It was for the purpose then of supplying one of these artificial lakes with water that the Augusta aqueduct was constructed.

Aqueduct in Ruins, Ephesus

Perhaps the best known aqueducts of Rome are the Claudia and the Anio Novus. The completion of these waterways, which was accomplished respectively in 50 and 52 A. D., doubled the supply of water to Rome. The Claudia aqueduct was 46 miles in length and the Anio Novus 58 miles in length. The Claudia was commenced by Caligula in the year 38, but was completed, as was the Anio Novus, by the Emperor Claudius.

Many other aqueducts besides those mentioned were built at different periods to add to the water supply of Rome. A table is given below showing the date of the constructions and their lengths.

The magnificence displayed by the Romans in the construction of aqueducts was not confined to the capital. Wherever Roman colonies were established, it would appear that vast sums were expended in providing the community with a suitable supply of water. Ruins of aqueducts built by the Romans may still be seen at many points in Spain, France, Africa, Greece, and even England can point to the ruins of a water tower built by this prolific school of Roman engineers. At the present time there are probably one hundred or more structures of this kind in existence, some of which are in daily use, supplying water to inhabitants of communities for whose ancestors they were built centuries ago.

ROMAN AQUEDUCTS, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Name of AqueductDate of
Construction
Length
Miles
Appia313 B. C.11
Anio Vetus273 B. C.43
Marcia145 B. C.61
Herculea branch 3
Tepula127 B. C.13
Julia35 B. C.15
Virgo21 B. C.14
Augusta10 A. D.6
Absietina10 A. D.22
Claudia50 A. D.46
Anio Novus52 A. D.58
Neronian branch97 A. D.2
Trajana111 A. D.42
Hadriana117-1585 A. D.15
Aurelia162 A. D.16
Severiana200 A. D.10
Antoniniana branch212 A. D.3
Sabina-Augusta130-300 A. D.15
Alexandrina230 A. D.15
Jova300 A. D.

(The miles above given are Roman miles, of 4,854 feet. The entire length of aqueduct in English miles would be 398.)