Page - 129 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

8 Water andDecentringUrbanism in theRomanPeriod 129 Urban infrastructure andpost-humanism: water aspart of theurban fabric The previous section outlined theway inwhich studies on urbanism and urban development have tended tobe influencedbyparticular traditionsof thinkingabouturbanismandquestions thatweaskof thematerial.Water formsan integralpart ofurbanism,not just in termsofwater supply anddrainage, but also the landscape setting andother environmental factors. This sec- tionwill examine these elements of towns. All watery components will have played a role in influencing urban agency, including howwater was encountered, avoided, crossed, obtained andutilised.Wherewater isnot readilyavailable, thedemandforwater formsaconstant impact on human behaviour and action.Water plays amajor role in urban lives.Water also forms a non-humanpresencethroughhumanattitudesto,andperceptionsofwaterandbeliefsassociat- edwith it;water isasmuchcultural insignificanceasbeingofpracticalnecessity.Water formed part of themateriality of townsandhow ithadan impact on theexperienceof inhabitants and thedevelopmentof thesettlements.Fromtheperspectiveofpost-humanism,wecan treatwater asan integral componentof towns, justasnon-natural components suchasbuildings.Different ontologies alsomean that themeaning ofwater, and its significance in the landscape,would have been regardeddifferently than is the case today. Thismeans thatwe canuse the topic of waterandurbanismto thinkabouthowwecandecentreourapproach to thestudyofurbanism andas a consequencealso thinkabout issues connectedwith identity andurbanism. InstudiesofRomanperiodurbanismandwater, the themethathas receivedthemoststudy relates towatersupply.This themeincludes thestudyofaqueductsandothersourcesofsupply, such aswells, and also other components ofwater distribution anddrainage, includingpipes, lavatories andbathhouses29 (Fig. 1). These are all important elements of towns that need to be examined anddocumented. Thedifficulty is that these installations andother features tend to be prioritised over widermeaning relating towater and they also tend to be interpreted from themodernperspectiveof economy, rationalityand functionality.Thewateralso formedpartof differentontologiesand thesecomponentsof townsmaywellhavebeenexperiencedand inter- Fig. 1: Leicester (RataeCorieltavo- rum), excavated remainsof the 2nd centuryRoman erabathhouse alongside the standing section knownas the JewryWall. 29 E.g.Wikander 2000;Wilson 2000;Koloski-Ostrow2001.