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The Cloaca Maxima ( lat, Cloāca Maxima, lit. ''Greatest Sewer'') was one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Its name derives from
Cloacina Cloacina was a goddess who presided over the Cloaca Maxima ('Greatest Drain'), the main interceptor discharge outfall of the system of sewers in Rome. Name The theonym ''Cloācīna'' is a derivative of the noun ''cloāca'' ('sewer, underground ...
, a
Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...
. Built during either the
Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...
or early Roman Republic, it was constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove waste from the city. It carried
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollut ...
to the River Tiber, which ran beside the city. The sewer started at the
Forum Augustum The Forum of Augustus ( la, Forum Augustum; it, Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus (). It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after ...
and ended at the
Ponte Rotto The Pons Aemilius ( it, Ponte Emilio), today called Ponte Rotto, is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy. Preceded by a wooden version, it was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century BC. It once spanned the Tiber, connecting the Forum Boarium ...
and
Ponte Palatino Ponte Palatino, also known as Ponte Inglese (Italian for ''English Bridge''), is a bridge that links Lungotevere Aventino to Lungotevere Ripa in Rome (Italy), in the Rioni Ripa and Trastevere.. Description The bridge was designed by archite ...
. It began as an open air canal, but it developed into a much larger sewer over the course of time.
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 * Agr ...
renovated and reconstructed much of the sewer. This would not be the only development in the sewers. By the first century CE all eleven Roman aqueducts were connected to the sewer. After the Roman Empire fell the sewer still was used. By the 1800s it became a tourist attraction. Some parts of the sewer are still used today. Whilst still being used it was highly valued as a sacred symbol of
Roman culture The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day Lo ...
, and
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 ...
.


Construction and history

According to tradition, it may have initially been constructed around 600 BC under the orders of the
king of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...
,
Tarquinius Priscus Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conqu ...
.Waters of Rome Journal - 4 - Hopkins.indd
/ref> He ordered
Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan ...
workers and the Plebians to construct the sewers. Before constructing the Cloaca Maxima, Priscus, and his son Tarquinius Superbus, worked to transform the land by the
Roman forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
from a
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
into a solid building ground, thus reclaiming the Velabrum. In order to achieve this, they filled it up with 10-20,000 cubic meters of soil, gravel, and debris. At the beginning of the sewer's life it consisted of open-air channels lined up with bricks centered around a main pipe. At this stage it might have had no roof. However, wooden holes spread throughout the sewer indicate that wooden bridges may have been built over it, which possibly functioned as a roof. Alternatively, the holes could have functioned as a support for the scaffolding needed to construct the sewer. The Cloaca Maxima may also have originally been an open drain, formed from
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
s originating from three of the neighboring hills, that were channeled through the main
Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...
and then on to the Tiber. As building space within the city became more valuable, the drain was gradually built over. By the time of the late Roman Republic this sewer became the city's main
storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, United States, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to Drainage, drain excess rain and ground water ...
.RAUTANEN, SANNA-LEENA, et al.
Sanitation, Water and Health
” ''Environment and History'', vol. 16, no. 2, White Horse Press, 2010, pp. 173–94,
It developed into a system 1,600 meters long. By the time of the Second Century BCE it had a 101 meter long canal that was covered up and expanded into a sewer. Pliny the Elder, writing in the late 1st century, describes the early Cloaca Maxima as "large enough to allow the passage of a wagon loaded with hay." Eventually, the sewer could not continue growing to keep up with the expanding city. Romans would discard waste through other openings rather than the sewers. From 31 BCE to 192 CE manholes could be used to access the sewer, which could be traversed by canal at this point.
Manholes A manhole (utility hole, maintenance hole, or sewer hole) is an opening to a confined space such as a shaft, utility vault, or large vessel. Manholes are often used as an access point for an underground public utility, allowing inspection, ma ...
were decorated with marble reliefs, and canals were made of Roman concrete and flint. The eleven aqueducts which supplied water to Rome by the 1st century AD were finally channeled into the sewers after having supplied many of the public baths such as the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Trajan, as well as the public fountains, imperial palaces and private houses. The continuous supply of running water helped to remove wastes and keep the sewers clear of obstructions. The best waters were reserved for potable drinking supplies, and the second quality waters would be used by the baths, the outfalls of which connected to the sewer network under the streets of the city. The Cloaca Maxima was well maintained throughout the life of the Roman Empire and even today drains rainwater and debris from the center of town, below the ancient Forum, Velabrum, and the Forum Boarium. In more recent times, the remaining passages have been connected to the modern-day sewage system, mainly to cope with problems of backwash from the river. After the fall of the Roman empire the Cloaca Maxima continued to be used. In the 1600s the Cardinal Chamberlain imposed a tax on residents of Rome in order to pay for the upkeep of the sewer.Bianchi, Elisabetta.
Projecting and Building the Cloaca Maxima
” in E. Tamburrino (a cura di), Aquam Ducere II. Proceedings of the second international summer school “Water and the City: Hydraulic systems in the Roman Age” (Feltre, 24th-28th August 2015), Seren del Grappa (BL), 2018, pp. 177-204. (2018): n. pag. Print.
By the time of the 1800s the Cloaca Maxima became popular as a tourist attraction. From 1842 to 1852 sections of the sewer were drained.
Pietro Narducci Pietro is an Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his death * Pietro II C ...
, an Italian engineer was hired by the
city of 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 ...
to survey and restore the parts of the sewer by the Forum and the Torre dei Conti in 1862. In 1890 Otto Ludwig Richter (Archaeologist), Otto Ludwig Richter, a German archaeologist created a map of the sewers. These efforts renewed public interest in sanitation.


