Aqua Anio Vetus

The Aqua Anio Vetus was a Roman aqueduct, commissioned in 272 BC by censor Manius Curius Dentatus and funded from the war booty seized after the victory against Pyrrhus of Epirus. The aqueduct was 64 km (40 mi) long, approximately four times as long as Aqua Appia, and its discharge of 175,920 m3 (46,470,000 US gal) over twice as large as the discharge of Aqua Appia. Its source is also much higher than the intake of Aqua Appia and it supplied water to higher elevations of the city. The intake of the aqueduct was the river Anio, the water being taken directly from the river, and this made the water both muddy and discolored. Because of low water quality, the water from the aqueduct was not used for drinking in later times. The aqueduct acquired the nickname of Vetus ("old") only after the Anio Novus was built almost three centuries later. Constructing the aqueduct took over three years, and it was not finished until a duumviri (a committee of two) was appointed by the Senate to complete the works. The appointees were the former cencor Curius, who had commissioned the aqueduct in the first place, and Flavius Flaccus -- since Curius died only five days after his appointment, the honor of actually finishing the construction of Anio Vetus went to Flaccus.