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The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome
Eleven aqueducts supplied the city of Rome, built over more than five centuries. Lengths follow Frontinus, the water commissioner who described the system around AD 100.
Quiz yourself on these in RomeDrill →| Aqueduct | Built | Builder | Length | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqua Appia | 312 BC | Appius Claudius Caecus | 16.4 km | Springs beside the Via Praenestina, between the 7th and 8th milestones east of Rome | The first of Rome's aqueducts (312 BC), c. 16 km long and almost entirely underground; it entered the city near the Porta Capena and ended by the Porta Trigemina in the Forum Boarium. The censor Appius Claudius Caecus took the credit; his colleague Gaius Plautius Venox found the springs. |
| Anio Vetus | 272 BC | Manius Curius Dentatus | 63.6 km | River Anio above Tibur (Tivoli) | Second aqueduct of Rome, begun by the censor Manius Curius Dentatus in 272 BC and finished in 269 BC, c. 64 km long and almost entirely underground. It took river water from the Anio, often turbid, so under the Empire it was used mainly for gardens and industry. 'Vetus' (old) was added after the Anio Novus was built. |
| Aqua Marcia | 144 BC | Quintus Marcius Rex | 91.4 km | Springs in the upper Anio valley near the 36th milestone of the Via Valeria (near Arsoli and Marano Equo) | Rome's third aqueduct, built 144–140 BC by the praetor Quintus Marcius Rex with the spoils of Corinth and Carthage; the first to bring water into the city on long arcades and the longest of all (c. 91 km). Pliny and Frontinus praise its water as the coldest and purest in Rome. |
| Aqua Tepula | 125 BC | Gnaeus Servilius Caepio and Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla | 17.7 km | Springs in the Alban Hills near the 10th milestone of the Via Latina | Fourth aqueduct of Rome (125 BC), c. 18 km long, built by the censors Gnaeus Servilius Caepio and Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla. Its tepid water was little valued; Agrippa later mixed it with the Aqua Julia and carried both on top of the arches of the Aqua Marcia. |
| Aqua Julia | 33 BC | Agrippa | 22.8 km | Springs in the Alban Hills near the 12th milestone of the Via Latina (near Grottaferrata) | Fifth aqueduct of Rome, built by Agrippa as aedile in 33 BC and named after the gens of Octavian; c. 23 km long. It entered the city stacked with the Tepula on top of the Marcia's arches, the three channels still visible at the Porta Tiburtina. |
| Aqua Augusta (Serino) | 30 BC | Augustus | 140 km | Fons Augusteus (Acquaro-Pelosi springs) near Serino in the Apennines | Augustan aqueduct (c. 30–20 BC, probably planned by Agrippa) serving the Bay of Naples: c. 140 km including its ten branches, to Nola, Pompeii, Naples, Puteoli, Baiae, Cumae and the naval base at Misenum, where it filled the Piscina Mirabilis. Unusually, it served a whole region rather than one city. |
| Aqua Virgo | 19 BC | Agrippa | 20.9 km | Springs near the 8th milestone of the Via Collatina (Salone), east of Rome | Sixth aqueduct of Rome, completed by Agrippa in 19 BC to supply his baths in the Campus Martius; c. 21 km long and almost wholly underground. Never entirely out of use, it was restored in the Renaissance as the Acqua Vergine and still feeds the Trevi Fountain. |
| Aqua Alsietina | 2 BC | Augustus | 32.8 km | Lacus Alsietinus (Lago di Martignano), north-west of Rome | Seventh aqueduct of Rome (2 BC), c. 33 km long, built by Augustus to fill his Naumachia in Trastevere. Frontinus calls its water unwholesome; the surplus irrigated gardens across the Tiber. It was the lowest-lying of all the aqueducts. |
| Pont du Gard | AD 50 | Unknown (traditionally Agrippa) | 50 km | Fontaine d'Eure springs at Ucetia (Uzès) | The c. 50 km aqueduct from Uzès to Nemausus (Nîmes), crossing the Gardon on a three-tiered bridge 48.8 m high, the tallest of all Roman aqueduct bridges. Long credited to Agrippa (c. 19 BC), it is now dated c. AD 40–60. |
| Aqua Claudia | AD 52 | Claudius | 68.7 km | Caeruleus and Curtius springs in the upper Anio valley, near the 38th milestone of the Via Sublacensis | Eighth aqueduct of Rome, begun by Caligula in AD 38 and completed by Claudius in AD 52; c. 69 km long, its last 10 km or so on the high arches still standing in the Parco degli Acquedotti. With the Anio Novus above it, it crosses the Via Praenestina and Via Labicana on the double arch later called the Porta Maggiore. |
| Anio Novus | AD 52 | Claudius | 86.9 km | River Anio near Subiaco (42nd milestone of the Via Sublacensis) | Ninth aqueduct of Rome, begun by Caligula in AD 38 and completed by Claudius in AD 52; c. 87 km long and the highest of all in level. It shared the arches of the Aqua Claudia, running in the channel on top. Its river water was often muddy until Trajan moved the intake to the lakes of Nero's villa above Subiaco. |
| Eifel Aqueduct | AD 80 | Unknown (Flavian period) | 95 km | Springs in the Urft valley near Nettersheim (Grüner Pütz) | Aqueduct of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne), built c. AD 80: c. 95 km long (c. 130 km with its feeder branches) and buried for frost protection, one of the longest north of the Alps. Its thick lime deposits were quarried in the Middle Ages as 'Eifel marble'. |
| Aqueduct of Segovia | AD 98 | Trajan | 15 km | Río Frío in the Sierra de Guadarrama | Aqueduct of c. 15 km bringing water from the Río Frío to Segovia, ending in a granite arcade of c. 167 arches up to 28.5 m high, built without mortar. Probably begun under Domitian and completed under Trajan (c. AD 98–117); it carried water into the 20th century. |
| Aqua Traiana | AD 109 | Trajan | 57 km | Springs around Lacus Sabatinus (Lake Bracciano), north-west of Rome | Tenth aqueduct of Rome, inaugurated by Trajan in AD 109; c. 57 km long, from springs around Lake Bracciano to the Janiculum, serving Trastevere and driving water-mills on the hill. Cut by the Goths in the siege of 537, it was rebuilt by Pope Paul V in 1612 as the Acqua Paola. |
| Zaghouan Aqueduct | AD 128 | Hadrian | 132 km | Springs of Djebel Zaghouan, rising at the Water Temple south of Tunis | Aqueduct of Roman Carthage, c. 132 km long including its branches, among the longest in the Empire. Begun under Hadrian c. AD 128 after a long drought, it ran from the Water Temple at Zaghouan to the La Malga cisterns and supplied the Antonine Baths. |
| Aqua Alexandrina | AD 226 | Severus Alexander | 22 km | Springs at Pantano Borghese near Gabii, east of Rome | Eleventh and last aqueduct of ancient Rome (AD 226), c. 22 km long, built by Severus Alexander to supply the Baths of Nero, which he rebuilt as the Thermae Alexandrinae. Its brick-faced arches survive along the Via Casilina; the same springs feed the Acqua Felice of 1586. |
| Aqueduct of Valens | AD 373 | Valens | 268 km | Springs at Danımandere and Pınarca in the hills of Thrace | Principal water supply of Constantinople, begun under Constantius II and completed under Valens in AD 373; the 4th-century system ran c. 268 km from Thrace, and 5th-century extensions towards Vize made it the longest Roman water-supply system. Its c. 29 m high arcade (Bozdoğan Kemeri) stands in Istanbul's Fatih district. |
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