Rome's Water Commissioner and a Farm in a Drought

Source an adapted excerpt by Frontinus, then use scarcity and opportunity cost to explain choices about water then and now.

Rome's water

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Water for a Crowded City

1By the first century CE, historians estimate that about a million people lived in Rome. Most of their water arrived by aqueduct, a channel that carried water downhill from springs and rivers in the hills. Much of each channel ran underground, and parts crossed valleys on tall stone arches. The first aqueduct was built in 312 BCE. By 97 CE, Rome had nine.

2Water flowed through the aqueducts day and night. Most Romans collected it at public fountains and basins on street corners and carried it home in jars. Public baths used huge amounts, and the overflow from fountains and baths ran on through the sewers, washing them out. A small number of wealthy Romans received a grant, or permission, to run a pipe from the public supply into their own homes. A grant belonged to the person, not to the house. When the holder died or sold the house, the water went back to the public supply to be granted again.

3Building a new aqueduct took years of work by thousands of laborers, along with great amounts of stone and money. So the city could not simply build more whenever people wanted more water. Leaks and cracked channels also wasted water, and every repair took workers and money that could have gone to other projects. Every jar of water used in one place was water that could not be used somewhere else.

4In 97 CE, Emperor Nerva named Sextus Julius Frontinus, a former general and governor, as Rome's water commissioner. Frontinus inspected the aqueducts, measured how much water each one carried and wrote a book, On the Aqueducts of Rome, about what he found.

Why was water still scarce in Rome even though it had nine aqueducts?

A. Many uses competed for the flow, and new aqueducts took years to build.
B. Rome had no rivers or springs in the hills that the aqueducts could reach.
C. The aqueducts were shut off at night, so water ran half of each day.
D. Romans were not allowed to drink the water that the aqueducts carried.

A water grant ended when the holder died or sold the house. How did this rule help Rome deal with scarcity?

A. It let a family sell its water grant to the highest bidder in the city.
B. It let officials give the water to someone new instead of keeping it in one family.
C. It made each wealthy family pay twice as much for the same amount of water.
D. It moved water from the public fountains into private homes after a sale.

A wealthy Roman uses his grant to fill a large pool in his garden. What is the opportunity cost of this use for the city?

A. The water that could have flowed to public fountains
B. The money the Roman paid workers to dig the pool
C. The fun the Roman's family has swimming in the pool
D. The stone used to build the arches of the aqueduct

Read a source

Read the note and the excerpt. Then answer the questions.

About the source: Frontinus wrote his book about 98 CE, while he was water commissioner. At the start he says he wrote it first to guide himself in his new job. The book was also read by other officials, and in it he praises Emperor Nerva, who appointed him.

Adapted from a translation of Frontinus's On the Aqueducts of Rome

1With so many necessary structures carrying so much water, compare, if you like, the idle pyramids or the useless though famous works of the Greeks!

2I found that water-men were secretly turning water from the public channels to private users. Many landowners whose fields lie along the aqueducts tap the channels to water their gardens. As a result, the public fountains ran low.

3Thanks to the care of our emperor Nerva, more water now reaches the public fountains, the streets are cleaner and the air is healthier.

Frontinus compares the aqueducts with the pyramids. What does this show about his point of view?

A. He thought Rome should copy Egypt and build pyramids of its own.
B. He wanted to spend Rome's water money on famous statues.
C. He valued useful public works more than grand monuments.
D. He believed Greek buildings carried more water than Roman ones.

Circle the sentence from paragraph 2 of the excerpt that best shows the opportunity cost of water taken for private use.

I found that water-men were secretly turning water from the public channels to private users.Many landowners whose fields lie along the aqueducts tap the channels to water their gardens.As a result, the public fountains ran low.

Why should a historian be careful about the claim in paragraph 3 of the excerpt?

A. Frontinus was a Greek visitor who wanted to make Rome look bad.
B. Frontinus had not seen the aqueducts, so he guessed about the fountains.
C. Frontinus was judging his own work and praising his emperor.
D. Frontinus wrote it centuries after the aqueducts had fallen apart.

A choice today

Read about the Ibarra family farm, which is made up. Use the graph and the table.

The Ibarra family farms 40 acres in a dry valley. Their water comes from an irrigation district, which shares out water from a reservoir. After several dry winters, the district has cut how much water each farm receives. An acre-foot is the amount of water that covers one acre one foot deep.

Crop choices for this year (made-up)
Crop	Water needed per acre	Profit per acre
Alfalfa	5 acre-feet	$300
Tomatoes	3 acre-feet	$900
Melons	2 acre-feet	$500

Use the graph.

This year the farm receives acre-feet less water than it did in Year 1.

The family will plant only one crop this year and use all 60 acre-feet of water.

If they plant only tomatoes, they can water acres, for a profit of $ .

With 60 acre-feet, melons would cover 30 acres and earn $15,000, and alfalfa would cover 12 acres and earn $3,600. The family chooses tomatoes. What is the opportunity cost of this choice?

A. The $3,600 profit they could have earned from alfalfa
B. The $15,000 profit they could have earned from melons
C. The $18,000 profit the family earns from the tomatoes
D. The $18,600 they could have earned from both other crops

10.

How is the Ibarra family's choice most like the choices about water in Frontinus's Rome?

A. In both, an emperor decided how much water each farm received.
B. Both took water from public fountains to grow crops for sale.
C. Both solved scarcity by building a new aqueduct for each user.
D. In both, water used one way could not be used another way.

11.

Claim: should the Ibarra family plant all tomatoes this year? Make a claim, use at least one number from the graph or the table, explain the opportunity cost of your choice, and compare it with a choice about water that Rome made in the passage or the excerpt.