The Importance of and Urbanization of Water in Ancient Greece and Rome

During the Ancient Greek and Roman times water played an extremely important role in everyday life and it eventually brought about urbanization as communities began to grow and water supply became a known necessity. The beginning of urbanization occurred in the Mediterranean regions of Europe where heavy rainfall occurred. Just like in today's world where, water is known to be one of the main essentials for survival and its health benefits, the quality of water became very important in ancient Rome and the Romans learned about the effects that water had on one's health and therefore the importance to have access to high quality water Aqueducts provide a very useful system that allows water to reach areas consistently which would have only been possible with the engineering techniques created during the ancient Roman times. Being able to have access to large quantities of water also played a huge role in the urbanization of water in ancient Rome. When attacks occurred the first thing that was destroyed was the water supply which today still occurs proving the importance of water and the lengths that were taken to ensure the best quality of it is provided. This presentation will discuss the continuous developments of ancient Rome’s water supply and its effect on the urbanization of its civilization.