Now the word "cesspool" has some kind of abusive meaning or describes something vile and disgusting. Well, of course, before it did not describe the Gardens of Eden, but it meant quite specific structures.
The "greatest sewage system" in ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world and is still in use today.
When the Romans built the Cloaca of Maximus in the 6th century BC. BC, they were very pleased with themselves for creating such an efficient water drainage system. They were so glad they called it "the greatest sewer." It is one of the oldest monuments in Rome, although it lacks the pomp and glamor of the Colosseum or Pantheon.
Nobody knows the true age of Cloaca Maxima, the scatter is quite significant - from the IIV to the IV centuries BC. One of the most common versions says that it was built during the reign of King Lucius Tarquinius the Ancient, who is considered a historical person. There is also little information about the king himself and they are rather semi-legendary in nature. Historians agree that Lucius Tarquinius sought to strengthen the royal power, relying on both military force and the growing mass of plebeians. It is possible that it was this desire that prompted the king to take up the improvement of the city. Among the innovations was the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, a drainage channel for draining the swampy lowlands between the Palatine and Capitol Hills. It is believed that the construction was carried out by an Etruscan master, or the canal was built according to Etruscan models. In any case, the Etruscans were famous as excellent masons, and the Romans adopted this art from them.
This system was originally used to drain swamps and provide storm water from sections of the city's Central Forum on the banks of the Tiber River.
Much later, around the 3rd century BC. BC, the open drain was hidden and turned into a closed system, and waste from toilets and public baths was directed to the drainage system.
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The walls and roof of the canal, which diverted water from the swampy area to the Tiber, were laid out of gabian stone, two meters long and one meter wide, no cement was used in the construction. The channel was 3 meters wide and more than 4 meters high. The canal is about 800 meters long. The Great Cloaca was originally an open channel, although perhaps not completely. Later, wooden floorings appeared, and even later, stone vaults. It was finally closed under the Emperor Augustus. As the city developed, its sewerage network also developed, the main pivot of which remained Cloaca Maxima. New gutters were built, some of which went directly to the Tiber, and some were adjacent to the Big Cesspool. So, with the development of the city, the sewage system expanded. In 184 BC. censors Marcus Porcius Cato and Lucius Valerius Flaccus order the construction of new cesspools,and at the same time repair the existing ones. The Aventine and some other parts of Rome find their gutters. A very impressive amount of 24 million sesterces was spent on the repair and construction of the sewer network.
Even more serious attention is paid to the sewer network under the emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC - 14), more precisely in those years when Mark Vipsannius Agrippa (63 - 12 BC) was in charge of the improvement of the city and the sewer network. e.). He was involved in the expansion and construction of aqueducts and the expansion and cleaning of sewers. Agrippa did not hesitate to personally go around the entire Cloaca of Maxim by boat, and according to the testimony of his contemporaries, he spent the whole day on this. They also claim that at his own expense he cleaned all the cloaca of the city, sent water from seven water pipelines to them, since initially the slope of Cloaca Maxima was small and as a result of which it was washed poorly. He dug several new gutters on the Champ de Mars, and one of them, four meters long and three meters wide, still serves to drain the most populated part of the city. He is also credited with the complete sealing of Cloaca Maxima.
Despite the fact that about two and a half thousand years have passed since the founding of the Cloaca Maxima, this most famous sewerage system in the world is in fairly good condition, its mouth, forming a semicircular arch in the embankment wall, is about five meters in diameter, and now it is possible see in the historical part of Rome. The Romans believed that Cloaquina, one of the epithets of Venus, meaning "purifier", was the keeper of their sewer structures, which caused the stinging irony of Christians. However, despite all the dissonance of the name and the completely unusual role of this goddess for most of us, she managed to preserve the structure entrusted to her, so significant for the Eternal City. The exit of the Great Cloaca into the Tiber can be seen today next to the Rotto Bridge, as well as at the Palatine Bridge. How to get there:From Termini Station, the fastest way is to take the H bus and after six stops get off at the Ministry of Education.
The Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder, 700 years after the construction of the system, wrote that he was struck by the massive sewage system. He wrote: “Sometimes water from the Tiber flows in the opposite direction and up the sewers. Then powerful floods of waters collide head-on in a confined space, but the system adamantly works without interruption."
Although the Cloaca was in constant use for centuries, the underground structure suffered damage under the Byzantines. Parts of the sewerage system were restored and refurbished during the Renaissance and later partly restored during excavations. In 2012, a powerful robotic archaeologist was sent through the tunnels to check his condition and found that he was in a very fragile condition and in need of careful maintenance, which was started.
Today, a small trickle of water flows down the “greatest sewer” and its spillway operates near the Ponte Rotto bridge. The ancient sewers can also be viewed near the Basilica of Julius in the Roman Forum, where a door leads into the sewers.