Water management, hydrotechnics and water architecture of Minturnae

Author: Hubertus Manderscheid

The first volume of the ‘Minturnae’ series, initiated by Henner von Hesberg, addresses a fundamental aspect of ancient life in a small central Italian town from the Republic to Late Antiquity: water management and water architecture. These encompass all aspects, from supply and use to disposal. The interdisciplinary approach of the international team, with its contributions from architectural research, surveying, epigraphy, ancient history, natural sciences, and speleoarchaeology, ensures that the many facets of the topic are not limited to the purely archaeological aspect, but are placed in a broader context.

The water supply was provided by a long-distance pipeline. A distribution structure, from which the various districts received their water, has been preserved on the outskirts of the city. An inner-city distribution system, otherwise only found in the Vesuvius region, is represented by the water tower on the decumanus. Water use affects both public buildings (thermal baths, running fountains, nymphaeums, theaters, amphitheaters, macellum, latrines, etc.) and the private sector of the domus with their various consumers. Water disposal encompasses all aspects, from the drainage of wastewater and rainwater from individual buildings through the street sewers to its discharge into the Liris River.

Minturnae, only about one-sixth of its area excavated, undoubtedly contains further relevant components in the soil. By analogy with the Vesuvius towns and Ostia in particular, conclusions can be drawn about this, for example, regarding additional public baths, nymphaeums, latrines, and domus, including the city district on the other side of the river.

The construction of the pipeline gradually led to a veritable boom in water architecture in Minturnae—as elsewhere—because flowing water made some facilities possible in the first place. These also served to ‘beautify’ the city and were an expression of a long period of prosperity. The water architecture, with its high technical standards, thus contributed not least to a heightened sense of quality of life.