Miletus Nymphaeum
About
A monumental fountain house paid for by Marcus Ulpius Traianus, governor of Asia and father of the future emperor Trajan, around 79-80 CE. Its facade rose in tiers of columns and statue niches modeled on a theatre's stage front, marking the terminus of the aqueduct bringing water down from the southern hills. Already decades old and fully functioning when Trajan himself, its founder's son, visited Miletus in 117 CE. A third story was added later, under Gordian III.
What happened here
This is where most of the town gets its water, and it runs continuously because the aqueduct cannot be switched off. A basin catches the flow, jars are filled from spouts, and the overflow goes into a channel that flushes the street. Queues form early and the fountain is where the neighbourhood's news circulates. The stonework wears into grooves where thousands of hands and rope have rested on the rim. Animals drink at a lower trough. Bigger show-fountains at street corners and road junctions are put up by magistrates and carry their names; the water is the gift and the inscription is the receipt. Blocking, fouling or tapping a public fountain is an offence people are actually prosecuted for.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →