Image source: Photograph by Milo Nikolic
Water in the Ancient Roman Mind
The project investigates the ancient Romans’ understanding of water as a substance, its material properties, the hydrologic cycle, and the agency of water in geological phenomena. It also explores the Roman view of water’s importance as a foundation for life in general and society and culture in particular and engages laterally with the well-trodden field of hydraulic infrastructure. Primary sources are the works by Lucretius (1st c. BCE, De rerum natura), Seneca (1st c. CE, Naturales quaestiones), Pliny the Elder (1st c. CE, Naturalis historia), and to a lesser extent Vitruvius (1st c. BCE, De architectura) and Frontinus (1st c. CE, De aquis), while also making reference to Greek sources, such as Hippocrates and Aristotle.
