Main Window

Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome

p r o j e c t d e s c r i p t i o n

Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome is a cartographic history of nearly 2800 years of water infrastructure and urban development in Rome. Water is a living system that includes natural features (springs, the Tiber River, etc.) and hydraulic elements (aqueducts, bridges, fountains, etc.) that are linked through topography. Learn about the structure, methodology, and pedagogical goals of the project. First time users start here.

t i m e l i n e

Follow the urban development of Rome through a series of unique new maps that chronicle changes to the water infrastructure system from 753 BC to the present day. See how sewers, aqueducts, fountains and other hydraulic elements changed the face of Rome, while persons such as Agrippa, Nero, Sixtus V and Mussolini used water as an element of political control.

t y p o l o g y

This section will allow you to build your own map of Rome by choosing layers of typological data such as aqueducts, Tiber River bridges, Imperial Baths, cloache (ancient sewers), nymphaea, grain mills, fountains (by Giacomo Della Porta, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, etc.), conduit networks, and other water infrastructure features.

t o p o g r a p h y

In this section you may view the topography of Rome in a three dimensional model that is sampled at a vertical resolution of one meter and scaled vertically 3:1 for clarity. This model will allow you to examine the topographic relationships between disparate areas of the city, and to understand the dynamics of the hydrological system. The topographic data is current for 1998.

s e a r c h

Search the archive for specific hydrological features (including springs or streams), infrastructure features (including aqueducts, bridges, and sewers), urban features (water mills and fountains for example), patrons (such as Agrippa, Nicolas V, or Sixtus V), and designers (such as Giacomo Della Porta, Gian Lorenzo Bernini), etc.

j o u r n a l

Historic maps, treatises and images are available here, including a high-resolution "Zoomify" copy of the 1551 Bufalini Plan of Rome. More maps are on the way.

We publish refereed articles contributed by scholars and graduate students in our new occasional on-line journal "The Waters of Rome". If you are interested in contributing, please contact us.

Return to Front Page