HOW THE ROMANS USE THEIR WATER |
Water was provided for a variety of uses including fountains (which served as sources for culinary water) and latrines, and for more exotic activities such as public baths and sham naval battles. With few exceptions, the water from the aqueducts reached only the ground floor of apartment buildings. The tenants of the upper floors had to rely on slaves to carry water or go themselves and draw water from the nearest fountain. Because fire was a constant concern, Romans were encouraged to keep water stored in their rooms.
It is not difficult to imagine the problem sixth-floor residents, with no running water, had in dealing with fire and public sanitation. Residents of apartment buildings lived with a constant fear of fire for what disheartens worse than the exhausting dangers of this town, the dread of flashfire’s ruin or falling houses or poets spouting their dull, awful verses.
Many must also have lived in a constant state of squalor. In fact, fire probably served an important public sanitation function. We know that Rome was struck by massive fires on several occasions. Most notable was the fire during the reign of the Emperor Nero which destroyed large sections of Rome because the city had no effective means of stopping the spread of the fire.
Besides private connections and fountains, the aqueducts supplied water to latrines. Many of Rome’s were sumptuous. All around the circular or rectangular structure, water flowed continuously in small channels. One of the more elaborate establishments had 20 seats made of marble and each seat was framed by sculptured brackets in the form of dolphins. Occasionally the latrine was cheered by the sounds and sights of a fountain. Latrines were heated; nothing is colder than marble. Two common forms of entertainment--baths and sham naval battles required large quantities of water. During the Roman Empire, baths became more and more elaborate, providing not only bathing facilities, but games, lectures, musical performances, prostitutes, calisthenics, and places to lounge warm, and cold water pools. The water in the pools was changed several times each day. The air and water were heated by a number of underground furnaces.
These furnaces were like bakers’ ovens. Water of two different temperatures--hot and warm--circulated automatically by thermo-siphon.Another popular form of entertainment was the sham naval battle on articial lakes (naumachia). These not-sosham battles were the most elaborate of all spectacles offered at Roman celebrations.
The contestants butchered one another until one side or the other was eliminated; the victors, if they fought bravely, were occasionally given their freedom. The Emperor Domitian had the arena of the Coliseum flooded and reproduced an historic naval battle. Special piping was installed under the floor for flooding. The arena, however, proved to be too small. Roman historians report that Domitian staged sham naval battles with almost regular fleets, having dug an artificial lake near the Tiber River and surrounded it with seats. His enthusiasm was so great he continued to watch contests amid heavy rains. Generally the aqueduct with poorest quality water was used to fill the naumachia.
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