A Few Reading Questions

 E. Gowers, "The Anatomy of Rome from Capitol to Cloaca"



1. The Romans were clearly proud of their sewer.  Why?  What did various Romans praise about the Cloaca Maxima?  What are the various factors that tempered their praise?
2. If the Cloaca Maxima represented the “bowels” of the city, what was the head?  Why?  What other body parts symbolized particular areas of Rome or architectural types?
3. Why might the Romans have been reluctant to toss their waste into the Cloaca Maxima?  It was a sewer after all—right?