A brief history of water supply and wastewater management in ancient Greece A. N. Angelakis and D. S. Spyridakis ABSTRACT A. N. Angelakis (corresponding author) National Foundation for Agricultural Research, Institute of Iraklion, 71307 Iraklion, Greece E-mail: angelak2@vodafone.net.gr D. S. Spyridakis Department of History, Columbia University, New York NY 10964, USA The evolution of urban water management in ancient Greece begins in Crete during the Middle Bronze and the beginning of the Late Bronze Ages (ca. 2000–1500 B.C.) when many remarkable developments occurred in several stages as Minoan civilization flourished on the island. One of its salient characteristics was the architectural and hydraulic function of its water supply and sewerage systems in the Minoan Palaces and several other settlements. These technologies, though they do not give a complete picture of water supply and wastewater and storm water technologies in ancient Greece, indicate nevertheless that such technologies have been used in Greece since prehistoric times. Minoan water and wastewater technologies were diffused to the Greek mainland in the subsequent phases of Greek civilization, i.e. in the Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. The scope of this article is the presentation of the most characteristic forms of ancient hydraulic works and related technologies and their uses in past Greek civilizations. Key words | ancient civilizations, aqueducts, Bronze Age, cisterns, drainage, fountains, sewerage systems, water distribution, wells INTRODUCTION Water is the beginning of everything’. Thales of Miletus (636–546 B.C.) …Arx  hn tvn  ontvn…Qal  h6: € ydvr e inai w ysin (di ‘  o kai thn g  hn € 1w’ € ydato6  apowa inetai e inai), lab  vn  isv6 thn  yp  olhcin ta ythn  1kto yp  antvn  or  an t  hn trow  hn  ygr  an o€ ysan…ka i di  at  op  antvn t  a sp  1rmata t  hn w ysin  ygr  an  1xei, t  od  1 € ydvr  arx  hn t  h6 w ysev6 e inai… …Water is the beginning of life according to Thales: water is the first natural principle (and for that reason he held that the earth rests on water) perhaps from observing that the nutriment of all things contains moisture……and that the seeds of all things possess a moist nature, so water is the origin of nature… (tranls. by the authors). (Aristotle, Metaphysics, 983 b) Unlike the preceding civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt which were based on the exploitation of the abundant waters of the large rivers of Tigris, Euphrates and the Nile, civilizations and cultures that flourished in the Greek mainland, the Aegean islands and Crete, have been plagued by limited, often scarce and inadequate natural water resources. This has been reflected on several ancient myths concerning water, including those of the Greek hero Hercules and his struggle with the river god Acheloos. In our times, two millennia later, the symbolism of the myth becomes relevant again: wisdom in management seems to be the solution to the ever-growing global water resources problem rather than engineering development, as was previously suggested. (Angelakis & Koutsoyiannis 2007). Humans have spent most of their prehistoric past as hunters and food gatherers. Only in the last 9,000 to 10,000 years they have discovered how to grow crops and domesticate animals. This agricultural revolution most likely occurred in Mesopotamia from where it spread to doi: 10.2166/ws.2010.105 618 Q IWA Publishing 2010 Water Science & Technology: Water Supply—WSTWS | 10.4 | 2010