Sewer History: Photos and Graphics

For Reference	See Europa Romana for a central website gathering information about the Roman Empire in Europe. The site includes a map of the Roman-conquered territories and links to a number of museums. A small flag in the lower right will lead you to the English version.
Austria
	Roman Empire sewer cover from Vienna (then called Vindobona), circa 1st to 4th century C.E. At that time Vindobona was a military camp with a civilian town close to the province border of Noricum. Stones like these may have been used to cover sewers, but more likely a decorated one like this would have been used to access sewer lines as in modern manhole covers. Located in the Museum of Vienna. Source: Csilla Pall, Baden bei Wien, Austria.
Bulgaria
For Reference	Varna is among Europe's oldest cities. Miletians founded the trading colony of Odessos in 570 BCE at the site of an earlier Thracian settlement. In 339 BCE, the city was unsuccessfully besieged by Philip II but surrendered to Alexander the Great in 335 BC. The Roman city, Odessus (annexed in 15 CE to the province of Moesia, later Moesia Inferior), occupied 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths, erected in the late 2nd century, now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria (the building was 100 m wide, 70 m long, and 20 m high) and fourth largest known Roman baths in Europe. See Wikipedia.
	Ruins of the Roman bath at Varna, Bulgaria. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
England
For Reference	The Roman occupation of England created a number of settlements built with Roman technology, including baths. Aquae Sulis, at the location of the modern city of Bath, included an extensive religious spa built around the natural springs. It is now one of the best preserved Roman ruins north of the Alps. See the Roman Baths Website.
	Caldarium from the Roman baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space through which the hot air used to flow to heat the floor tiles. Source: Akajune/Wikimedia Commons.
	Great Bath at the Roman baths, Aquae Sulis (Bath). Source: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons.
	The 'sacred pool' of Sulis at the Roman baths of Aquae Sulis is the source of the geothermal spring where the hot water rises before being channelled to feed the other bathing rooms. Source: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons.
	Section of mosaic floor from the Roman baths at Aquae Sulis (Bath). The main figure is a sea horse. Source: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons.
	Roman brick channel for the overflow from the sacred spring of Aquea Sulis (Bath). Source: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons.
	The Great Bath at the Roman baths of Aquae Sulis (Bath). Source: Diliff/Wikimedia Commons.
	Lead pipe in Roman bath in Aquae Sulis (Bath). Source: Zureks/Wikimedia Commons.
	The remains of the Roman public baths in Leicester, England, at the site of Jewry Wall. At the right is the wall itself which used to be the entrance. The baths date from around 150 AD. The Roman city of Ratae Corieltauvorum was founded around AD 50 as a military settlement upon the Fosse Way Roman road. After the military departure, Ratae Corieltauvorum grew into an important trading and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall and other Roman artefacts are displayed in the Jewry Wall Museum adjacent to the site. Source: Maksim/Wikimedia Commons
	Military bathhouse at Vindolanda, England. Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castra) located at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, near the modern border with Scotland. Source: Tivedshambo/Wikimedia Commons.
	Ruin of the bath house at Cilurnum, a fort on Hadrian's Wall, now identified with the fort found at Chesters (also known as Walwick Chesters to distinguish it from other Chesters-es in the vicinity). It was built in 123, just after the Wall's completion, and is now the best preserved Roman cavalry fort in Britain. There is also a museum on the site housing finds from all along the Wall. Source: SeeSchloss/Wikimedia Commons.
	The Welwyn Roman baths are a small part of the Dicket Mead villa, a Roman ruin which was originally built in the 3rd century AD just north of modern-day Welwyn, Hertfordshire. The ruins were uncovered in 1960 by local archaeologist Tony Rook, and the baths were gradually uncovered over the following 10 years by excavation. Source: Legis/Wikimedia Commons.
Germany
For Reference	A museum at Hechingen-Stein in southwestern Germany features the ruins of a Roman villa, the Villa Rustica, occupied from the 1st century AD for about 200 years. The villa includes a bath located in the center of the walled property, and more than twenty rooms in the main building had a floor heating system. See the Virtual Tour for photos of the heating system, baths and latrine.
Greece
	Roman Era public latrines in Corinth, Greece (near Athens). This and the following photo show latrine construction -- water ran in a channel under the seat openings to flush waste away, and an additional channel in front of the seats probably provided users a place to dip brushes (sea sponges on sticks or similar items) in order to clean themselves after using the latrine. Source: Keith Chapman, Laboratory Program Manager, Willow Lake Treatment Plant, Salem, Oregon.
	Roman Era public latrines in Corinth, Greece (near Athens). Source: Keith Chapman, Laboratory Program Manager, Willow Lake Treatment Plant, Salem, Oregon.
Beit She'an, Israel
Ancient Beit She'an is located in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in a fertile valley with strategic importance. In 63 BCE, the Roman general Pompey established rule in Judea, and Beit She'an (then known as Scythopolis) became a major center. Significant Roman construction began in the 1st century CE and continued until the area came under Muslim control in 635 CE. See www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org for more detailed information.
	Ruin of a Roman latrine from the Byzantine era in Beit She'an, Israel. Source: "Beit She'an -- Capital of the Decapolis," brochure published by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, 1996.
	Latrine at Beit She'an, Israel, located between the theatre, a temple area and one of the baths of the town. In this latrine design, a person sat atop two adjacent stone seat segments (with a gap between them) cantilevered out from the wall. This design was easier to build than other Roman designs, with less carving of stone to create the latrine seats. Note the trough for water at floor level in front of the latrine seats. This was probably used to dip sea sponges attached to sticks, which were then used for cleaning. Source: Kay Axhausen, Zurich, Switzerland.
	Ruin of a Roman bathhouse in Beit She'an, Israel. Reconstruction dated to 538 CE. Source: "Beit She'an -- Capital of the Decapolis," brochure published by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, 1996.
	Ruin of a Roman fountain in Beit She'an, Israel. Inscriptions date reconstruction to 400 CE. Source: "Beit She'an -- Capital of the Decapolis," brochure published by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, 1996.
	Ruin of a Roman bathhouse in Beit She'an, Israel. Source: "Beit She'an -- Capital of the Decapolis," brochure published by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, 1996.
Netherlands
For Reference	The Thermenmuseum in Heerlen, Netherlands, includes photographs and information about Roman baths in Coriovallum, a village on the road between Tongeren and Cologne. Additional information can be found at the Livius website.
Portugal
	Part of the Roman baths in the House of Cantaber, in the Roman settlement of Conimbriga in Portugal. Archaeological evidence tells us that Conimbriga was inhabited between the 9th century BCE and 7th-8th century CE. When the Romans arrived, in the second half of the 1st century BCE, Conimbriga was a flourishing village. A quick romanisation of the indigenous population took place and Conimbriga became a prosperous town. Following the collapse of the Empire, Conimbriga suffered the consequences of the barbaric invasions. In 465 and in 468 Suabii captured and plundered the town, abandoned by part of its population. Conimbriga now is designated as national monument with an extensive museum. Source: Postcard contributed by Frans Lamers, Costa Rica.