Ancient Roman Sanitation Systems

The Roman water supply system is considered one of the most brilliant engineering feats of ancient history. Aqueducts were built throughout the Roman-controlled territories, and their construction became a symbol of the Roman Empire’s expansion. While aqueducts primarily served as escape routes or for military purposes, they also provided for other needs, such as supplying water to households, irrigating gardens, powering water features, turning mill wheels, and creating decorative fountains.

The construction of Roman aqueducts began with finding a water source. Groundwater from all directions was collected in arched reservoirs. The aqueducts connected to these reservoirs, and air entered above the water’s surface, allowing the stored water to flow out naturally through open concrete channels. During transport, the Romans built sturdy elevated aqueducts, siphons, and tunnels to bypass deep valleys and cliffs. Finally, the water from the aqueducts was purified in concrete cisterns before flowing into distribution basins. These basins had many divisions to separate the water. The distribution system’s main purpose was to divert water from the source or aqueducts to end-users. The Roman distribution system channeled water from its source to various parts of the city. Water was supplied in quantities that exceeded actual needs, first to maintain water pressure and second to flush the streets. Most of the aqueducts were constructed from stone and sand.

The Romans were often proud of their grand water supply systems, but perhaps most importantly, these structures taught them to use hydraulic principles to build sewage systems and centralized waste treatment. As new cities expanded, the Roman sewage systems were extended year by year. The vast amounts of clean drinking water and street runoff in ancient Rome were all processed through channels and eventually discharged into the Tiber River. Additionally, the Romans carefully designed their street drainage systems. They installed curbs and gutters along their extensive network of roads to guide surface water into stone-lined, open drains. A slight slope in the roadbeds was enough to channel the water into these ditches.

The earliest legal texts concerning public health governance can be traced back to ancient Rome. The Romans established a comprehensive legal system for their time, which included numerous laws on public health and environmental intervention. These laws helped to improve public health standards in practice and were later inherited and developed in modern European public health legislation. At the time, public health conditions in Rome were poor, with severe air and water pollution. The main sources of pollution included garbage and household wastewater, human waste, factory emissions, and dead bodies. To address these serious public health problems, a large body of public health laws was created. Ancient Rome established specialized sanitation officials, built an elaborate water system with numerous public baths, and enacted corresponding legislation. Furthermore, laws were created to regulate factory waste disposal and funerary hygiene. The highly developed water system was one of Rome’s most important public facilities and made a significant contribution to the city’s healthy and orderly development. There were also specific laws regarding factory waste.

Due to the characteristics of these Roman public health laws, Rome’s public health infrastructure achieved remarkable results. The city was supplied with water by a complete system of 14 aqueducts, providing every Roman citizen with several times more water than required by modern hygiene standards. These public health laws served as a model for all modern measures in the field of sanitation. In the realm of public health, ancient Rome evolved from a mere heir of ancient Greece into a great pioneer.