The eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 buried a large part of the region of Campania under several feet of volcanic ash, pumice stone and lava. Pompeii, which was rediscovered in the eighteenth century and where excavations and research have been carried out continuously ever since, is the best known of the cities that were stricken. The disaster "froze" life there, as it were, and as a result we now have a kind of "still-life" available that enables us to study the living conditions in a Roman country town. The same applies to urban water supply, the domestic sanitary facilities and the discharge of sewage, topics that have become increasingly popular among archaeologists and historians during the past years. Pompeii is often taken as a starting-point or benchmark for research because its remains have been preserved so completely. Nevertheless, many problems remain as yet unsolved. Cura Aquarum in Campania, the first conference to be devoted to the water supply system of Pompeii and its surrounding area, aimed at combining the existing knowledge on the subject and formulating new research questions and directions.
This volume contains contributions by several specialists in the field of historical water research, with Pompeii and its surrounding area at the focus of attention.