Changes

One of the most elaborate ancient sewer systems was the <i>Cloaca Maxima</i>, which was a large-scale sewer system built for Rome. It was likely constructed already in the Etruscan period and became more elaborate during the Roman period. The Roman covered what was an initially open-air sewage system into a closed system. The underground system connected public baths and latrines. The system of aqueducts that connected to Rome, where there were seven aqueducts by the 1st century CE, brought freshwater supplies to the city. The elaborate waste removal and freshwater supply to Rome enabled it to grow substantially in size, reaching over one million people, making it the first city to likely reach that size. The Romans took sanitation seriously, as they realized the health benefits. Outposts and other towns throughout the empire utilized aqueducts, wells, latrines, and sewage systems to keep areas clean (Figure 1)<ref>For more on Rome's ancient water works and sewage system, see: Casson, L., & Casson, L. (1998). Everyday life in ancient Rome (Rev. and expanded ed). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.</ref>.

In the Near East and Central Asia, qanat sytemssystems, or underground water channels, brought safe drinking water to urban places as well as bringing water to fields. Cities also utilized natural small streams and created artificial channels to wash out waste water away from them. The Qin and Han dynasties utilized plumping systems within their cities that developed sewer systems that were already around by the Bronze Age in China<ref>For more on water and sanitation systems in late antiquity, see: Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. (2015). East and West in late antiquity: invasion, settlement, ethnogenesis and conflicts of religion. Leiden: Brill.</ref>.