Roman Aqueducts
(this is page two; click here for page one)
Aqueduct at Segovia in eastern Spain
Roman engineers built aqueducts all over the Roman Empire, from Syria to England. All Roman towns pretty much got clean drinking water from these aqueducts. But in villages, where most Roman people lived, there were no aqueducts, and people often drank dirty water from the nearest river, and many women and children spent hours every day carrying water from the river or the nearest well in clay pots.
The aqueducts continued to be used until the 400's AD, when the fall of the Roman Empire in Western Europe meant that most towns became much smaller, and were able to get enough water from wells.
By the 400's AD in the Roman town of Ostia, the town had gotten so much smaller that they didn't need to keep this street clear anymore, and they put their well right in the middle of the street!
To find out more about Roman aqueducts, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Roman Roads and Aqueducts, by Don Nardo (2000). For younger kids.
City : A Story of Roman Planning and Construction, by David Macaulay (1983). For kids - brilliant!
Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply, by Trevor Hodge (2002). Clear and complete, though not especially for kids.
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