September 1, 2025

The Roman Forum (Foro Romano) – Continued
As mentioned in the previous issue, Rome began on seven hills.

Streams from these seven hills flowed down into the valleys between them, forming swamplands.

These wetlands became breeding grounds for mosquitoes and were unsuitable for human habitation.

It was King Tarquinius in the 6th century BCE who envisioned reclaiming the marshes to make the area livable.

He mobilized citizens to undertake the construction of a sewer system.

Although he was eventually exiled from Rome for overworking the populace, his vision ultimately bore fruit in the form of the Cloaca Maxima—a great sewer. 

This massive drainage system, stretching 1.5 kilometers, carried water from the marshes to the Tiber River, transforming the wetlands into the Eternal City, Rome.

At the center of the city was the public square that still stands today: the Roman Forum.

By the 4th century BCE, the drainage system had been covered and turned into an underground culvert.

Remarkably, it is said that since the fall of the Roman Empire, the main Roman sewer has never been cleaned.

Nevertheless, it still functions impressively to this day.

The greatest achievement in the medical history of ancient Rome was the development of public sanitation—including water supply systems, sewers, and public baths.

Cloaca Maxima is spelled "Cloaca Massima" in Italian.

Massima is a variation of massimo, meaning "greatest."
Like the English word maximum, it is derived from the Latin maximus, meaning "greatest."
　The word cloaca means sewer or drain, but in anatomy, it refers to the cloaca—a common cavity into which the intestinal, urinary, and reproductive tracts open.

It is found in animals such as birds and frogs.

In these animals, feces, urine, eggs, and sperm are all expelled from the same opening.

I learned this in anatomy during my student days, but I didn’t know the word also meant “sewer.”

So, except for those born by Caesarean section, you and I all came out of the sewer, so to speak!

To be continued