Historical development of the Augustan Aqueduct in Southern Italy: twenty centuries of works from Serino to Naples

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. De Feo ◽  
R.M.A Napoli

The aim of the present study was to investigate the historical development of the Augustan Aqueduct Serino-Naples-Miseno in the Campania Region, in Southern Italy. The Serino aqueduct is not well known because there are no remains of spectacular bridges, but it was a masterpiece of engineering and one of the largest aqueduct systems in the whole Roman Empire. The Serino aqueduct was constructed during the Augustus period of the Roman Empire, probably between 33 and 12 BC when Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was curator aquarum in Rome, principally in order to refurnish the Roman fleet of Misenum and secondarily to supply water for the increasing demand of the important commercial harbour of Puteoli as well as drinking water for big cities such as Cumae and Neapolis. The main channel of the Serino aqueduct was approximately 96 km long, and had 7 main branches to towns along its trace such as Nola, Pompeii, Acerra, Herculaneum, Atella, Pausillipon, Nisida, Puteoli, Cumae and Baiae. Since the total length of all the branches was approximately 49 km, the Serino aqueduct complex had a length of around 145 km and therefore it should be considered the largest aqueduct system in the Roman world.

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. De Feo ◽  
S. De Gisi ◽  
C. Malvano ◽  
O. De Biase

The aim of the present study was to investigate the greatest water reservoirs in the ancient Roman world and, in particular, the “Piscina Mirabilis” in Misenum, in Southern Italy. In our study, we considered the reservoirs with a volume in the order of thousands of cubic metres, storing flowing water, set low in the ground or actually underground, and roofed over. In general, a Roman aqueduct was not built to provide drinking water, nor to promote hygiene, but either to supply the baths or for military aims. As a matter of fact, the population of Rome at the end of the 1st century AD had an average water supply of 1,550 L/d per capita especially used for baths. This circumstance required reservoirs of huge capacity. The reservoir of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome could contain over 80,000 m3 of water. The use of columns in a Roman reservoir was introduced in the ancient Constantinopolis and the Yerebatan Saray with a maximum capacity of almost 85,000 cubic metres can be considered the biggest Roman reservoir. While for military aims, the Piscina Mirabilis in Misenum can be considered the biggest Roman resevoirs used for military aims ever known until now (provide the Classis Praetoria Misenensis) with a volumetric capacity of 12,600 m3 of water.


Author(s):  
P. H. Matthews

This book explains how the grammarians of the Graeco-Roman world perceived the nature and structure of the languages they taught. The volume focuses primarily on the early centuries AD, a time when the Roman Empire was at its peak; in this period, a grammarian not only had a secure place in the ancient system of education, but could take for granted an established technical understanding of language. By delineating what that ancient model of grammar was, the book highlights both those aspects that have persisted to this day and seem reassuringly familiar, such as ‘parts of speech’, as well as those aspects that are wholly dissimilar to our present understanding of grammar and language.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 5840
Author(s):  
Enver Faella ◽  
Simona Mancini ◽  
Michele Guida ◽  
Albina Cuomo ◽  
Domenico Guida

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere abundantly. Its ionizing radiation provides the largest human internal exposure by inhalation and ingestion to natural sources, constituting a serious health hazard. The contribution to total exposure is mainly due to inhalation, as ingestion by food or drinking water is typically very small. However, because of public health concerns, the contributions from all these sources are limited by regulations and remedial action should be taken in the event that the defined threshold values are overcome. In this paper, the first campaign of measurements to control the radon activity concentration in drinking water from public water supplies in the province of Salerno, south Italy, is described. The results represent a main reference for the area, as it was never investigated before. The purpose of this survey was to contribute to data compilation concerning the presence of radon-222 in groundwater in the Campania region and to determine the associated risk for different age groups. The maximum radon activity concentrations and the related total annual public effective dose turned out to be lower than the threshold values (100 Bq/l and 0.1 mSv/y, respectively) indicated by international guidelines and the national regulation, showing that the health risks for public consumption can be considered negligible.


