Roman Plumbing

I knew that the Romans invented plumbing and sewer systems. What I never really realized was the incredible scale, and their understanding of the necessity of public hygiene. Did you know that every person entering a Roman City was required to bathe at the port of entry before entering public spaces?

Without plumbing and sewage systems, civilization crumbles. Don't believe me? After the Roman Empire collapsed, Europe was thrown into the Dark Ages. Diseases like Plague were rampant, and all the intellectual, artistic and spiritual advances the Empire made possible were lost for centuries. In the East, where the Roman Empire persisted as the Holy Roman Empire, all the infrastructure was maintained. Consequently, culture, science, religion and art flourished.

Here's a little photo journal to give you an idea of just how advanced the Roman infrastructure was. The only thing we've changed in the last 1500 years or so are the materials we use. Otherwise, plumbing and sewage systems are laid out, for the most part, following Roman guidelines.

Terracota pipe system, still intact along the Agora in Smyrna (Izmir).

One of the pipes, now exposed, that would have been encased in the wall.

The water channel that ran under the Agora (shopping center) in Smyrna.
This fed both water supplies for shops and the sewage drainage for public latrines. 

One of the wall-encased pipes, STILL carrying water through the Smyrna Agora.

Roman pipes came in a variety of widths to control water flow and take advantage of gravity.

Public fountain, both decorative and for washing, in the Smyrna Agora.

Thyatira-Philadephia-Sardis

Today we visited the ruins at three of the churches John wrote letters to in The Book of Revelation. There's not much left in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29), as the new city was built over the old, as has been done so often throughout history. Even if the old city isn't built directly over the old one, most of the stone, marble, and ceramics from the old city are recycled. As Dr. Sumney said, "Why go to the trouble of mining new marble if there are perfectly good pieces lying around?"

A walkway between two buildings in Thyatira

In Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13), the remains of what was likely a regional church are pretty impressive. Although it's been horribly damaged by earthquakes (a constant danger in the region), it's still quite easy to see that this building had enormous significance in its era, due to both its size, and the number of graves and sarcophagi found at the site (only the very wealthy could afford a sarcophagus). The columns that supported the arched roof are still largely intact. This was a major house of worship, and an impressive feat of architecture and engineering.

The arched roof would have soared above these columns

The archaeological complex at Sardis is jaw-dropping. It's massive, with entire sections of Roman shops, plumbing and sewage systems still intact. Sardis is a testament to Roman engineering and culture, even if that culture was too frequently violent. It would be impossible to argue that the Romans couldn't build cities every bit as technologically advanced for their time as ours are today, especially considering the techniques they invented for sewage and plumbing are largely unchanged.

The gymnasium (school) at Sardis. The scale is difficult to appreciate form the photo. It's massive.

Detail from one of the mosaics at the Synagogue in Sardis.

Even though the weather today was cold, overcast and wet, standing in Sardis, where so much history was made, where through modern day Turkey, civilizations traded goods from China to Rome, was humbling. Humans have accomplished incredible things by cooperating with each other and sharing their resources. It makes me almost unbearably sad to think that, throughout the history of humankind, we've nonetheless always devolved into culture-destroying wars, and continue to do so today, thousands of years after the fall of Rome.

Arrived in Izmir

Our group is all in Izmir this evening. We have taken a walk along the shore of the Mediterranean and seen many people fishing--even though we are right in the city. We have our first dinner together in a few minutes. Our flights have been so good that some have suggested that Lufthansa give some lessons to USA airlines.
We start seeing ancient sites tomorrow, with our time ending in Sardis where there are wonderful things to explore--including a large and unusual synagogue.

JL Sumney

Introduction

To kick off the 150^th Anniversary of the founding of the Lexington Theological Seminary in 2015, Dr. Jerry Sumney will be offering a travel tour of Turkey and Greece in January 2014.  The tour, which will take us through the “Churches of the Revelation and the Footsteps of Paul,” departs on January 14 and returns on January 28, 2014.
The 14-day tour begins in Izmir, Turkey and concludes in Athens, Greece.  An overview of the itinerary is below.  The tour is open to current students for course credit, along with alumni and friends.