Roman Article Review -- "Rome's Lost Aqueduct"

[Marcus Minucius Audens]

The article is an interesting one about the:

>>>> Raybun Taylor, “Rome’s Lost Aqueduct,” Archaeology Magazine, Archaelogical Institute of America, Boston Univ. (March / April, 2012), P. 34-40.

This article describes the search for one of the city’s greatest engineering achievments the Aqua Traiana (Aqueduct of Trajan in Latin!). The first page shows a wilderness picture of an overgrown large ancient springhouse which may belong to the lost “Carestia” spring, one of the possible sources of the Aqua Traiana.

A team, consisting of filmmakers Ed and Mike O’Neill, and archaeologists Raybun Taylor and Katherine Rinne, were working to find and pinpoint the sources of water for the above aqueduct. One of the clues was a coin that Trajan issued (a bronze sestertius on which his likeness [obverse] celebrates the aqueduct’s completion. The reclining god [reverse] represents the aqueduct, and the arch suggests the grottos at its sources.) Both views of the coin are shown, expanded, in the article.

There is also a map which shows a portion of the aqueducts infastructure and path. The infastructure shown on the map goes about two-thirds of the way around Lake Bracciano which is about 11,000 meters across.

There is a picture of an very long stretch of the Aqua Claudia which was begun by the emperor Caligula in AD 38 and completed by Claudius in AD 52. This aqueduct ruin still stands outside of Rome. The aqueduct was approx. forty + miles long, from its source to the city and provided it with an ample water supply. There is also an added smaller passage about how a Roman Aqueduct works included within the original article.

There are four more smaller pictures with the following explanations. An arch leading to the right-hand chamber at the Sant Flora spring house was walled in, leaving only a small entrance near the crown. The right-hand chamber or spring house connects directly to the conduit of the Aqua Traiana. One corner, where the conduit exits the chamber, is rounded to assist the water flow. Farther downhill, the conduit shows the variety of brickwork, "opus reticulatum", and waterproof cement used by Roman engineers. A 1718 map of the Santa Flora church and its surrounding indicates several remains of the aqueduct’s hydraulic system. A picture of the map is shown as well.

Three more pictures on the last page shows the few remains of a collapsed bridge of the Aqua Traiana in the ravine called the “Fosso della Calandrina.” A hybrid sector of the Aqua Traiana has a 17th-century vault and ancient Roman floor and walls. A channel atop a bridge has fallen into a creek, revealing its "opus signinum" interior.

Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens