<Dd> The sewers, covered with a vault of tightly fitted stones, have room in some places for hay wagons to drive through them . And the quantity of water brought into the city by aqueducts is so great that rivers, as it were, flow through the city and the sewers; almost every house has water tanks, and service pipes, and plentiful streams of water...In short, the ancient Romans gave little thought to the beauty of Rome because they were occupied with other, greater and more necessary matters . </Dd> <P> A law was eventually passed to protect innocent bystanders from assault by wastes thrown into the street . The violator was forced to pay damages to whomever his waste hit, if that person sustained an injury . This law was enforced only in the daytime, it is presumed because one then lacked the excuse of darkness for injuring another by careless waste disposal . </P> <P> Around AD 100, direct connections of homes to sewers began, and the Romans completed most of the sewer system infrastructure . Sewers were laid throughout the city, serving public and some private latrines, and also served as dumping grounds for homes not directly connected to a sewer . It was mostly the wealthy whose homes were connected to the sewers, through outlets that ran under an extension of the latrine . </P> <P> In general, poorer residents used pots that they were supposed to empty into the sewer, or visited public latrines . Public latrines date back to the 2nd century BC . Whether intentionally or not, they became places to socialise . Long bench - like seats with keyhole - shaped openings cut in rows offered little privacy . Some latrines were free, for others small charges were made . </P>

Where did the romans get the idea for a sewer system