tepula being the highest, superimposed on arches of the Marcia, for the remaining 10 km. They reached the city at ''ad spem veterem'', near

Porta Maggiore The Porta Maggiore ("Larger Gate"), or Porta Prenestina, is one of the eastern gates in the ancient but well-preserved 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome. Through the gate ran two ancient roads: the Via Praenestina and the Via Labicana. The Via ...

. From here on the conduit used the Aurelian Walls and crossed

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) and then, with the via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin, Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius Maxi ...

on an arch which became

Porta Tiburtina Porta Tiburtina or Porta San Lorenzo is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy, through which the Via Tiburtina exits the city. History The gate originally was an arch, built under Augustus, in the point in which three aqueducts (Aqua M ...

. The route passed the

Viminal The Viminal Hill ( ; la, Collis Vīminālis ; it, Viminale ) is the smallest of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast ...

gate, where Termini Station stands today, and ended near the

Porta Collina The Colline Gate ( Latin ''Porta Collina'') was a landmark in ancient Rome, supposed to have been built by Servius Tullius, semi-legendary king of Rome 578–535 BC. The gate stood at the north end of the Servian Wall, and past it were two ...

, where the main distribution '' castellum'' was, near the current Via XX Settembre. It passed through 14 ''castella divisorum'' delivering water to four regions. Later another 163 quinariae of water,Frontinus, de aq. ii. 68 derived from the future

Anio Novus Aqua Anio Novus ( Latin for "New Anio aqueduct") was an ancient Roman aqueduct. Like the Aqua Claudia, it was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed in 52 AD by Claudius, who dedicated them both on August 1. Together with the Aqua Ani ...

aqueduct (built around 50 AD), were added at the ''horti Epaphroditiani'' on the

Esquiline The Esquiline Hill (; la, Collis Esquilinus; it, Esquilino ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' (Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is ...

hill for a final overall total, upon distribution, of 445 (190+92+163) quinariae (18,467 m³, about 200 litres per second), still a scant amount in Roman times.

References

Citations Sources * * Frontinus
''De Aquis''

External links

The Roman Aqueducts
{{Authority control Tepula

Route

See also

References

External links