It was fortunate, perhaps, that the first widespread epidemic which threated Europe (after the plaque of Justinian) should have been leprosy. Whether this disease was actually Biblical leprosy in more than doubtful. It bore the same name, however; and this fact made it easier to carry over into thinking of a world dominated by the…
The Edictum Rothari was the first written compilation of Lombard law, codified and promulgated 22 November 643 by King Rothari. The Edict was written down by one Ansoald, not a bishop or lawyer, but a scribe of Lombard origin. It was affirmed by a gairethinx convened by Rothari in 643. The gairethinx was a gathering of the army that passed the law by clashing…
The Baths of Agrippa (Latin: Thermae Agrippae) was a structure of ancient Rome, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was the first of the great thermae constructed in the city, and also the first Imperial Bath. Between the construction and Agrippa’s death the Baths were open to the public with an entrance fee charge. This charge was typically a quadran. Upon…
Circa 50 A.D. Athenaeus of Attilia, writing on Purification of Water, cites a single, double, and triple filtration process as producing water of the greatest purity.
Sextius Julius Frontinus was appointed water inspector (Curator aquarium) in Rome, and he published the first book on water supplies entitled “De Aqueductibus Urbis Romae.” Sextus Julius Frontinus was Rome’s water commissioner (curator aquarum) at the end of the 1st Century AD under the emperors Nerva and Trajan. Frontinus’ books have made him the most…