Route

The Cloaca Maxima started at the
Forum Augustum The Forum of Augustus ( la, Forum Augustum; it, Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus (). It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after ...
and followed the natural course of the suburbs of ancient Rome, which led between the Quirinal Hill, Qurinal, Viminal Hill, Viminal, and Esquiline Hill, Esquilline Hills. It also passed by the Forum of Nerva, the Arch of Janus, the Forum Boarium, the Basilica Aemilia, and the Roman Forum, Forum Romanum, ending at the Velabrum. The sewer's outfall was by the
Ponte Rotto The Pons Aemilius ( it, Ponte Emilio), today called Ponte Rotto, is the oldest Roman stone bridge in Rome, Italy. Preceded by a wooden version, it was rebuilt in stone in the 2nd century BC. It once spanned the Tiber, connecting the Forum Boarium ...
and
Ponte Palatino Ponte Palatino, also known as Ponte Inglese (Italian for ''English Bridge''), is a bridge that links Lungotevere Aventino to Lungotevere Ripa in Rome (Italy), in the Rioni Ripa and Trastevere.. Description The bridge was designed by archite ...
. Some of this is still visible today. The branches of the main sewer all appear to be 'official' drains that would have served public toilets, bathhouses and other public buildings. Private residences in Rome, even of the rich, would have relied on some sort of cess-pit arrangement for sewage.


Significance and effects

The Cloaca Maxima was large: large enough for "wagons loaded with hay to pass" according to Strabo. It could transport one million pounds of waste, water, and unwanted goods, which were dumped into the streets, swamps, and rivers near Rome. They were all carried out to the Tiber, Tiber River by the sewer. It used gutters to collect rainwater, Landfill, rubbish, and spillage, and Pipe (fluid conveyance), conduits to dispense up to ten cubic meters of water per second. Vault (architecture), Vaults were closed with flat panels or rocks were used in the construction. This sewer used a trench wall to hold back Sediment, sediments. Some of its water was still Pollution, polluted, contaminating water many depended on for irrigation, swimming, bathing, and drinking. The sewer reduced the number of mosquitos, thereby limiting the spread of malaria by draining marshy areas. Animals, including rats, could find their way into the sewer. The Cloaca Maxima was a highly valued feat of Ancient Roman engineering, engineering. It may have even been Sacrosanctity, sacrosanct. Since the Romans viewed the movement of water to be sacred, the ''Cloaca Maxima'' may have had a religious significance. Aside from religious significance the ''Cloaca Maxima'' may have praised due to its age and its demonstration of engineering prowess. Livy describes the sewer as:
Works for which the new splendor of these days has scarcely been able to produce a match.— Titus Livius, Titus Livius, The History of Rome, Book 1
The writer Pliny the Elder describes the ''Cloaca Maxima'' as an engineering marvel due to its ability to withstand floods of filthy waters for centuries. Cassiodorus, a Roman Senate, Roman senator and scholar, praised the sewage system in ''Variae''. The Cloaca Maxima was a symbol of Roman civilization, and its superiority to others. Roman authors were not the only people to praise the Cloaca Maxima. British writer Henry James stated that it gave him: "the deepest and grimmest impression of antiquity I have ever received." The system of Sanitation in ancient Rome, Roman sewers was much imitated throughout the Roman Empire, especially when combined with copious supplies of water from Roman aqueducts. The sewer system in Eboracum—the modern-day English city of York—was especially impressive and part of it still survives.Darvill, Timothy, Stamper, Paul and Timby, Jane (2002).
England: an Oxford archaeological guide to sites from earliest times to AD 1600
'. Oxford University Press. , pp. 162-163.


See also

*Roman aqueduct *Barrel vault *List of Roman aqueducts by date *Sanitation in ancient Rome


Notes


References


External links


Cloaca Maxima: article in Platner's ''Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''Pictures taken from inside the Cloaca MaximaAquae Urbis Romae: The Waters of the City of Rome, Katherine W. Rinne''The Waters of Rome'': "The Cloaca Maxima and the Monumental Manipulation of Water in Archaic Rome" by John N. N. Hopkins
* {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century BC Ancient Roman sewers in Rome Sewerage History of water supply and sanitation Roman Forum Rome R. XII Ripa Rome R. X Campitelli ro:Canalizarea Romei antice#Sistemul Cloaca Maxima