Aqueduct biking tour

On Saturday we went on a bike tour through the Ancient Appian Way and Aqueducts Park.  I loved being out of the city and seeing the brilliant ancient structures bringing water to the city over 2,000 years ago.  Roman aqueduct systems were built over a period of about 500 years, from 312 B.C. to A.D. 226. By the 3rd century AD, the city had eleven aqueducts, sustaining a population of over a million in a water-extravagant economy.  As water flowed into the cities, it was used for public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households. It also supported mining operations, milling, farms, and gardens. Aqueducts moved water through gravity alone, along a slight overall downward gradient within conduits of stone, brick, or concrete; the steeper the gradient, the faster the flow. Most conduits were buried beneath the ground and followed the contours of the terrain. Where valleys or lowlands intervened, the conduit was carried on bridgework.