Why did the Romans build sewers?

Answer 1

Because they didn't know how to build skyscrapers.....simple really.

Answer 2

The Romans were addicted to bathing, so unlike the rest of the Ancient world, their waste was a bit more liquid, thus they needed pipes to get rid of it. plus they ate a lot of smelly fish sauce which would have made their dry toilets a little bit more intense than the rest of the Mediterranean.

However the Romans did not invent sewers. Many ancient civilizations, including the Babylonians had them. There have even been some evidence of small sewer systems in Scotland dating back to 3000 BC.

The Roman system was not always underground. The first sewers were simply open trenches that led to the Tiber River. It was not until around 300 BC that the first underground sewers were built.

The main purpose at that time was to carry away runoff rain water from storms. Romans still through their waste into the streets. However, regular street cleanings washed the waste down into the sewers and kept things relatively clean.

After the Empire collapsed, the sewers, which were basically just rock enclosed river beds, continued to be used for centuries. It was not until the 1840's that they began to get updated in any serious way. However, most of the ancient system remained in continuous use.

Answer 3

In Rome, where a million people once lived without modern plumbing, there was a need to remove all the refuse from the city without having an army of slaves mucking it all out by hand. The answer was sewers, but only because they also solved the running water problem by building aqueducts to bring continuously running water into the city. In the Roman baths, they would use the fresh water for cooking and bathing and then, further down the incline, use the same flow of water to carry away refuse, through the sewers.

Answer 4

For the same reason we do: waste removal. They had no treatment plants so they just dumped raw sewage into rivers.

The main reason was to get waste water (sewerage) off the streets of Rome. People just dumped their sludge pots in the streets. As you may guess the stench gets awful. Not to mention the mess. Just think how bad a city would be today without sewer systems.

Answer 5

Romans and other ancient cultures in india, MiddleEast, south America and Africa build it because they knew how importante were sanitary conditions, they knew about a small ecosystem created within each city and expansions were supported by the government.

Romas had Firefighters, How to Heat palaces during invern and brought water far, far away; AQUEDUTOS;

Quite different from next 14 centuries after fall of Rome.

Answer 6

If the Romans had not built sewers, the local barbarians would have kicked up a "stink"!

Answer 7

The Romans were great believers in the maxim "Mens sana in corpore sano" ( a healthy mind in a healthy body). Clean water was very important to them and also the removal of waste products. Cities, towns and forts were built near springs. However, as Roman cities and towns grew, they needed to bring in water from further afield. As the population grew, so did the need for clean water. Trying to shift large volumes of water underground in pipes was not possible as lead pipes would be too weak and bronze pipes would be too expensive. The Romans could not make cast iron pipes as the techniques for doing this were not known to them. If water could not be brought via pipes, the Romans decided to bring it overland in what were conduits. When the water got to the city, it was fed off into smaller bronze or ceramic pipes. To get the water to flow at an even (and slow) pace, conduits were built on a slight slope. Valleys were crossed by using aqueducts. One of the most famous of these is the Pont du Gard aqueduct at Nimes in southern France. Where possible, the Romans did take water through tunnels but the hills needed to be relatively small for this to be successful.
Rome, as the capital of the empire, had to have an impressive water supply. The supply was designed by Julius Frontinus who was appointed Water Commissioner for Rome in 97 AD. The aqueducts that fed Rome carried an estimated 1000 million litres of water a day. Personal hygiene was also a major issue in the day-to-day life of Romans. Their famous baths played an important part in this.
The baths were used by both rich and poor. Most Roman settlements contained a public bath of some sort. In Britain the most famous are at Bath (then called Aquae Sulis by the Romans). The entrance fee for the baths were extremely small – usually about a quadrans (1/16th of a penny!). This extremely low price was to ensure that no-one did not bathe because it was too expensive.
From the writings of Seneca, we know that the Romans spent large sums of money building their baths. Seneca wrote about baths with walls covered in huge mirrors and marble with water coming out of silver taps! "And I’m talking only about the common people." (Seneca) The baths of the rich included waterfalls according to Seneca. Even people who were sick were encouraged to bathe as it was felt that this would help them to regain their good health.
Roman houses and streets also had toilets. Other civilisations had also used toilets but they had been the preserve of the rich and were essentially a sign of your wealth. By 315 AD, it is said that Rome as a city had 144 public toilets which were flushed clean by running water. All forts had toilets in them. To complement these toilets, the Romans also needed a sufficiently effective drainage system. Pliny, the writer, wrote that many Romans believed that Rome’s sewers were the city’s greatest achievement. Seven rivers were made to flow through the city’s sewers and served to flush any sewage out of them. The importance of hygiene also extended as far as military hospitals which had drainage and sewage systems attached to them. Quite clearly, the Romans believed that an injured soldier would get back to health quicker recovering in a hygienic environment.

Answer 8

As there cities became larger they became open sewers and decease was widespread , sewers were a natural advancement
just for survival

Answer 9

They had huge cities and it was important to build sewers

Answer 10

They Had the Cloaca Maxima to drive wastewaters to the river Tiber.I think its a good idea.Even before indians had sewers too.

Answer 11

the baths

the Romans were technologically advanced (except for the lead pipes) and necessity is the mother of invention