CLOACA

A vaulted subterranean channel for carrying off drainage of every kind. As early as the 6th century B.C. Rome had an extensive system of sewers for draining the marshy ground lying between the bills of the city. By this the sewage was carried into a main drain (Cloaca Maxima ) which emptied itself into the Tiber. Part of this sewer, in length quite 1,020 feet, is still in existence, and after a lapse of 2,500 years, goes on fulfilling its original purpose. The sewer, which is nearly twenty feet wide, is covered by a vaulted roof of massive squares of tufa, in which an arch of travertine is inserted at intervals of 12 feet 2 inches. The original height was 10 feet 8 inches, but has been reduced to 6 feet 6 inches by the accumulation of filth and rubbish. The drainage system of Rome was considerably extended, especially by Agrippa in the Augustan age. The duty of keeping the sewers of Rome in repair fell originally to the censors. During the imperial age it was transferred to a special board, the curatures cloacarum. Citizens who wished to establish a connexion between their property and the city drains had to pay a.special tax to the State, called cloacarium.