This is an interesting and useful work that presents a study of the water features of Ostia focusing specifically on the analysis of the archaeological remains within three insulae of the city: insula III, i, insula IV, ii and insula V, ii. The water-related infrastructures are categorised into supply features, usage features and drainage features. They are also divided into four chronological periods connected with what are considered to be four key periods of hydraulic changes within the archaeological record of the city: from the fourth century b.c.e. to c. 50 c.e. (initial settlement to the use of the aqueduct), 50–200 c.e. (with increasing demand for water), 200–300 c.e. (urban development) and 300–600 c.e. (Late Antiquity).
The bulk of the book consists of chs 3–5 detailing the archaeological remains of the water features within the selected insulae including drains, sewers, wells, channels, fountains, latrines and other structures and buildings. The research element of the study consisted principally of a survey of standing structures combined with excavated and published material. The various components of the water infrastructure are described in considerable detail, and well documented, but this does have the effect of dominating the study with less space available for analysis. It might be that some of this detail could have worked better within a gazetteer, leaving more space in the text for analysis and discussion. The level of detail of the descriptions also limits the study to just three insulae and so a wider analysis of the city is not possible. That said, the descriptions of the features provide a valuable source of information that can also be used as a platform through which further studies can be built on, both within Ostia and in other settlements. Each feature is also listed at the back of the book within a useful appendix summarising the data.
A key part of the book, and which provides the book's title, is the analysis of the material through the framework of the Water Footprint. Each insula is analysed according to its Water Footprint for each of the four time periods of the study. The Footprint allows a holistic approach bringing together the different types of water infrastructure with an analysis of system resilience, cultural factors and issues connected with nature including flooding, urban health and urban waste. After the introductory ch. 1, ch. 2 examines the framework of the Water Footprint together with a wider look at theoretical and methodological issues connected with the study of water and the relationship between urbanism and water. The chapter outlines the methodology and framework well, but it could be more developed in terms of the theoretical aspects of the study of water. The author sets the origins of the Footprint model within the context of concerns in the 1980s and 1990s over water sustainability and quantification. The mid-1990s saw the creation of the Ecological Footprint model to examine water as a global resource. The Water Footprint model developed in the 2000s to categorise and quantify different types of water according to origins and usage within urban and other settings. The model was criticised for its systems approach, and neglect of local environmental and social factors, and L. explains that the City Blueprint model, proposed by Dutch researchers, arose in response for a stronger integration of urban hydraulic systems with environmental and socio-economic factors.
The author critiques the Footprint model, and discusses alternatives, but utilises the term for his study. He does address the relationship of urban water with environmental and cultural factors, but this part of the work tends to be fairly limited, as is any quantification of water use. It would have been good to have seen more development of the theoretical issues discussed in ch. 2. I wonder whether the author could have built on the discussion of different frameworks by proposing his own, to provide a better fit with what he is trying to achieve.
The study of each insula ends with a diachronic analysis comparing the water features over each chronological period. Ch. 6 then presents a wider diachronic discussion comparing the four periods across all three insulae. The aim is to analyse how access to, and usage of, water developed and changed across the settlement over time as well as the integration of cultural and environmental factors. The study demonstrates well how the investigation of water can bring the settlement to life through the analysis of the various buildings and activities associated with them. It is here that a consideration of the quantification of water usage, as part of the Footprint model, would have been useful too.
Ch. 7 concludes the study with a short summary and consideration of future directions. The book is useful in demonstrating the benefits of the analysis of urban water from a more methodological and theoretically advanced perspective and, as the conclusion suggests, there is considerable potential to develop this analysis further and compare with other settlements in the Roman world. The detailed descriptions of the water features within the three insulae are necessary, but they do perhaps limit the extent to which the analysis and discussion could be developed further. The book, however, demonstrates well that this is an exciting area of study with many possibilities for developing the archaeological analysis of urban water in the future.
Open access