2019 ◽  

This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references to the past play a significant role. The aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World is to cast light on the constructing and the maintaining of both public and private identities in the Roman Empire through memory, and to highlight, in particular, the role of gender in that process. While approaching this subject, the contributors to this volume scrutinise both the literature and material sources, pointing out how widespread the close relationship between gender, memory and identity was. A major aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World as a whole is to point out the significance of the interaction between these three concepts in both the upper and lower levels of Roman society, and how it remained an important question through the period from Augustus right into Late Antiquity.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giampaolo De Filippo ◽  
Domenico Rendina ◽  
Domenico Viggiano ◽  
Antonio Fasolino ◽  
Paola Sabatini ◽  
...  

Background: Obesity is the main risk factor for essential hypertension (EH) in childhood. The O.Si.Me. study (Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in children and adolescents) evaluated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its constitutive traits in a sample of obese children and adolescents living in Campania, southern Italy. Patients and methods: Four hundred and fifteen children and adolescents consecutively referred to the National Health Service participating Outpatient Clinics for minor health problems and found to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score > 2.0 were enrolled in the study. The entire sample was screened for MetS, which was defined as the presence of at least 2 of the following alterations in addition to obesity: fasting hyperglycemia, low levels of high-density lipoproteins cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia, and EH. The present analysis evaluated the clinical characteristics of the O.Si.Me subgroup of EH participants (systolic and/or diastolic BP ≥ 95 th percentile for age, gender and height) as compared with normotensive participants. Results: The prevalence of EH in the O.Si.Me population was 23.6 % (98/415, 48M and 50F.) and two-thirds of the EH participants met the MetS diagnostic criteria. The EH participants featured serum insulin and HOMA-IR levels significantly higher compared with normotensive ones (11.6±0.6 vs. 9.5±0.4 μIU/ml, p = 0.014; 2.6±0.1 vs. 2.2±0.1, p = 0.028 for insulin and HOMA-IR, respectively). These differences were common to boys and girls and remained significant after correction for age, pubertal stage, body weight, length, BMI, gestational age at birth, duration of breastfeeding and anthropometric parental parameters. Accordingly, children and adolescents with EH had a a relative risk of being insulin resistant (defined as a HOMA-IR ≥2.5) significantly greater compared to those without. Moreover, they exhibited higher serum creatinine levels (53.8±7.1 vs. 35.4±6.8 μmol/l, p=0.025) accounting for gender and body weight. Conclusions: More than a quarter of obese children and adolescents meet the diagnostic criteria for EH in the Campania region in southern Italy. These obese boys and girls have an increased prevalence of insulin resistance and apparently an initial reduction in renal function compared with obese children and adolescents with normal BP.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Iovine ◽  
S. Di Gregorio ◽  
V. Lupiano

Abstract. On 15–16 December 1999, heavy rainfall severely stroke Campania region (southern Italy), triggering numerous debris flows on the slopes of the San Martino Valle Caudina-Cervinara area. Soil slips originated within the weathered volcaniclastic mantle of soil cover overlying the carbonate skeleton of the massif. Debris slides turned into fast flowing mixtures of matrix and large blocks, downslope eroding the soil cover and increasing their original volume. At the base of the slopes, debris flows impacted on the urban areas, causing victims and severe destruction (Vittori et al., 2000). Starting from a recent study on landslide risk conditions in Campania, carried out by the Regional Authority (PAI –Hydrogeological setting plan, in press), an evaluation of the debris-flow susceptibility has been performed for selected areas of the above mentioned villages. According to that study, such zones would be in fact characterised by the highest risk levels within the administrative boundaries of the same villages ("HR-zones"). Our susceptibility analysis has been performed by applying SCIDDICA S3–hex – a hexagonal Cellular Automata model (von Neumann, 1966), specifically developed for simulating the spatial evolution of debris flows (Iovine et al., 2002). In order to apply the model to a given study area, detailed topographic data and a map of the erodable soil cover overlying the bedrock of the massif must be provided (as input matrices); moreover, extent and location of landslide source must also be given. Real landslides, selected among those triggered on winter 1999, have first been utilised for calibrating SCIDDICA S3–hex and for defining "optimal" values for parameters. Calibration has been carried out with a GIS tool, by quantitatively comparing simulations with actual cases: optimal values correspond to best simulations. Through geological evaluations, source locations of new phenomena have then been hypothesised within the HR-zones. Initial volume for these new cases has been estimated by considering the actual statistics of the 1999 landslides. Finally, by merging the results of simulations, a deterministic susceptibility zonation of the considered area has been obtained. In this paper, aiming at illustrating the potential for debris-flow hazard analyses of the model SCIDDICA S3–hex, a methodological example of susceptibility zonation of the Vallicelle HR-zone is presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Condoleo ◽  
Vincenzo Musella ◽  
Maria Paola Maurelli ◽  
Antonio Bosco ◽  
Giuseppe Cringoli ◽  
...  

