Les ruines du grand aqueduc de Carthage from Entwurff einer historischen Architectur.

Entwurff einer historischen Architectur Les ruines du grand aqueduc de Carthage . The ruins of the aqueduct of Carthage. Engravings from the first comparative history of world architecture. Long ago, the water in rivers and streams that passed through cities was dangerous because it contained bacteria from sewage thrown into the water. The Ancient Romans discovered a way to continuously transport clean, drinkable water from rivers and streams several miles away to their major cities. They built aqueducts or waterways that channeled water to cities using gravity and pipes. This is an image of the ruins of the Aqueduct of Carthage that brought water to Carthage, a major city on the northern coast of Tunisia, Africa in the ancient world. The Romans built the aqueduct near the end of the 1st century and beginning of the 2nd century AD. It is now called the Zaghouan Aqueduct, renamed for the town closest to the aqueduct's main water source. From a distance, the aqueduct looks flat, but it actually has a slight incline that allows water to be pulled downward by gravity for many miles. When the Aqueduct of Carthage was in use, water would sometimes pass through tunnels cut through the hills or through channels raised high above the ground on arches, like in this illustration. The image showas the Aqueduct of Carthage, partially ruined, in 1725.