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Colosseum Water and Sewer System
A number of
aqueducts were built conveying water from distant springs
and streams to Rome. The water in the aqueducts ran gently
through concrete channels. Multi-tiered viaducts were
developed to cross low areas. Water from the aqueducts
passed into large, covered catch-basins in Rome designed to
deposit their sediment.
The water from the catch-basins were distributed through
free-flowing canals, lead and terra-cotta pipes to storage
reservoirs and then through lead pipes, called fistulae, to
the Romans. A waste-water collection system discharged the
waste into the drains or sewer system. The main outlet of
the initial drainage system (Cloaca Maxima) was the Tiber River.
Colosseum - Water and Sewer System
Requirements
The Colosseum held over
50,000 spectators. The Romans came in droves to watch the
death of wild animals, criminals, slaves, Christians and
gladiators - terrible, gory, bloody deaths. The massive
crowds of spectators at the Colosseum needed to drink -
water was a vital requirement in the heat of Rome during the
summer. They also needed access to toilet facilities. The
gruesome ordeals of animals and humans required an adequate
sewer system to dispose of these waste products. The
engineers who designed and built the Colosseum had to take
these requirements into consideration when building this
massive complex. The Colosseum required an ancient
'state of the art' water and sewer, or drainage system
designed by the best Roman Engineers of the era.
Colosseum Water System -
Drinking Fountains
The Colosseum required
drinking fountains to slake the thirst of the Romans,
discouraging wine to be consumed in large quantities.
Evidence has been found of over 100 drinking fountains in
the Colosseum. But how was the water supplied to the
fountains? Clues may be found at the Pula Arena in Croatia.
The Pula Arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to
have four side towers.
The four towers had two cisterns filled with perfumed water
that fed a fountain or could be sprinkled on the spectators.
It is possible that similar towers were erected to supply
water at the Colosseum.
Colosseum - Water Supply
Pipes were installed in the walls during the
construction of the Colosseum carrying water throughout the
complex. Rainwater was collected in the cavea by concentric
ducts and poured into vertical pipes leading to the ground
floor. Because of a double incline of the floor the water
then flowed partly towards the arena and partly towards the
outside where it was drained into a brick conduit (60 cm
wide and 160 cm deep) which surrounds the Colosseum 2 metres
below ground at the bottom of the first step at the base.
The Aqua Claudia aqueduct was used to supply water to the
area of the Colosseum.
Colosseum Water System -
Toilets (Latrines) and Drains
The Colosseum would have
required many toilets, although there is limited information
about this subject! There has, however, been evidence found
of two very large toilets or latrines in the Colosseum. In
the foundations of the Colosseum there are the four
underground tunnels and below them there are four big
drains (1.3 by 3.8 metres). These passages were made during
the building of the foundations. Communal toilets, or
latrines, consisted of a row of holed seats. A flow of water
circulated under the seats. A system of small sewers led
from all parts of the Colosseum to one great circular drain
which surrounded the amphitheatre. At regular intervals
along this drain there were wells that reached 8 metres
deep. This large drain, in turn, connected to the Cloaca
Maxima, the main sewerage system of Rome. A public toilet
near the Theatre of Pompey in Rome, that may have seated as
many as 100. The open water channel in front of the toilets
was used to wash using "cleaning" sponges tied to the end of
a stick.
Public Toilets (Latrines)
in Rome
There are a couple of
interesting anecdotes regarding the public toilets,
latrines, in Ancient Rome. The Emperor Vespacian, who
commissioned the building of the Colosseum, was the first to
introduce pay toilets in the city of Rome to help raise
public revenue. When his son, Titus protested that the
toilets were raising a stink with the plebs, Vespasian held
a coin up to his nose and said, "money doesn't stink."
Romans still refer to public toilets as 'vespasiano'.
Vespasian also had the produce of the city's urinals
collected (urinals consisted of buckets, dolia curta),
stored and taxed before being sold to the guild of fullers.
Fullers were the clothes cleaners of Rome using the ammonia
in urine for its cleaning properties.
Colosseum Water and Sewer System
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