Pont du Gard, Nimes (France)
The running water that was provided by Roman aqueducts was very welcome. Often, however, not everyone was able to draw water directly from the aqueduct and had to go, among others, to public fountains.
Sextus Julius Frontyn – Roman engineer and governor of Britain in the 1st century CE – mentions the so-called “piercing” of the aqueduct. Frontinus mentions that he discovered extensive networks of lead pipes under the sidewalks that carried water to private lands. Many wealthy landowners bribed the authorities in order to be able to pull additional pipes from the aqueduct to their farms. In this way, freshwater was supplied to the farmland without major problems.
Sources
- Sextus Julius Frontinus, De aquaeductu
