Approvvigionamento idrico e gestione idrografica in età antica nel ravennate: il caso dell'acquedotto romano

The research examines the case of the Roman aqueduct of Ravenna. According to the historical sources, the city of Ravenna was deeply conditioned by the lack of drinkable water. The aqueduct was therefore built and restored during the time in order to supply water to the city. Since Ravenna has been chosen as headquarter of the Roman Imperial fleet - assigned to act on the oriental side of Mediterranean . and afterwards as imperial capital, the problem of dryness became always more onerous as the city was gaining importance in the eyes of both commerce and politics and military. By combiningg the information available in the historical sources and the updated geological data this work attempts to verify the hypothesis, advanced by some scholars, that the aqueduct's path was exploited during the Early Middle Ages, in order to canalize artificially the flow of the river Bidente/Ronco.