Wasser im spätantiken Trier – neue Einblicke

Abstract

Already in the first two centuries AD, two aqueducts supplied Augusta Treverorum, and especially the huge Barbarathermen. In the early 4th century when Trier became an imperial residence, a large-scale building program was initiated, which concurrently affected the city’s water distribution system. The connection of the main sewer of the Kaiserthermen (which were never finished) with the older sewer canal in street no. 8 was discovered in 2010. In keeping with most of the other late antique canals, the walls were constructed of brick, the production of some can be traced to late antique brick factories. Most of the “new” sewer canals were found in the area of the imperial palace, for example the canals at Schützenstraße, where the Roman circus is presumed to have been located. In the second half of the 4th century, a new aqueduct bridge was built along the present-day Olewiger Straße, which probably constituted the “new” ending of the older Ruwer aqueduct. In a reused building near the forum, a new bath building (the Viehmartthermen) was installed. The main sewer canal of these baths was lined with waterproof mortar, as was standard for water supply canals. Further evidence for water constructions in late antique Trier include more than a dozen small bathhouses as well as a splendid fountain found during excavations in the 19th century on the other side of the Mosel River. Sumptuous water display came to an end in the 5th century when the Romans no longer occupied the region.