Acquedotto Vergine: Stewardship of Ancient Water Infrastructure in the Modern Roman Periferia

Summary

The Acquedotto Vergine is the only ancient aqueduct still functioning in Rome. Commissioned under Emperor Augustus, and privately financed by Agrippa as part of a larger urban water infrastructure improvement program, the aqueduct was dedicated on June 9, 19 BCE and supplied water for both public structures and private concessions. Sourced from springs at the Sorgenti di Salone, and engineered as a gravity-fed, 21 km long system, the aqueduct principally consisted of subterranean, arched, brick-lined tunnels excavated into volcanic tufa. Water descended along the aqueduct's conduit at a gradual rate (19–22 cm per km) producing 158,203 m3 daily. Of Rome's aqueducts, the Vergine was unique in that its linear course was punctuated by a series of “bends” so deposits could accumulate. In his treatise, *De Architetura, Vitruvius described constructing a series of vertical shafts from the top of the channel to grade so crews could collect and remove built-up sediment. Shafts were capped at-grade with travertine markers. Two thousand years after its dedication, a multidisciplinary team conducted a cartographic investigation of the aqueduct's surviving markers. This paper presents the results of that collaboration, outlining survey challenges, preservation agency jurisdiction, and opportunities for stewardship and sustainability of this infrastructural heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Water and Sanitation Management in the Mediterranean

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32531

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