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Cloaca maxima |
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| Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius. | ||
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The outlet of the Cloaca maxima ("greatest sewer"). This drain was
built as a canal through the Forum Romanum in the sixth century and its
construction is generally attributed to king Tarquinius Priscus. In the
second century BCE, the canal was covered.
It is often said that it is still in use; this is not untrue, but the whole truth is that only a trickle of water flows through the age-old sewer. The exit shown on this picture is just south of the ancient Roman bridge now known as Ponte Rotto. |
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Door leading to the Cloaca Maxima, situated in the eastern stairs of the Basilica Julia at the Roman Forum. Here, you can sometimes hear (and smell) the sewer. | |
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Base of the small sanctuary of Venus Cloacina, in the southern stairs of the Basilica Aemilia. This sanctuary, which is indeed dedicated to "Venus of the Sewer", was not well understood by the Romans themselves. It is situated on top of the Cloaca Maxima. | |
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Another monument that was in some sense connected to the sewer was the Arch of Janus Quadrifrons. Its significance is not known, but the builders took care to erect this monument just on top of the cloaca. | |
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