Chorobates (Roman water level)
Corobates (nivel de agua romano)
- Date
- c. 25 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Rome, Lazio, Italy
- Credited to
- Roman surveyors and engineers (described by Vitruvius)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A four-metre bench with two legs, hanging plumb lines and a water-filled channel in its top face used to level terrain without slope errors. Vitruvius describes it as an instrument for laying out aqueducts.
The chorobates is known only through Vitruvius (De architectura VIII, 5); none has been found and its actual use is debated, since the precision of Roman aqueducts suggests other methods, such as the dioptra.
What it led to
- laying out aqueducts with gradients of tenths per thousand
- levelling of public works, roads and canals
- a forerunner of water levels and spirit levels