Over the course of their history, the Romans built a complex and dense network of sewers in the city of Rome. However, only one of them was held in the highest regard. It was the oldest sewer in the city, and it was called Cloaca Maxima (“The Greatest Sewer”). In the beginning, it was an open-air canal that connected various natural streams. Its purpose was to drain the area that would later become Forum Romanorum. Only later did it become a sewer.
The Cloaca Maxima had a certain sanctity among the Romans. So much so that, over time, they developed the cult of the goddess Cloacina, the protector of sewers. That goddess was, over time, connected to Venus, a goddess of love, purification, and union. A small shrine to Venus Cloacina was situated near Cloaca Maxima, where the Romans venerated her. However, the original purpose of Venus Cloacina and the development of her cult remain a mystery to this day.
Cloaca Maxima: Rome’s Greatest Sewer
The ancient city of Rome in the imperial era had a complex and dense sewer network that drained waste water and filth into the Tiber River. The oldest and largest of all the sewers of ancient Rome was appropriately named Cloaca Maxima (“The Greatest Sewer”). According to Roman tradition, the construction of the Cloaca Maxima began during the reign of the Etruscan king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus (c. 616–578 BCE), and was completed during the reign of his son, Tarquinius Superbus (c. 535–509 BCE).
Ancient writers praised the Cloaca Maxima as one of the greatest achievements of Roman engineering. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1st century BCE) wrote that the three greatest achievements of Roman civilization were “aqueducts, paved roads, and the construction of sewers.” Titus Livius wrote that nothing built in his time could compare to the construction of the Cloaca Maxima.
The Romans also built sewers in other cities in the Empire, such as the sewer in Eboracum (today’s York). However, the Cloaca Maxima most likely did not serve as a sewer at the time of its creation. Instead, it served as an open canal that connected the various streams that flowed through the city area. Its original purpose was to drain the space that would later become the Forum Romanorum. Unlike later Roman sewers, the Cloaca Maxima had an irregular pattern, indicating its origin as a natural stream.
According to archeological data, the oldest walls of the Cloaca Maxima date from the end of the 6th century BCE, which confirms the tradition. The oldest domes date only from the beginning of the 2nd century BCE. This means that for more than three centuries, the Cloaca Maxima was an open drainage canal. This is also confirmed in the written testimony. In Plautus’s comedy Curculio, Cloaca Maxima is mentioned as a canalem.
The oldest part of the Cloaca Maxima, which ran along the middle of the Forum Romanorum, was about 100 meters long and about 1.25 meters deep. In the beginning, the Cloaca Maxima probably did not drain human waste. Originally, the Latin word cloaca probably did not mean sewage because it comes from the Latin word cluere, which means “to cleanse with running water.” It is not known when the Romans started polluting the drain with human waste but this was probably the reason for the construction of its domes.
Due to the need to drain the surrounding areas, the original canal was upgraded and extended. Over the years, some parts of the canal had been diverted due to the construction of buildings. Most of these repairs were done in the mid-Republican Period and during the reigns of emperors Augustus, Vespasian, and Domitian.
Despite all the repairs, the Romans never corrected the irregular pattern of the canal. The reason for this is that the ancient Romans considered moving water sacred. Because of this, the Cloaca Maxima was also considered sacred, and its flow was not supposed to be disturbed or changed. It is not difficult to guess why seemingly ordinary drains and sewers had such great importance for the Romans. Having originally served to drain the land, the Cloaca Maxima transformed the swampy area into habitable land. It protected the population from various pests and diseases.
Venus Cloacina: Protector of the Sewer
As already mentioned, the ancient Romans revered the Cloaca Maxima from the time of its creation. So much so that, over time, they developed the cult of the goddess Cloacina, the protector of sewers. We have very little information about this deity due to the scarcity of data in the sources. Her origin, original function, and development have remained a mystery to this day. At some point in time, Cloacina was identified with the goddess Venus as Venus Cloacina. It is not known whether this meant the merging of two deities or whether Cloacina was just an epithet used for the goddess Venus.
According to Roman tradition, the cult of Cloacina (or Cluacina, as she is also referred to) was introduced by the Sabine king and Romulus’s co-ruler, Titus Tatius. It is not known exactly when and why Venus and Cloacina were merged into a single deity. This deity appears for the first time on Roman coins only in the 1st century BCE. However, it could have happened much earlier.
According to legend, after the Sabine War, peace was signed on the exact spot where the shrine of Venus Cloacina was later built. The Romans and Sabines marked the signing of the peace by purifying the area with water. This water could have been water from the stream that would later become the Cloaca Maxima.
The Romans viewed Venus as the goddess of purification, union, and reconciliation. It is possibly for this reason that the epithet Cloacina was added to her, which comes from the word cloaca, which itself comes from the word cluere (to purify). It comes as no surprise that the ancient Romans still continued to link Cloaca Maxima with the goddess of purification after it became a sewer. After all, Cloaca Maxima drained the filth and the waste from the city, purifying it in the process.
Cloacina itself may have been originally an Etruscan deity associated with a small stream that formed a border between the Romans and the Sabines.
A small shrine dedicated to Venus Cloacina was located in the Forum Romanorum near the Cloaca Maxima. This shrine was a sacellum, i.e., a small, circular, open sanctuary. It was surrounded by a balustrade, and in it were two statues (Cloacinae), which actually represented the goddess Venus. The two statues may have also represented the two natures of the deity, Venus and Cloacina. It is not known exactly when the sanctuary was built, but the Romans attributed great antiquity to it.
The original building most likely burned down in a fire in 178 BCE. The existing structure, discovered in 1899 and 1900, dates from the 1st century BCE, most likely from the time of Sulla’s dictatorship. Two statues may have been erected at that time, which have not been preserved but which we know from representations on coins.
Another deity associated with the Cloaca Maxima was Janus, the god of gates, passages, and time. Janus was also associated with crossing over running water and streams. This is why, according to tradition, the Roman king Numa Pompilius built a temple of Janus near the stream that later became the Cloaca Maxima. In Roman times, there were several sanctuaries dedicated to Janus near the Cloaca Maxima.
Venus Cloacina on Roman Coins
Depictions of Venus Cloacina appear on Roman coins only in the second half of the 1st century BCE. Not only that, they are only present on the money issued by Lucius Mussidius Longus. We do not know much about him, except that during the Second Triumvirate (43–42 BCE), he was one of the triumviri monetales. His name is known only through coins minted in his name. The triumviri monetales were a collegium of three magistrates whose role was to oversee the minting of coins. It is not known why Venus Cloacina was depicted only on the coins of Mussidius Longus.
From the middle of the 2nd century BCE, the triumviri monetales began minting personalized coins depicting famous ancestors. Therefore, it is possible that Mussidius Longus was in some way personally connected with the cult of Venus Cloacina. Also, perhaps the depiction of Venus Cloacina on coins was part of the revival of old and neglected cults during the Late Republic. This kind of religious policy was implemented by Emperor Augustus, who was the head of the Second Triumvirate at the time when these coins were issued.
There are only two different types of coins depicting the Venus Cloacina. Their reverse is the same and contains a view of the sanctuary of Venus Cloacina with two statues, one of which is holding an object in her hand, probably a flower. They differ only in the obverse: one shows Sol, the god of the sun, and the other shows Concordia, the goddess who symbolized marriage agreements.
