The water cycle in Reccopolis
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Cambridge University Press
Materia
Reccopolis Aqueducts Water cycle Visigothic Kingdom Late Antique urbanism Fountains
Date
2023-06-01Referencia bibliográfica
Martínez Jiménez, J., & Checa Herráiz, J. (2023). The water cycle in Reccopolis. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 36(1), 157-185. doi:10.1017/S104775942300020X
Abstract
Reccopolis was a new city built in Visigothic Spain in the late 6th c. CE. Even rarer than this
example of an ex novo urban foundation in the post-Roman West is the fact that the city was equipped
with a brand-new aqueduct. The aqueduct has, until now, only been partially studied, but in this
paper we update and re-assess the original, preliminary results. We consider the city’s whole water
cycle, including usage and drainage, employing new engineering calculations and GIS analyses.
The results show that the aqueduct was an integral part of the city. Finally, we set our conclusions
within their wider context, looking not only at the roles of aqueducts in the ideal of a city at this
time, but also at urban water culture in the Late Antique West.