What is it about?
This article discusses the Monumental Fountain structure located in the southeast corner of the Athenian Agora, which was fed by the aqueduct begun by the Roman emperor Hadrian for the city. As only the concrete foundation for the floor and the trench for the back wall of the building and some scattered architectural pieces remain, the fountain has been reconstructed based on a different, somewhat later fountain in the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia. This study reconsiders the previous reconstruction based on the archaeological evidence and the hydraulic needs of the building.
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Why is it important?
The previous reconstruction of this monumental fountain was created in the 1970's and has been taken as true ever since. This research updates that idea, and adds to the growing number of studies of Roman period hydraulics in Greece and elsewhere in the Eastern empire.
Perspectives
This Roman structure and its feeder aqueduct are located near the Panathenaic Way, which led up to the acropolis - a street along which the Panathenaic procession would have moved for at least 650 years prior to when the hydraulic works were constructed in the second century CE. This would have been a very striking visual change to area of the Athenian Agora, and would communicate a potent message of the reality of Roman control. The feeder aqueduct's construction techniques were a hybrid of traditional local Greek and external Roman technologies. But the monumental fountain was a purely Roman-style building which would radically alter the meaning of the area - especially as it would have provided an abundance of clean drinking water to arid Athens. As it was surrounded by Greek-period buildings, we have the Romans working within the existing architectural landscape, but, as I reconstruct the building having had two stories, it would have dominated the perspective and feeling of this corner of the Agora.
Dr Shawna Leigh
Hunter College
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This page is a summary of: MONUMENTAL FOUNTAINS -
J. Richard
Water for the City, Fountains for the People. Monumental Fountains in the Roman East. An Archaeological Study of Water Management. (Studies in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology 9.) Pp. xvi + 3..., The Classical Review, November 2014, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0009840x14001929.
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