Marta López-Gorria
Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Urbanización Montepríncipe, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

Part of the book: Sustainable and Healthy Building Environments

Abstract

The Roman Empire promoted the proliferation and development of the cities as an ideal administration unit, which would generate a concentration of the population. Along with its profits, it introduced important hygienic and environmental issues which they largely tried to correct or, at least, to alleviate. In order to choose the location of a new city, numerous factors were considered. A key one was the existence of high-quality water. The abundant and continuous supply, a basic service of health and hygiene, was identified as a sign of identity of the Romanization expressed in architecture. The collection of water was produced through urban wells that allowed the access to the subterranean aquifers, or cisterns and deposits that gathered the rainwater from large private dwellings as well as from public monumental buildings (as were the porticoed areas of the forums). The rainwater could be used for human consumption or to assist the cleaning of the drain channels, therefore achieving health benefits. However, when the urban growth required a larger hydrological contribution, springs or streams were searched far away from the city to ensure non-polluted water, driven by aqueducts to them. An elaborated distribution system for the water allowed the supply to public fountains, evenly allocated throughout the city, and to public bathrooms and latrines, basic hygienic elements, and even the supply to private individuals who could afford the fees. Finally, a broad sewage system allowed the needed evacuation of the hydric waste. Everything was legally regulated in order to control the quality of the water, to ensure its supply, and the maintenance of the infrastructures and buildings. To achieve all of these, the knowledge of engineering and architecture the Romans possessed was employed, as well as their building techniques, quite often focused on an optimisation of resources and efforts, using native materials. However, on some occasions, they succeeded in developing monumental architecture in the construction of some nymphaea and aqueducts according to the importance given to water in the Roman world. This showed the concern that they had at this time for a certain level of hygiene which, with all its defects, achieved a progress that wouldn’t return until many centuries later.

Keywords: Roman construction, Roman aqueducts, water, Roman constructions, sustainable architecture, sewage system

References

Adam, J. P. (1996). La construcción romana: materiales y técnicas [Roman construction:
materials and techniques]. Editorial de los Oficios.
Álvarez, J. M. (1977). En torno al acueducto de los Milagros de Mérida [Around the
aqueduct of the Miracles of Mérida]. Segovia y la arqueología romana, 49-61.
Ayerbe R. et al. (2009). Arquitectura, configuración y restitución de los recintos
monumentales [Architecture, configuration and restitution of monumental enclo sures]. Anejos de AEspA, LIII, 667-806.
Feijoo, S. (2002). Aspectos sobre las obras publicas romanas de Emerita Augusta [Aspects
on the Roman public works of Emerita Augusta]. I Congreso. Las Obras Públicas
Romanas en Hispania, 11-22.
García, B., Pizarro, G. and Vargas, S. (2010). Evolución del trazado urbanístico de córdoba
en torno al eje Tendillas-Mezquita. Hallazgo de una cisterna romana de abastecimiento
de agua [Evolution of the urban layout of Córdoba around the Tendillas-Mezquita
axis. Finding of a Roman water supply cistern]. Anexo Anales Arqueología
Cordobesa, 2, 103-120.
García, C. (2010). Las cisternas y la elevación del agua del acueducto de Uxama [The
cisterns and the elevation of the water of the Uxama aqueduct]. V Congreso de las
Obras Públicas Romanas, 283-298.
García-Dils, S. (2015). Colonia Augusta Firma Astigi. El urbanismo de la Écija romana y
tardoantigua. Universidad de Sevilla [Colonia Augusta Signature Astigi. The urban
planning of Roman and late ancient Ecija. Sevilla University].
Gómez, M., Sánchez, P. D., Sánchez, N. and Sastre, I. (2010). Las conducciones romanas
de Mérida. Nuevos datos para su conocimiento [The Roman pipes of Mérida. New data
for your knowledge]. Captación, uso y administración del agua en las ciudades de la
Bética y el Occidente romano. 129-145.
Jiménez, J. L., Ruiz, D. and Moreno, M. (1996). Nuevos avances en el conocimiento sobre
el urbanismo de Colonia Patricia Corduba en el sector ocupado por el templo romano
[New advances in the knowledge about the urban planning of Colonia Patricia
Corduba in the sector occupied by the Roman temple]. Anales de Arqueología
Cordobesa, 7, 115-140.
Montoro, M. (2008). El Ninfeo hispanorromano de Valeria. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid [The Hispano-Roman Nymphaeum of Valeria. Doctoral Thesis.
Autonomous University of Madrid].
Riera, S., Curras, A., Palet, J. M, Ejarque, A, Orengo, H., Juliá, R. and Miras, Y. (2009).
“Variabilité climatique, ocupation du sol et paysage en Espagne de l’Âge du fer à
l’époque médiévale: intégration des donnés paléoenvironnementales et de
l’archéologie dy paysage”. [“Climatic variability, land use and landscape in Spain
from the Iron Age to medieval times: integration of paleoenvironmental data and
landscape archeology”]. Société et climats dans l’Empire romain. Pour une
perspective historique et systémique de la gestion des ressources en eau dans l’Empire
romain 251-280.
Ventura, A. (1996). El abastecimiento de agua a la Córdoba romana II. Acueductos, ciclo
de distribución y urbanismo. Universidad de Córdoba [The water supply to Roman
Córdoba II. Aqueducts, distribution cycle and urban planning. University of Cordoba].