L’INVENTARIO DELLE FONTANE DI SARDI (I.SARDIS I, 17)

Abstract

This paper analyzes one inscription, published in 1932 by W.H. Buckler and D.M. Robinson in I.Sardis I,
17, coming from the city of Sardis in Lydia. The inscription (AD 200) consists of 22 lines and concerns a list
of fountains, which are identified with the word κρήνη and are designated mostly in relation to public or cultural
buildings, with which they had a topographical or functional connection. Some fountains are followed
by a measure of capacity, which could indicate the water delivered daily by the fountain or the volume of the
fountain’s tank. The inscription constitutes a unique source for the distribution of water in a city in Roman
Asia. Moreover, it provides valuable support for a topographical reconstruction of Sardis.