Near Rome archaeologists found an ancient pool

About 15 km from Rome, near the area of Giardino di Roma, archaeologists found an ancient pool, which according to researchers was built in the IV century BC. This is a truly monumental structure: the length of the pool is 48 m, and the width is 12 m. The ruins were discovered during preventive excavations before the construction of a new residential quarter.

So far, the purpose of the pool remains unclear, but archaeologists are sure that they are not public baths. According to the preliminary hypothesis, it was one of the elements of a larger water management system, namely, part of a large reservoir or sump. In addition, it could be used in agriculture, for example, as an analog of a modern hydroponic farm. The outer part of the find is built of blocks of tuff - a light porous rock. The ancient street that ran next to it and the pool are connected by a ramp.

During the period when the basin existed, there was a nearby road connecting Rome and Ostia, a settlement founded in the seventh century BC by the fourth king of Ancient Rome, Ancus Marcius. Historians hope to understand the purpose of the pool by studying artifacts that will provide additional information about what happened here thousands of years ago. In particular, archaeologists found a wooden object with an inscription in the Etruscan language: in those distant times, this now-dead language was still in use, including in Roman communities.

The years in which the pool was built date back to the Early Roman Republic. In 390 BC, the Gauls burned Rome, then the Etruscans and the equi opposed it. In the middle of the fourth century BC, the Roman-Latin Union was proclaimed, and Rome began an active conquest of Italy. The inhabitants of Latin cities became Roman citizens. The century ended with the defeat of the Etruscans and Gauls.