The Flood Disaster And Countermeasures In Rome City

Since Romulus’s founding,Rome has been developing under the nourishment of the Tiber River,and its territory has gradually expanded,eventually building a vast empire around the Mediterranean.However,the rivers posed a great threat as well as a convenience to the development of Rome.Under the influence of the Mediterranean climate,the Tiber river basin is frequently flooded in winter,especially in the meandering lower reaches of the river where the city of Rome was located.By the time of Empire,the excessive deforestation and the change of land use mode also made the catastrophic flood in Rome City more severe.The flood disaster ran through the development of Rome all the time,and the impact of floods on social life has been documented by numerous classicists,mainly reflected in the following two aspects:the first is the loss of life and property caused by the floods.Residents and their buildings on both sides of the Tiber river were the first affected by the floods,and were the subject of the damage described in the records.The second is the spread of famine and disease caused by floods.There is a high risk of food shortages in the city if the floods contaminate food stocks and there is no external food supply for a short period of time.The epidemic disease is largely due to the water pollution caused by floods,as well as post-disaster mosquitoes,flies,rats and other vector breeding.Faced with such a large-scale flood,the City of Rome’s countermeasures fundamentally revealed the impact of the flood changes in social life and its development law.With the limited knowledge of the river in the early Roman period and the influence of the worship of Tiber gods,the people could only explain the abnormal behavior of the river from the angle of religion.With the development of the city,the loss of the flood increased,the Roman flood control needs increased,the response to the flood began to put into effect.On the one hand,Rome city created an official position to manage the affairs of the Tiber,they take the corresponding administrative measures when flood disaster breaks out;On the other hand,there were some attempts of a flood-control nature in Rome,such as the dredging of rivers,the building of canals,the building of dams and reservoirs,and the construction of sewers,which objectively weakened the impact of the flood.