FREE ESSAY ON AQUADUCTS IN ROME

AQUADUCTS IN ROME

In this short paper I will discuss three main subjects. One will be the problem regarding
landowners and their responsibility towards aqueduct maintenance. Second, I'll introduce
my source of information and give a short summary of it. Third and finally I will discuss
and answer some main questions from the textbook asking about the proclamation sent by
Emperor Theodosius.
The problem was maintenance on the aqueducts. Who was responsible for the upkeep? For
those responsible, what were their duties and obligations for the upkeep of the
aqueducts? What were the penalties if they didn't do their duties? This was the problem.
Emperor Theodosius, of the Roman Empire resolved these questions by his proclamation in
438 A.D. In his proclamation he makes the responsibility of the upkeep and maintenance of
the aqueducts to the landowner that the aqueducts pass through. The Emperor goes on to
state that because of this extra duties on the landowners "shall be exempt from
extraordinary burdens" (Discovering the Western Past, pg. 15 5th paragraph second line),
(Discovering the Western Past, pg. 15. 5th paragraph 2nd line). Since, the landowners
were responsible for the upkeep, they were responsible for clearing the aqueduct out when
it was clogged of dirt and soot. In addition, they were responsible for keeping trees
trimmed away from the aqueducts. If the landowner did not keep up with his duties on the
aqueduct the punishment for this was the forfeiture of his lands to the imperial
treasury. 
The textbook "Discovering the Western Past," asked many questions ranging from the
complexity of the machines to the simple tools that these civilizations had to use. What
were the political ramifications of the decisions the emperor made? Why not just hire
more people to do the job or even better buy slaves and make them continue to do the
upkeep? Well, for a couple of reasons why the emperor didn't hire or buy slaves to do
these tasks. The landowner already had many slaves at his disposal to take care pf these
tasks. He also probably knew with intimidation that the landowner would continue to
upkeep the aqueduct in fear of loosing his land. In addition, by allowing tax breaks to
individuals with aqueducts going through their land they would be more receptive to the
idea of this. The political ramifications to the decree by the Emperor, I would think are
few to nil. His decree had everyone one as the winner. The city got its water, the
landowner received tax cuts, which was more money in his pocket