Water and water-related constructions of South and South Asia minor from the epigraphic evidence

It is an indisputable fact that water is of vital importance for the survival of all known life forms and for biological diversity and has played a significant role in the development of all cultures from the remotest past to the present day. The aim of this dissertation has been to investigate the role of water in antiquity in its different aspects through collecting all the An-cient Greek and Latin epigraphic evidence documented from the south and south-western parts of Asia Minor. To this purpose, this thesis presents a collection of and a commentary upon 234 inscriptions concerning water in general and water related constructions such as aqueducts, fountains, wells, cisterns, and bath-buildings discovered to date from the regions of Ionia, Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia and Cilicia. The study begins with the recorded perception of water by the Greek and Roman communities and inquires into the role and extent of water in the social and public life of these communities and then offers a brief introduction to each of the various water related structures employed in antiquity. The dissertation then discusses the laws concerning the use of water and its management enacted by the ancient Greeks and Romans respectively. The core of this dissertation primarily concerns the terminological con-fusion concerning water related constructions and some suggestions are put forward to pro-vide some at least partial solutions to this issue. Water constructions, especially buildings with fountains, have been documented in inscriptions through a wide range of different terms and this study aimed to understand if there is a semantic difference amongst all of the terms recorded. For instance, modern sources have, to date, termed all of the fountains nymphaions. However, this study suggests that the distinctions between the terms employed were made in antiquity for a specific reason and it emphasizes that such a pervasive use of the term nym-phaion for all of these fountains is not correct. In addition to the nymphaion issue, the words πήγη and κρήνη have been scrutinized in detail and the communis opinio established by pre-vious researchers on these words has been revised and their remarks have been questioned where necessary. A further part of this study deals with the financing of water constructions and it underlines the role of the benefactors in accord with earlier studies, but it also brings into question the role of the emperors, particularly in respect to aqueducts on the basis of the expression "σεβαστὸν ὑδραγώγιον". Following the financing of water related construction, this study, from the collected epigraphic evidence, focuses upon the detailed hydrography of each region.