03_Audio_Peers
Resource tools
File information | File dimensions | File size | Options |
Original MP3 File | 15.6 MB | Download | |
View directly in browser | 15.6 MB | View in browser |
How do you rate this resource? |
0 ratings
|
Resource ID
1
Access
Open
Contributed by
Jessica Bartz
Event
Conference
Country
Germany
Date
01 January 2019
Credit
Max Peers
Duration
0:18:39 (approx)
Channel mode
Single Channel
Sample rate
48000
Audio bitrate
112 kbps
Caption
Abstract: Augustus, the Aqua Augusta, and Water Politics in Early Imperial Campania & Irpinia
von Max Peers
The Aqua Augusta, running from springs in the Apennine mountains to cities along the Bay of Naples, was built in the early years of Augustus’ reign and remained the single longest aqueduct in the Roman Empire until the 4th c. CE. While the positive impact of this infrastructural benefaction on population centers along the Bay of Naples has been well studied in recent scholarship, the possible negative impact of the aqueduct’s construction on the natural water basin from which the Augusta draws has only been explored hypothetically.
The goal of this paper is to examine the effects of the Aqua Augusta on the region of Irpinia, and specifically the cities of Abellinum and Beneventum. Until now, research has assumed that the aqueduct functioned in a zero-sum manner, taking the entirety of the water from the springs out of their natural water basin. Using a combination of archaeological, geospatial and literary sources, the paper argues that there is not a perceptible decline in the region of Irpinia during or after the reign of Augustus due to the environmental impact of the Aqua Augustus. Contemporaneously to the construction of the Aqua Augusta, Rome saw a sharp increase in the flooding of the Tiber and the debates surrounding potential solutions to the flooding highlight the environmental epistemologies that existed in this period. Within the larger context of water politics in Augustan Italy, this paper suggests that there existed a more balanced use of water resources between Campania and Irpinia, based on a nuanced understanding of natural processes and resource management under Augustus.
Marker lat / long: 51, 9 (WGS84)