The Roman Empire was one of the most startling civilizations in history. Their astounding structural designs and engineering enabled them to build some of the most amazing and valuable water systems. During its imperial times, the city of Rome had a population of well over a million (Roman Aqueducts). Such a massive population enabled them to build up a large and powerful empire using their manpower, but what enabled them to have such immense manpower at their disposal was the development of great waterworks. Their amazing water distribution system was able to provide every person in Rome with one cubic meter of water per day (Roman Aqueducts). They were able to do this thanks to their outstanding aqueduct and piping systems. Rome’s first aqueduct was constucted in 312 B.C.E.. Over the next five hundred years, ten additional aqueducts were built to fulfill increasing demands (Ibid). The aqueducts consisted of channels dug through rock from the water intake in the surrounding hills (Newman, 203). The water ran through filtration systems, and once the water got into the city, it flowed into large cisterns, which enabled the water to be piped throughout the region. Most of it was available to the public through fountain systems, which were positioned at junctions throughout the city (Roman Aqueducts). The people of Rome were given the luxury of flowing water, in a place where they before would have to travel miles to get. The water played a role in their culture, enabling them to have public baths, and these were not only made available to the rich. Baths were a big part in the social life of Rome, and they would incorporate religion into these luxurious meeting places (Trueman). Bath admissions also brought in a steady flow of money to the state, as did selling private pipelines to rich citizens, improving the economic structure in Rome (Trueman).
The demand for water and the need for piping to carry it throughout the city made Rome depend on trade to acquire the proper and essential materials. They used massive amounts of lead for piping, which had to come from Spain or Great Britain, which pushed Rome to expand trade for the construction of these mammoth waterworks (Roman Aqueducts). But above all, these systems brought about massive population growth that led to a city that was in fact the largest of its time. The ability to support such a large population allowed Rome to open its doors to a high degree of specialization in the roles of its people. The more citizens the city had to carry out day-to-day tasks, the more economic room they had to develop. Because Rome was able to uphold such a large population due to their enormous supply of clean water, it was able to build up into a strong prosperous city, and develop a powerful military that made them an influential power. Their water systems were the foundation of their accomplishments, and made them one of the greatest civilizations in ancient history.
The blessing of the Nile River proved to make Egypt one of the most startling civilizations in history. Its rich agriculture that allowed them to prosper was not due to rainfall, but to the flooding of the Nile, and their integration of irrigation systems (Newman, 56). The fortunes of Egypt depended on this annual event, which left behind a new fertile layer of soil in the region (Ibid). Egypt’s wealth was measured in their abundance of food supplies. During the time after the flood, the Egyptian farmers needed a way to retain some water, to provide their fields with fertile soil for extended lengths of time. Irrigation canals and dams were created through fields, and seeds would be planted along these regions (Newman, 56). Along the canals, filled with water from the Nile, they build innovative devices for extracting the water, and raising it to higher ground. One such device was called a shaduf, which was a counterweighted mechanism with a bucket on one end hanging from a rope that was dipped into the canal and then swung over the field (Wilkinson, 35). They also utilized waterwheels to extract water and put it down small channels to bring to other areas (Postel). The ancient Egyptian farmers built large level basins for growing crops next to the river’s edge, and simple channels that took water in at the height of the flood (Postel). It was uncomplicated yet highly effective, and it allowed them to arrange for good flow of water throughout a number of basins, which they controlled using gates. They let the water stay in the fields for forty to sixty days, then had to be drained out at the right time in the growing cycle, back into the river. They did this to ensure that salts would never build up in the soil, and the crops always got a fresh supply of water (Ancient Irrigation).
Due to their success, and thanks to their well planned irrigation systems, Egypt was left with a great agricultural surplus. In fact, crops could be saved and stored years after a surplus season of growth (Ancient Irrigation). Barley and wheat as well as many nourishing vegetables such as onions and lentils prospered in their well irrigated fields (Newman 76-77). They were able to use their agricultural surplus to fulfill religious practices such as offerings to the dead, feed livestock that was used as a source of labour and food, and to feed in abundance their growing working population. These aspects are what make a civilization come together, and have prosperity in an overall aspect. Egypt’s amazing feats of construction were able to be carried out so well because of this abundance. It gave them agricultural room to feed populous groups of workers with food to meet their nutritional demands. The only thing that was missing was outside interaction (Newman, 55).
Following an agricultural surplus, vast trading opportunities arose. Egypt took advantage of their abundant food supply and began to trade it for other goods. Acquiring new goods enabled them to develop ideas in building methods and technology boomed with the addition of more large and more capable boats, metals, and wood (Newman, 58-59). Foods such as grains were also used to barter and trade within Egypt, and it was a common source of currency. Trade opened up Egypt’s doors to new opportunity that allowed its people to move on into the golden age of the New Kingdom, and it all was made possible by the gift of the Nile, but more importantly, by the valuable irrigation systems that made Egypt a prosperous nation.
