Publications

Our member Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Voigt, together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Wingrich and Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Michael Zajontz, has published a publication entitled “Water Heritage – Historical Wells in Saxony.” It is a comprehensive overview of wells and springs of various types and uses in Saxony.

A total of 225 pages describe a variety of wells and springs in terms of their technical design, use, and (cultural) historical background. The descriptions are often enriched with regional and local history information.

We would like to recommend reading this publication to anyone who has a personal connection to Saxony and is interested in water management.

Our member Dr. Werner Heinz has published a paper on the topic of “Baiae and the Symbolism of Ancient Thermal Bath Architecture.” We recommend reading this paper as a prelude to the Frontinus excursion to southern Baden-Württemberg (“Thermentour”) from September 8–11, 2025.

Thermal baths and baths are among the most numerous and diverse structures left behind by the Romans. They can be found in Rome, in the heartland of Italy, and in the provinces, both in public spaces and in private living areas. Some of the massive imperial thermal baths dominate the cityscape of Rome and other ancient cities to this day. It is worthwhile to examine the symbolic significance of this architectural genre.

The practice of thermal bathing is a characteristic feature of Roman culture, so much so that buildings associated with the thermal baths were an essential element in all cities of the empire, especially in the newly founded ones. Wherever they went, Roman settlers brought with them several elements of their culture, and the practice of bathing was a must.

Many of the Roman provincial cities had abundant mineral or natural springs. For example, in the cities of Aix-en-Provence and Aix-les-Bains in France, Baden-Baden in Germany, and Bath in England. In all cases, these were cities whose place names already indicate the presence of baths. These were fed by natural thermal water or artificially heated water from specially constructed hydraulic infrastructures (large reservoirs or aqueducts).

Roman bathing culture is the further development of bathing practices already known in the Greek world. The first public baths spread in Rome as early as the 3rd century BC.

This paper examines water management in the ancient city of Solunto and the solutions adopted by its inhabitants regarding its hydraulic structures. It fills a gap in our knowledge of the city’s water management, a topic long neglected by modern research.

In terms of historical and geographical context, the Punic city of Solunto was founded on Monte Catalfano in Sicily in the 4th century BC. Archaeological finds show that this city was inhabited until the 3rd century AD, when it experienced a period of decline that culminated in its abandonment.

The personification of local bodies of water (rivers or lakes) and their worship as deities was widespread in the Greek and Roman worlds. Homer (Iliad 21. 195) considers rivers to be gods and reports that Oceanus is the source of all rivers, all springs, and all fountains in the universe. Hesiod (Theogony 337-370) also tells us that all rivers originate from Oceanus and Tethys. Already in Homeric poems, rivers in human form were considered immortal, divine figures, and temples or altars were built to them, some even with their own priests. Hesiod (Erga kai Emerai 737-741) reports that a person who had to cross a river had to offer a sacrifice to the river and wash their hands. In this context, the river gods were often among the deities invoked in various oaths.

Roman engineers were not only outstanding in the construction of impressive structures, such as the monumental aqueducts that supplied the population with fresh drinking water. They also completed these structures in extremely short construction times. Our board member Klaus Grewe has written an interesting article on this topic that we recommend for reading.

How did the »outrageously« short construction times for major Roman projects come about?

The Roman architects set new standards not only with ingenious designs for their time (semicircular arches in bridge construction, dome structures), but also with the development of particularly strong and durable building materials. In particular, construction work was already at a level comparable to today’s standards. For example, in order to reduce construction times in aqueducts, construction was already carried out in sections. This was confirmed by the investigations into the Eifel Aqueduct. For example, between the individual sections, drops and small stilling basins were found (see image) to overcome the resulting slight differences in height in the canal bed, thus confirming such a division into sections.

The article was published in VDVmagazin 6/21.

Surveying plays a crucial role in the construction of water pipes, from ancient aqueducts to modern pipeline systems.

Johannes Fontana of Venice was practicing medicine in Udine when he wrote the extensive treatise “De trigono balistario” in 1440. The innovative ballista triangle combined the functions of several measuring instruments. Depending on its configuration, the instrument was suitable for terrestrial or astronomical measurements. This publication contains instructions for construction and application and is available in the original Latin version and a German translation. Text, translation, and drawings by Horst Kranz

We recommend reading this text, which is both technically and historically very interesting, to all interested persons.

This report provides an integrated, comprehensive academic study of one of the most important archaeological monuments in the Netherlands: the Roman bath complex in Heerlen. This provides us with thorough and detailed knowledge of the building, development, nature, and use of the monumental bath complex, which for centuries was a center of the municipality of Coriovallum, present-day Heerlen.

Coriovallum was built at the intersection of two important Roman roads. The first, known today as the Via Belgica, connected the border region along the Rhine with the hinterland in Gaul; the second ran from Aquae Granni (Aachen) in the south, along the right bank of the Meuse, to the large legionary camp of the Vetera in Xanten in the north. Coriovallum was thus directly connected to the two coloniae that later emerged on the Rhine: Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne) and Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Xanten). It can therefore be assumed that this bathhouse possessed supra-regional importance.

Further information about these studies can be found on the website of the Thermenmuseum Heerlen.

Our board member Prof. Dr. Klaus Grewe has published a very interesting article entitled “Recent Developments in Aqueduct Research” in the Mouseion supplement series of the University of Toronto, which we would like to draw your attention to.

Article by our board member, Dipl. Ing. Gilbert Wiplinger, in “Byzantium – the Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, Part 2,2,” published by the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in 2010.

Lecture by our board member Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Merkel at the symposium 130 Years of Central Water Supply Erfurt, organized by ThüWa Thüringen Wasser GmbH, the BGW/DVGW regional groups East, and the Frontinus Society in Erfurt on June 7, 2006.

Sextus Julius Frontinus was a multi-talented figure in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the beginning of the 2nd century. Karl Christ (1923–2008), one of the leading ancient historians of his time, paints a picture of Frontinus’s personality in a publication. According to his work, Frontinus was not only an extremely gifted administrator, general, and engineer, but also distinguished himself by his great objectivity, vision, modesty, and loyalty. He was thus one of the most important figures in the Roman Empire.

We recommend that you read this publication.

As part of the Frontinus excursion to Dresden from October 8-10, 2006, in cooperation with WIMAD, the Dresden Association for Scientists and Engineering Staff, facilities and finds from the historical water supply of Dresden and the surrounding area were presented and inspected. They are presented below as WIMAD’s “Pages on Dresden’s Water History.”