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Aqueducts: Quenching Rome's Thirst

  •  English    14     Public
    CRW1, reading comprehension
  •   Study   Slideshow
  • Before the Romans, who had invented techniques for collecting, storing and channeling water?
    Earlier Mediterranean people
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  • Where did people in Pompeii get their water from?
    wells and cisterns (public and private)
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  • Why did Rome need more water that wells and cisterns could provide?
    Because of its huge population (reaching 1 million at its peak)
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  • What were dug first when building the aqueduct system?
    A series of shafts at intervals of around 230 feet (~70 meters)
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  • What could be used as materials for the lining of the tunnel walls?
    stone blocks, bricks, concrete
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  • Why did the route have to be gently slope?
    For gravity to do its work and carry the water to the destinations
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  • What happened when the engineers had to cross a valley?
    They built tall archways on the ground.
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  • How many aqueduct systems did Rome have?
    11
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  • How much water did Rome's aqueduct systems deliver to the city per day?
    1.5 million cubic yards (~1.15 cubic meters)
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  • Where did Rome's waste water go?
    Into the Tiber River
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  • When did the aqueducts get finished?
    Year 152
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  • What did they do to keep water in the aqueducts clean?
    The channel was covered and tanks were placed along the route to capture impurities.
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  • How were people charged for the water use from the aqueducts?
    By the diameter of their access pipes.
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  • What was used to stop people installing larger pipes that they claimed?
    A sleeved water pipe called the calix was invented.
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