Aqua Anio Novus
Aqua Anio Novus is one of the 11 aqueduct of Rome that was
started by Caligula in 38 AD, and completed in 52 AD by Claudius (Similar to
Aqua Claudia). The Aqua Anio Novus was
one of Aqueducts which the city of Rome relied on for their water supply, it was
one of the most important aqueducts in ancient Rome as it could deliver just
under 200,000 cubic meters per day. The
water in the Aqua Anio Novus travelled 87km (before Trajan lengthened it to
92km) from the Anio River. The aqueduct divided into two channels above the
Tivoli, one that followed the other aqueducts course of curving its way around
the Tivoli mountains, the other channel of the Anio Novus went south on a shorter route going
underneath the Tivoli mountain for 47km and then joining on to the original channel
nearby Gericomo on the hills above the Campagna. Still on the second route,
after the Anio Novus goes through a settlement tank at Capannelle before
resurfacing and being surfaced on top of Aqua Claudius on the route towards
Rome for the remaining distance. The Anio Novus supplied water for dmoestic, luxrious and decorative purposes.
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The Aqua Anio Novus had some of the most significant features
of the other 11 aqueducts in Rome, as the Anio Novus had the highest urban
elevation and also highest in volume capacity of being able to deliver 190,
000m³ of water per day. Also after
Trajan’s improvements by lengthening the aqueduct, the water it distributed was
almost as inferior to that of Aqua Claudius and Marcia’s. Another significant
feature of the Anio Novus is it Terminus that was a large Castella (distribution
tower) shared with Aqua Claudia on the heights of Esquiline Hill. Terminus in
the Roman religion was a God who protected boundary markers.
The Anio Novus was constructed from Tufa and Travertine stone, that were typically found nd mined in Rome. The specus (roofed channel that the water flows in
aqueducts whether underground, raised on embankments or arches) was constructed
in concrete, the rides atop Aqua Claudia were constructed in ashlar masonry of
peperion and was carried on rusticated piers. Mortar was also used as a
waterproofing method in the aqueduct, although there was a build up of brown calcium in all aqueducts including Anio Novus called sinter, which continually built up due to the water requiring routine removal . The construction technique used to
construct the Anio Novus on top of that Aqua suggests that it was built
separately and added on as an afterthought, it also suggests that this method
was used to conserve time and was less of an expense to construct.
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The Anio Novus had settlement tanks to remove the sediment
from the water, as the Anio River was turbid and muddy. Frontius (2.14)
explains the muddy environment of the water and how even the settling tanks
still don’t achieve cleaning the water properly.
'The Anio Novus has its intake at the forty-second milestone on the Via Sublacensis in Simbruibe territory, from the Anio River, which flows muddy and turbid even without the bad effect of rain, since it has cultivated and such lands around it, and as a result, quite loose banks. For this reason a settling tank was installed away from the intake of the conduit, where the water might settle and be filtered between the river and aqueduct channel. But even so, it comes to the city turbid whenever there are heavy rains'. Fronitus (2.14)
As of Fronitus source, outlining the murkiness of the water, Trajan responded to the source to improve the quality of the water that would travel the Anio Novus. Trajan moved the Anio Novus upstream to the nearby lake Nero. This lengthen the Anio Novus from 87km to 92km, and improved the water in the aqueduct immensely from being turbid and muddy to be almost as inferior to that of Aqua Claudia and Marcia.
'The Anio Novus has its intake at the forty-second milestone on the Via Sublacensis in Simbruibe territory, from the Anio River, which flows muddy and turbid even without the bad effect of rain, since it has cultivated and such lands around it, and as a result, quite loose banks. For this reason a settling tank was installed away from the intake of the conduit, where the water might settle and be filtered between the river and aqueduct channel. But even so, it comes to the city turbid whenever there are heavy rains'. Fronitus (2.14)
As of Fronitus source, outlining the murkiness of the water, Trajan responded to the source to improve the quality of the water that would travel the Anio Novus. Trajan moved the Anio Novus upstream to the nearby lake Nero. This lengthen the Anio Novus from 87km to 92km, and improved the water in the aqueduct immensely from being turbid and muddy to be almost as inferior to that of Aqua Claudia and Marcia.
The Roman aqueducts were based on a gravity-system; the
higher the altitude of the water source the better the water pressure will be.
This is why Anio Novus was one of the most significant aqueducts as it had the
highest altitude of all the othe aqueducts, as it sat above the Aqua Claudius in sections of its route, its height compared to other aqueducts can be seen in the source on the right. The
construction of the aqueducts in Rome were based off the laws of Physics, and a
great expansion of knowledge on civil engineering. They used gravity to draw
water from higher elevations, they aimed for a gradient of 1 foot per mile. As
of this the aqueducts did not travel in a straight line but rather snake around
the mountains, valleys, and country sides, to achieve the purpose of having
elevation so they could use gravity-system. Sometimes slopes could not be
achieved so bridges or siphons were used to improve the aqueduct by keeping a
constant gradient, by avoiding slopes that are too steep or adding a slight
slope in areas that were flat. The diagram belows shows the differences between the Roman Aqueduct and the Modern Aqueduct. The Roman aqueducts kept an even gradient so they could succesfully, while the midern aqueducts don't have to keep a comstant gradient but can curve. You can clearly see how the modern aqueducts have adpated there structure from the ancient aqueducts and have improved the structure. The structure of the Anio Novus can be seen as significant due to the values of its consruction, and how it has influenced modern society.
Questions
1.What features made the Anio Novus one of the most significant aquducts in Rome? 2.How was the Anio Novus improved and what were the improvements made? Bibliography
Aicher, P. (1995), 'Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome', Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Inc, REtrieved August 2015 from: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IEa04PmWXq0C&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=appearance+of+the+aqua+anio+novus&source=bl&ots=MxvFrUdpw4&sig=K_8ziutYVBADO8BnTE5IjXUT79k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDwQ6AEwB2oVChMI9peLi7fGxwIV4iqmCh19TgZ-#v=onepage&q=appearance%20of%20the%20aqua%20anio%20novus&f=false Dembskey, E. (2009), ' The Aqueducts of Rome, Retrieved from: http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCMQFjABahUKEwjYw-jZusDHAhWFE6YKHfcrCbw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fuir.unisa.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2F10500%2F2624%2F1%2Fdissertation_dembskey_%2520e.pdf&ei=tmTaVdgQhaeYBffXpOAL&usg=AFQjCNG1Fb4hGALbQwYZ3QSNXaSZumWB4Q Planter, S. (1929), 'Anio Novus', Bill Thayers site, Retrieved August 2015 from: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Anio_Novus.html Schram, W. (2010), 'Aqua anio Novus', Roman Aqueducts, Retrieved August 2015 from: http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/romanovus/index.html Engineering Rome, (2013), 'Aqueducts in Rome', Retriveved Agust 2015 from: https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/Aqueducts+in+Rome Wikipedia,(Last modified August 2015), 'Aqua Anio Novus' , Retrieved August 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Anio_Novus |