A secure supply of safe water is essential for the development of civilised life. The great aqueducts of the Roman period are lasting and visible symbols of ancient achievements in this area, while other, less spectacular but equally well adapted water storage and distribution systems served communities of different types. All of these systems are of interest to archaeologists and to historians of engineering and technology. This volume contains thirteen papers by leaders in the field of Roman hydraulics in response to the question: "What would be the approach most profitably to be pursued in future studies in Roman aqueducts?" The nucleus is the five revised papers of the colloquium chaired by A. T. Hodge in New York in 1987. Eight further papers were added at the editor's invitation, to make a volume varied in approach and in geographical spread, unified by the international distinction of the contributors. Trevor Hodge himself contributes a masterly, and entertaining, concluding essay on the whole question of the interdisciplinary nature of his field, its possibilities, problems and pleasures.