Cloaca Maxima

Construction and history

According to tradition, it may have initially been constructed around 600 BC under the orders of the king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus. He ordered Etruscan workers and the plebeians to construct the drainage. Before constructing the Cloaca Maxima, Priscus, and his son Tarquinius Superbus, worked to transform the land by the Roman forum from a swamp into a solid building ground, thus reclaiming the Velabrum. In order to achieve this, they filled it up with 10-20,000 cubic meters of soil, gravel, and debris.

At the beginning of the drainage's life it consisted of open-air channels lined up with bricks centered around a main pipe. At this stage it might have had no roof. However, wooden holes spread throughout the sewer indicate that wooden bridges may have been built over it, which possibly functioned as a roof. Alternatively, the holes could have functioned as a support for the scaffolding needed to construct the drainage. The Cloaca Maxima may also have originally been an open drain, formed from streams originating from three of the neighboring hills, that were channeled through the main Forum and then on to the Tiber. As building space within the city became more valuable, the drain was gradually built over.

By the time of the late Roman Republic this drainage became the city's main storm drain. It developed into a system 1,600 meters long. By the second century BC, it had a 101 meter long canal which was covered up and expanded into also function as the main urban sewer system. Pliny the Elder, writing in the late 1st century, describes the early Cloaca Maxima as "large enough to allow the passage of a wagon loaded with hay." Eventually, the drainage could not continue growing to keep up with the expanding city. Romans would discard waste through other openings rather than the sewers. From 31 BC to 192 AD manholes could be used to access the drainage, which could be traversed by canal at this point. Manholes were decorated with marble reliefs, and canals were made of Roman concrete and flint. …

Route

The Cloaca Maxima started at the Forum Augustum and followed the natural course of the suburbs of ancient Rome, which led between the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquilline Hills. It also passed by the Forum of Nerva, the Arch of Janus, the Forum Boarium, the Basilica Aemilia, and the Forum Romanum, ending at the Velabrum. The drainage's outfall was by the Ponte Rotto and Ponte Palatino. Some of this is still visible today. The branches of the main drainage all appear to be 'official' drains that would have served public toilets, bathhouses and other public buildings.

Significance and effects

The Cloaca Maxima was large enough for "wagons loaded with hay to pass" according to Strabo. It could transport one million pounds of water, unwanted goods and waste, which were dumped into the streets, swamps, and rivers near Rome. They were all carried out to the Tiber River by this drain. It used gutters to collect rainwater, rubbish, and spillage, and conduits to dispense up to ten cubic meters of water per second. Vaults were closed with flat panels or rocks were used in the construction. This drainage used a trench wall to hold back sediments.

Some of its water was still polluted, contaminating water many depended on for irrigation, swimming, bathing, and drinking. The drainage reduced the number of mosquitos, thereby limiting the spread of malaria by draining marshy areas. Animals, including rats, could find their way into the drainage.

The Cloaca Maxima was a highly valued feat of engineering. It may have even been sacrosanct. Since the Romans viewed the movement of water to be sacred, the Cloaca Maxima may have had a religious significance. Aside from religious significance, the Cloaca Maxima may have been praised due to its age and its demonstration of engineering prowess. Livy describes the sewer as:Works for which the new splendor of these days has scarcely been able to produce a match.— Titus Livius, Titus Livius, The History of Rome, Book 1The writer Pliny the Elder describes the Cloaca Maxima as an engineering marvel due to its ability to withstand floods of filthy waters for centuries. Cassiodorus, a Roman senator and scholar, praised the sewage system in Variae. The Cloaca Maxima was a symbol of Roman civilization, and its superiority to others. Roman authors were not the only people to praise the Cloaca Maxima. British writer Henry James stated that it gave him: "the deepest and grimmest impression of antiquity I have ever received."

Venus, goddess of love, was the protector of the Cloaca Maxima. There was a small sanctuary dedicated to Venus Cloacina (Venus of the Drain) in the Forum Romanum.

The system of drainage and Roman sewers was much imitated throughout the Roman Empire, especially when combined with copious supplies of water from Roman aqueducts. The sewer system in Eboracum—the modern-day English city of York—was especially impressive and part of it still survives.