Toxoplasmosis, an important cause of reproductive failure in sheep, is responsible for significant economic losses to the ovine industry worldwide. Moreover, ovine meat contaminated by the parasite <em>Toxoplasma gondii</em> is considered as a common source of infection for humans. The aim of this study was to develop point and risk profiling maps of <em>T. gondii</em> seroprevalence in sheep bred in Campania Region (Southern Italy) and analyse risk factors associated at the flock-level. We used serological data from a previous survey of 117 sheep flocks, while environmental and farm management information were obtained from an analysis based on geographical information systems and a questionnaire purveyance, respectively. An univariate Poisson regression model revealed that the type of farm production (milk and meat vs only meat) was the only independent variable associated with <em>T. gondii</em> positivity (P&lt;0.02); the higher within-flock seroprevalence in milking herds suggests that milking practices might influence the spread of the infection on the farm. Neither environmental nor other management variables were significant. Since a majority of flocks were seasonally or permanently on pasture, the animals have a high exposure to infectious <em>T. gondii</em> oocysts, so the high within-flock seroprevalence might derive from this management factor. However, further studies are needed to better assess the actual epidemiological situation of toxoplasmosis in sheep and to clarify the factors that influence its presence and distribution.


Mnemosyne ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Aneziri

This article examines strategies that made it possible for Greek contests and the professionals who were engaged in them to retain their identity in the Roman Empire while they adapted to the circumstances of the new era. In their efforts to preserve and to enhance existing prestige and privilege, the organizers and others who were involved in the contests attempted both to exploit the past and to establish links to the new Roman power. The consequent linking of the Imperial cult with festivals, artists, athletes, and their associations provided tools that assisted the promotion of Imperial power and ideology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 3019-3035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Uzielli ◽  
Guido Rianna ◽  
Fabio Ciervo ◽  
Paola Mercogliano ◽  
Unni K. Eidsvig

Abstract. In recent years, flow-like landslides have extensively affected pyroclastic covers in the Campania region in southern Italy, causing human suffering and conspicuous economic damages. Due to the high criticality of the area, a proper assessment of future variations in event occurrences due to expected climate changes is crucial. The study assesses the temporal variation in flow-like landslide hazard for a section of the A3 “Salerno–Napoli” motorway, which runs across the toe of the Monte Albino relief in the Nocera Inferiore municipality. Hazard is estimated spatially depending on (1) the likelihood of rainfall-induced event occurrence within the study area and (2) the probability that the any specific location in the study area will be affected during the runout. The probability of occurrence of an event is calculated through the application of Bayesian theory. Temporal variations due to climate change are estimated up to the year 2100 through an ensemble of high-resolution climate projections, accounting for current uncertainties in the characterization of variations in rainfall patterns. Reach probability, or defining the probability that a given spatial location is affected by flow-like landslides, is calculated spatially based on a distributed empirical model. The outputs of the study predict substantial increases in occurrence probability over time for two different scenarios of future socioeconomic growth and atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.


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