That particular palace had several different drainage systems that ran down into sewers that were made of stone. The pipes that ran to and from the palace were usually made of materials like terra-cotta or clay. Fountains and all of the faucets in the palace seem to have been made up of very rich materials like gold, marble and silver. Those fountains could also deliver hot and cold running water upon command.
There was even what we would call a water closet or toilet in the palace. It also had a seat upon which to sit and a rudimentary reservoir that fulfilled the purpose that a modern-day toilet tank fulfills. Unfortunately, the technology that went into the design, construction and operation of this toilet was lost until the 17th century and it wasn’t until the 19th century that it was perfected yet again. Like the concept of insurance it took a lot of planning and perfecting.
However, none of the Minoan civilization’s works could come close to the sheer genius of the plumbing activities that were carried out by the ancient Romans in their Empire. Even today, many plumbing experts consider Roman skill and craftsmanship to be of the highest order, especially when looking at what they could do with a bathhouse or the piping in of water from many miles away.
At that time, most plumbing was constructed of clay or wooden materials. At some point, the Romans gained great skill in the shaping and manufacture of lead and quickly put it to work in their plumbing. An interesting historical fact is that the ancient Latin word for lead is “plumbus.” From that word, one can readily see where the modern-day word “plumber” comes from.
Like today’s plumbing tradesman, ancient Roman plumbers were also considered artisans and craftsmen, and they were highly proficient in laying pipe, soldering and repairing it and using a range of technologies that apprentice plumbers today are still required to learn. What set them apart, however, was that they did it all with ancient tools. And while it was the Greeks who first designed and used hot and cold water systems, the Romans perfected the techniques.
These same techniques were brought to what is now modern-day Britain — which was called “Britannia” by the Romans — around 46 A. D. Romans are appreciated in modern-day Britain for their skill with plumbing and how they applied it to spas and bathhouses. In fact, many scholars think that the loss of these technologies helped to create the conditions for plague and disease during the Dark Ages.
Just about everything that involves working with water or sewage systems and the plumbing that supports them can be credited to the groundbreaking work of ancient Roman plumbers. This is so even in this day and age, when modern-day plumbers go about utilizing many of the same techniques for plumbing that those artisans of the era pioneered back during the days of the Empire.
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