Water supply and sewers of Chersonesos and the account of its capture by Prince Vladimir

As is well known, lavatories in Rome were a place for public gatherings, and people came there not merely to crap, but also to discuss the main news of the city and pick up the gossip.

The lavatories were situated near the baths or the aqueduct: beneath the stone bench-seats, water flowed and carried the filth away. Chersonesos had an ancient water supply and sewage system, and the waste of the whole city was drained beyond the city walls. These blessings of the Roman period remained in use until the 14th century.

There is an interesting supposition about the taking of the city by Prince Vladimir, who was baptised here: Vladimir cut off the water supply that ran to it from a neighbouring headland, and Chersonesos surrendered. This version appears in the Primary Chronicle, so it may be received in various ways. All the more so since the main argument in favour of Vladimir's capture of the city is its large-scale destruction at roughly this time, which modern geomorphologists and archaeologists sometimes connect not with a military campaign but with a powerful earthquake.