What appears to be only found in modern times is present in a magnificent, cozy villa that is part of the Roman beach resort city of Stabiae.

According to Heritage Daily, the water system is ideal for supplying the villa complex’s enormous hot tub, sizable gym, and numerous other cozy spaces that call for other water and are similarly well-designed. What modern water-convenience systems do you employ in your house?

This piece of plumbing is… 2,000 years old

Excavations in a small peristyle (colonnaded garden) at the Villa Arianna have uncovered parts of an ancient water system during archaeological cleaning, revealing a decorated lead tank which was part of a water distribution system within the villa complex.

The villa was first excavated by the Swiss engineer Karl Weber between 1757 and 1762, revealing an area of around 2,500m2 that contains a large complex divided into four parts: the atrium and the surrounding rooms dating back to the late Republican period; service rooms and thermal baths; side rooms off the summer triclinium dating back to the Neronian Age; and a large palestra (gym) from the Flavian Age.

Two pipes are connected to the impluvium (central water collection tank) in the atrium, that fed water throughout the wider villa complex by regulating the flow of water into the various rooms.

Archaeologists suggest that the tank was likely visible in ancient times to allow access to the two stop keys, enabling the inhabitants to regulate the flow or shut off water distribution in order to carry out maintenance operations of the system.

This “transportation from modern times” was not the first one to be discovered in these three submerged cities. For instance, 2,000-year-old “high-tech” paved streets that are still in use or a “walking street” with wayside “take away” fast food booths are only two examples of the astounding level of science and technology and the “modern” style of life the Romans possessed.

The finding has aided, but so have the sophisticated drainage and water supply systems for the lavish fountains and public baths of the Roman Empire raised a notch, demonstrating their extraordinary level.