The Inca Empire was an ecologically diverse paradise. The majestic Empire started along the Pacific Ocean in the low coastal valleys, and stretched over the Andes, all the way down into the Amazon Rainforest. This great ecological diversity helped the Inca grow a large variety of crops as well as an abundance of food (The Incas Remembered). It was a nation of millions, built up around their astonishing irrigation and watersystems, some in which are still in used today (The Incas Remembered). The Incas built irrigation canals which were lined with millions of rocks, allong sloped to form retaining walls. These enabled them to carry water from the melting snows of the Andes and nearby rivers for up to five hundred miles (The Incas). Water ran through the cities in canals called runners, which is where the Inca people got water to wash, drink, and cook (The Incas Remembered). Water brought into the cities was so essential to people on the mountains. The location was indeed close to paradise, but difficult to collect and goods and necesities to support a large population, so they greatly relied on these canals. The Incas had a strict policy to use the land and water carefully, and to never be wasteful. Their amazing irrigation systems used water to its full advantage, even up on the slopes of terraced farmland. They had hundred of levels of fields built to last countless centuries. Drainage systems worked allong with the intake canals to help develop a vast and abundant surplus of crops. The irrigational effects were highly sophisticated; for the canals were able to provided water to the roots of plants during a drought, and during heavy rain, they provided drainage so that the crops wouldn’t become drowned (Inca). Furthermore, the canals also provided sediment which were rich in nitrates, and these nitrates were used as fertilizer. The Inca utilised this concept throughout their whole Empire, and their canals worked in partnership with their roads throughout the empire building an extensive variety of crops in various climates that enabled them to feed the entire population (Inca). Not only could they feed their entire population, but they also had a massive surplus, and due to their storage techniques and food preservation, they were able to build up and maintain seven years worth of surplus food. Food was also used as a means for trade, as the Incas had no currency (Inca). The Incas used their skill to create water systems to bring vast amounts of water to them. After contructing such amazing stuctures, they had the time and a greater ability to expand their empire; no longer did the have to search to get enough food and water, for it was brought right to their fingertips. To support a large population, there needs to be allot of food, and that requires steady and sophisticated irrigation systems that bring a constant supply of water. The Incas were truly skilled engineers, who developed water systems so advance that they are still being used today. They are the solid base that gave the Inca the ability to sustain a high standard of living, and emmense expantion.
The liquid treasure of water has always played an important role in developing civilizations. However, it was not always handed to humans in readily available reserves. The development of water systems in ancient civilizations proved to offer significant advantages to those who constructed them. They brought about the basis for influential and strong and long-lasting civilizations by giving them the power of life, the prosperity that can only sprout from water. The Romans built and expanded their empire, as well as its economic and social diversity using vast piping systems and the development of the great aqueducts which allowed them to build up their grand populous city. Egypt built up its remarkable empire using the firm base of well-designed irrigation and water systems, allowing it to prosper and expand with its immense surplus of foods. For the Inca Empire, their great water and irrigation systems were perhaps the most advanced of their time, enabling them to expand their empire throughout a vast part of South America. These civilizations developed outstanding systems to harness the potential of water. It was only through the development of these systems that they could grow to possess their large numbers and powerful Empires. They brought the key to abundance in food, customs and religious practices, communal gatherings, and the overall ability to prosper; for these great feats of engineering brought to them water, the very foundation of life.
Works Cited
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Ancient Irrigation. May 1999. 15 April 2007 <http://www.geology.ucdavis.edu/~cowen/~GEL115/115CH17oldirrigation.html>.
Boak, E.R and William G. Sinnigen. “The Emergence of Agriculture and Raising Livestock.” Ancient Civilizations. Ed. Don Nardo. Vol. 1. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 40-50.
Boak, E.R and William G. Sinnigen. “The Founding of Rome, The Eternal City.” Ancient Civilizations. Ed. Don Nardo. Vol. 1. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 211-218.
Inca. 7 April 2007
Newman, Garfield, et.al. Echoes from the Past. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 2001.
Postel, Sandra. Egypt’s Nile Valley Basin Irrigation. 15 April 2007 <http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/nile/t1.html>.
Roman Aqueducts. 7 April 2007
Shaw, Ian. Exploring Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
The Incas Remembered. DVD. Monterey Media Inc, 2005
The Incas. 22 April 2007
Trueman, Chris. Roman Baths. 15 April 2007 <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_baths.htm>.
Wilkinson, Gardner J. “The Ancient Egyptians; Their Life and Customs.” A Popular Account. Vol. 1. London: Bracken Books, 1988.
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