The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE AQUEDUCTS.

[The numbers refer to Mr. Parker’s Catalogue.]

Those marked with * are from drawings, valuable for historical purposes, but not as photographs.

In his admirable treatise on the Aqueducts, Frontinus mentions in his first book, as an introduction, that before they were made, the Roman people, for the space of 441 years after the foundation of the City, were content with the water from the Tiber and from certain natural springs which from their salubrity were supposed to be sanctified.

One of the springs, called Aqua Argentina, deserves special attention; it comes out of the rock in a considerable body, and with much force, under the north-west corner of the Palatine Hill, at a great depth, in the cave called the Lupercal, which from its situation may very well have been a wolf’s cave at the time of the foundation of Rome. (702* is the plan and section of this). It falls into the larger stream that comes from the Quirinal and Capitoline Hills, and now runs in the Cloaca Maxima (690*). The point of junction of these two streams can be seen in an opening where the vault has been destroyed (158), near the arch of Janus and the church of S. Georgio in Velabro, which was the silversmiths’ quarter in Rome, as is shewn by the arch they erected in honour of Septimius Severus near this spot, the inscription on which remains.

The stream that comes from the foot of the Quirinal, and now runs through the Cloaca Maxima, emerges in a cellar under a house at the back of the church of S. Hadrian, and a great body of water rises with considerable force. Such a spring is no doubt in its original place. Another spring that runs into this stream is the one that rises in the crypt under the church of the Crucifixion, at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, called the Prison of S. Peter, which is another natural source.

Of the wells or reservoirs of rain-water, we have one remarkable example still preserved; it is on the Palatine Hill, at the north-west corner, just behind the most perfect part of the Wall of Romulus, and at one corner of his arx or citadel, called Roma Quadrata, and there are certain peculiarities about it. It has specus, or subterranean conduits, to carry water to it from different parts of the hill. The cistern itself is seven feet high, of about the same width, and of considerable length. Into this reservoir descend certain wells of a peculiar and unusual form, like a hollow cone with the wide mouth downwards. This form of well is said to be common in the east; but the only examples known in this part of Italy are this one on the Palatine under the arx of Romulus, and one at Alba Longa, under the corner of the arx or citadel of that ancient city, from which the Romans are said to have been originally a colony. This is certainly a remarkable coincidence, if it is nothing more. One of these wells is shewn in 764 and 765 from nature, and in 366*, 384*, from a drawing. 1630 is a view of the reservoir at Alba Longa (mis-called the Prison). 1940* is from a drawing of the two compared.

The remains of the aqueduct and reservoir at Tusculum (shewn in 1903) are of opus quadratum, of very early character, and seem to shew that the inhabitants there had aqueducts before the Romans. Frontinus, indeed, makes no claim to invention, nor were the Romans generally inventors, they rather turned to useful account the inventions of other people whom they had conquered.

I. The Appia—was made by the Censor, Appius Claudius Crassus (Cæcus[219]), in the year of Rome 441, B.C. 312, and has its origin in and near to the Latomiæ or Stone Quarries of the time of the Kings of Rome, on the bank of the river Anio, in which one of the sources of this aqueduct is found.

865, 866, 867

The Caves of Cervaro are a continuation of these Quarries, shewn in 1557.

1155* and 1968* are plans of the sources of the Aqua Appia and Aqua Virgo, in the Meadows of Lucullus, near Collatia.

These meadows are now known by the medieval towers called La Rustica, Sapienza (1551), and Cervaro (1552), and the lines of the aqueduct, crossing them from different springs and meeting in a central reservoir, can be traced by the clumps of shrubs over each well. The aqueduct itself being at a great depth, but still having water in it for the greater part of the year, and moisture always, the line of these wells is thus distinguished. From the central reservoir, in which the water was collected, the Specus or Conduit was carried into Rome, always at a great depth.

The spring of the Augustan branch (added A.D. 10) is found under a cottage (1550), near the town or castle of Cervelletta.

The Specus, or Conduit of each of the aqueducts, is distinguished by a slight change of form, and often of size also. Sections of fifteen of these are given in the map, and shewn in the photographs of it, 1982*. That of the Appia being the lowest, and always at a great depth, has been the most difficult to distinguish; but within the walls of Rome it passed along the Cœlian Hill[220] (691*, 890*), and then across the short space between the Cœlian and the Aventine, upon the bank or Agger of Servius Tullius (1100, 1136, 1164, 1165, 1289, 1288, 1166), and very near to (proxima) the Porta Capena (1138*). After passing the Piscina Publica, and serving as a drain for the surplus water, it is continued at the foot of the cliff of the Pseudo-Aventine, under S. Balbina and S. Sabba, to the mouth of it (84*) on the bank of the Tiber, under the Priorato near the Marmorata and the Porta Trigemina. The specus is here distinctly visible, filled up with the clay deposit to one-third of its height (1116); the view in the stone quarry and a section of one of the wells is shewn in 889*. A Plan of the stone quarry under S. Sabba shews several aqueducts meeting in it, and throwing their surplus water into the Appia, as the lowest (this is given in 834*, 1941*).

