Aqua Alsietina

Aqua Alsietina
Construction year	10–2 BC Chr.
length	33 km
Headwaters	Lago di Martignano Sabatine Mountains
Height of the source above sea level	209 m
Height in Rome	17 m
Cross section in the lower reaches (W × H in m)	1.8 x 2.6

The Aqua Alsietina , also Aqua Augusta was an ancient Roman aqueduct ( aqueduct ) to supply the city of Rome .

history

It was founded under Emperor Augustus in 2 BC. Built in BC. The water from Lacus Alsietinus , a crater lake, was of no drinking water quality. It was mainly used by Emperor Augustus to flood the also 2 BC. At the Gianicolo built in BC Naumachia was used, an arena in which sea battles with real ships could be represented. The excess water could be used to irrigate the gardens outside the city. If the normal water supply from the other aqueducts across the Tiber bridges was not possible during urgent repair work in emergencies, the Aqua Alsietina was also used to supply the public wells. The situation only improved with the establishment of the Aqua Traiana , a drinking water pipeline built under Emperor Trajan in AD 109, which directly opened up Transtiberim, the district of Rome on the right bank of the Tiber.

Water flow

The water supply was ensured via the Lacus Alsietinus (now Lago di Martignano ), a small lake in ancient Etruria , right next to the Lago di Bracciano north-northwest of Rome. The aqueduct reached into what is now the Roman district of Trastevere (from Latin trans Tiberim = beyond the Tiber) and ran over the hill Ianiculum (today Monte Gianicolo). The Aqua Alsietina ran mostly underground and only over a length of 500 meters on an arched structure. Their total length was almost 33 km, their flow rate almost 16,000 cubic meters per day.

literature

Samuel Ball Platner , Thomas Ashby : A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, London 1929, pp. 20-21, ( digitized ).
Filippo Coarelli : Rome. An archaeological guide. von Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2685-8 , pp. 39, 338.
Lawrence Richardson : A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1992, ISBN 0-8018-4300-6 , p. 15 (Aqua Alsietina).

Web links

Pictures, course and exploration of the Aquae Alsietina (English)

Individual evidence

^ Sextus Iulius Frontinus , De aquis 4; z. B. also in the inscription CIL 6, 31566 , or English translation by RH Rodgers
^ Rabun Taylor: Tiber River bridges and the development of the ancient city of Rome . 2002, pp. 16-17, accessed on December 22, 2017.
^ Sextus Iulius Frontinus , De aquis 11

[1] Sextus Iulius Frontinus , De aquis 4; z. B. also in the inscription CIL 6, 31566 , or English translation by RH Rodgers

[2] Rabun Taylor: Tiber River bridges and the development of the ancient city of Rome . 2002, pp. 16-17, accessed on December 22, 2017.

[3] Sextus Iulius Frontinus , De aquis 11