ROMAN AQUEDUCTS MARVELS OF ENGINEERING-ROME'S URBAN AQUEDUCTS

By the early third century C.E., 11 major aqueducts served the city of Rome.  The first , the Aqua Appia, built 9n 312 B.C.E. and just over ten miles (16 km) long, ran almost entirely underground.  Still preserved in part is the Aqua Claudia, which was some 43 miles (69 km) long with about 6 miles (10 km) of arches, a number of which stood 90 feet (27 m) high! 

How much water did the city's aqueducts carry?  A lot!  The Aqua Marcia, mentioned earlier, daily channeled about 6.7 million cubic feet (190,000 cu m) of water into Rome.  Once the water reached  urban areas-gravity being the driving force-it flowed into distribution tanks and then into branches, which channeled the water to other distribution tanks or to locations for water use.  Some estimate that Rome's water distribution system grew to the point that it could have  daily supplied more than  265 gallons (1,000 L) of water for each inhabitant.

As the Roman Empire grew, "the aqueducts went wherever Rome went," says the book Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply. Travelers in Asia Minor, Spain, and North Africa can still gaze in awe at these ancient marvels of engineering. 

Next time: I Found Hope When I Needed It Most-AS TOLD BY MIKLOS ALEKSZA

From the Awake! magazine, 2014