illustrations_aqueduct_raw
had so augmented, that they were obliged to bring water from distant sources by means of Aqueducts. Appius commenced this scheme of improvement. About 39 years after him, M. Curius Dentatus, who was censor with Papi- rius Cursor, brought water from the neighborhood of the city of Tibur ; and applied towards defraying the expense, part of the sums taken in the spoils of Pyrrhus. After them Lucius Papirius, Caius Servillius Cepion, Lucius Longinus Crassus, Q,uintus Marcius, (who brought water to Rome from a spring at the distance of nearly sixty miles,) Marcus Agrippa, Augustus, and others, signalized themselves by their noble Aqueducts. Even Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, and Carracalla, though in other respects not of the best cha- racter, took care of the city in this useful article. In the remains of these ancient Aqueducts, some are ele- vated above the ground upon a solid mass of stone work, or upon arches continued and raised one above the other ; other portions are subterraneous, passing through deep excavations, and in many instances piercing through mountains of rock ; such is that seen at Vicovaro beyond Tivoli, where a tunnel of about five feet deep and four broad, pierces a rock for a distance of more than a mile. These Aqueducts were generally built of stone and covered by arches or large flat stones. At certain distances 15 vents were provided to discharge the water from the channel- way ; and cavities were formed, into which the water was precipitated, and where it remained till its mud was deposit- ed, and ponds in which it might purify itself One of these Aqueducts was formed with two channels, one above the other : they were, however, constructed at different periods; the most elevated was supplied by the waters of the Tiverone, Anio novus, and the lower one by the Claudian water. It is represented by Pliny, as the most beautiful of all that had been built for the use of Rome. It was begun by Caligula, and finished by Claudius, who brought its waters from two springs called Coeruleus and Curtius. Vespian, Titus, Marcus - Aurelius, and An- tonius Pius, repaired and extended it ; it is now called Aqua, Felice. The Aqueduct that conveyed the Aqua Neroniana to Rome, was built of brick ; this, as well as the former, was in some instances 70 Roman feet high. The Aqueduct that brought the Aqua Marcia into the city was repaired by Agrippa, who laid pipes from it to several parts of the city. The Aqua Marcia, Aqua Julia, Aqua Tepula, entered Rome in one and the same Aqueduct, divided into three ranges or stories ; in the uppermost of which flowed the Aqua Julia, in the second the Aqua Tepula, and in the low- est the Aqua Marcia. This accounts for the extraordinary 16 height of this Aqueduct, which far surpassed that of any other in Rome. From the ruins of this fabric, which are still seen, and are called " II castel del Acqua Marcia," it appears to have been a very superb structure. The Aqueducts were under the care and direction, first of the censors and cediles, and afterwards, of particular magis- trates called " Curatores Aquarum," instituted by Agrippa, to whom the Aqueducts of Rome were objects of particular attention. Messala was one of these curatores in the reign of Augustus, and Frontinus held the same office in that of Nerva. Augustus caused all of them to be repaired. Procopius reckons only fourteen Aqueducts in ancient Rome ; but Victor has enlarged the number to twenty. Frontinus, a man of consular dignity, and who had the direction of the queducts under the Emperor Nerva, men- tions nine. From other accounts we are informed that nine great Aqueducts existed at Rome at the commencement of the reign of Nerva. Five others were constructed by that Emperor, under the superintendence of Julius Frontinus ; and it appears that at a later period the number amounted to twenty. Frontinus, who had the superintendence of the Roman Aqueducts under the Emperor Nerva, died A. D. 101. He gave an account of the Aqueducts, which has since been translated into French by Rondolet. The following table is made up of data from that work. 17 The table is arranged to show, First, the name of the water or Aqueduct ; Second, the era of its construction ; Third, the length of each Aqueduct in miles and decimals ; Fourth, the cubic feet discharged in 24 hours, and Fifth, the gallons in wine measure. NAME. ERA. LENGTH. CUBIC FEET. GALLONS. B. C. 312 10,3250 3,706,575 27,724,181 2. Old Anio " 273 36,6775 8,932,338 66,813,887 3. Marcian " " 146 56,9417 9,525,390 71,249,917 4. Tepulan " 5. Julian " " 127 ) " 35 5