The Cloaca Maxima, Rome's great sewer, still works after 2,500 years — and the word literally means "the cleanser," from the same root that gives the goddess Venus her title Purifier.
In zoology, a single posterior opening serving as the exit for the intestinal, urinary, and reproductive tracts in birds, reptiles, amphibians, and some fish. In Roman architecture, a sewer or drain.
From Latin cloaca (sewer, drain), related to cluere (to cleanse, purge), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kleu- (to wash, clean) Key roots: cloaca (Latin: "sewer, drain"), cluere (Latin: "to cleanse, purge").
The Cloaca Maxima — Rome's great sewer — was originally built in the 6th century BCE to drain the marshy land that became the Roman Forum. It is one of the oldest surviving infrastructure projects in the world, parts of which still function today after 2,500 years. The goddess Cloacina (Venus Cloacina, "Venus the Purifier") had a shrine near its entrance. In biology, the cloaca is found in all birds