Editorial: The History of Plumbing & Its Meaning Today
When it comes to plumbing history, all roads surely do lead to Rome. Plumbing technology flourished during the Roman Empire in a way that wasn't duplicated for more than 1,000 years.
The ancient Romans were the best plumbers who ever lived, except for American plumbers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rome's sanitary drainage systems were the best the world had seen until the 1800s in America. Their public baths stand as marvels of engineering genius and craftsmanship in any age. Some aqueducts they built 2,000 years ago are still in use today. Rome spread this plumbing knowledge and technology to numerous conquered lands.