The Reservoirs of this most ancient and very deep aqueduct were first in the quarries before mentioned, and even in Rome were chiefly also in quarries, as at the mouth; but just within the Porta Maggiore, and close to the gardens of S. Croce, formerly the Sessorian Palace, are two large reservoirs very near together, supposed to have been the Gemelli or twin reservoirs mentioned by Frontinus, and these are so deep that they appear to have belonged to the Aqua Appia. Some excavations attempted in them in 1867 were stopped by water (410, 411, 695*). This aqueduct is believed to have entered Rome on the northern side of these gardens, and to have been first received in the reservoir afterwards called after S. Helena, which is very deep, and in this situation (546).

II. Anio Vetus, made in the year of Rome 481, B.C. 272.[221]

The Anio Vetus and the Anio Novus are in fact branches of the river Anio, which falls into the Tiber a short distance above Rome. The water is there seen to be much more pure than that of the Tiber, and after it falls into the muddy Tiber its clear water can be distinguished for a long distance. Several of the aqueducts, as the Appia and the Virgo, are springs, that fell into that river; but part of the water was intercepted and brought into Rome, each in its own distinct specus. This was the case with the Anio Vetus, at a much higher level above Tivoli, but below Subiaco. The river itself may be considered to belong to the system of the Aqueducts, and the series of magnificent cascades by which it falls from its high level, are partly artificial, are connected with them, and illustrate their history. Those in Tivoli (1545, 1546, 1547, 1548), the engineers had great difficulty in avoiding. The one near Vico-Varo (1544), above Tivoli, is near the point from which the aqueduct was taken, which is near the valley called Arsoli (1549). It can be seen in the valley of the Arches, two miles above Tivoli, at the foot of one of the piers of the Marcian Arcade (1054), and the one seems to have followed the other all the way into Rome. It passes along with it over the Ponte di S. Antonio, which is one of the finest bridges on the whole line of the Aqueducts, eight miles below Tivoli, across the valley and mountain stream called S. Antonio (1530). This aqueduct can generally be distinguished by being half-underground, or very near the surface. It was repaired or restored by Augustus and Trajan[222], and most of the remains now visible are of their time, and both the specus and the castella can generally be known by being faced with opus reticulatum, so much used at that time. There is a fine reservoir or castellum for it near Tivoli, with very peculiar work of this description, and extremely picturesque (950). Another is against a bank, and half underground, near the Torre Fiscale, three miles from Rome, and close to the foot of the Claudian Arcade (896, 1028, 1029). Remains of others may still be seen at the foot of the Wall of Rome in several places, they were distinctly visible in 1870, when these photographs were taken; but have been almost obliterated since in the restoration (?) of the wall by the municipal architect. One is near the Porta Metronia (983), and another at the Porta Latina (985). Remains of other piscinæ are visible near the Amphitheatrum Castrense, on the rock at the foot of the wall (868, 969, 970); at this point one branch of it seems to have been brought into Rome along the line of the Via Appia Nova, which runs near the spot, and entered Rome just beyond, by the Porta Asinaria. It can also be seen at the foot of a wall by the side of the Via Labicana, near the Porta Maggiore, and readily distinguished by the usual reticulated work (1337). One branch enters Rome at the foot of the Marcian Arcade, close to the Porta Maggiore (59), and the specus was visible at that gate, until it was concealed by a brick wall by the modern builders. It passes through the City Wall there, and is visible on the other side in the inner road, in the wall of the garden still under the level of the Marcian Arcade (1876). Here it forked off, one branch went to the left, along the line of the wall of the garden, to a great reservoir for it at an angle close to the junction of two roads, one called the Via Labicana the other the Via di Porta Maggiore, coming from the church of S. Maria Maggiore. At this spot there is a very large and fine reservoir in several chambers at a considerable depth, corresponding to the level of the Anio Vetus; 538 is a view of it, and 700* is a section of it. From this great reservoir two small specus in this part appear to have gone into the specus of the Appia in the Cœlian, under the Arches of Nero, and are visible going into the bank on which this fine arcade stands (854).

Another important branch turns to the north upon the high bank of the Kings, on which the Wall of Aurelian was afterwards built. There are remains of castella for it near the Porta S. Lorenzo (869), and further to the south near the Porta Nomentana (871), after passing the Prætorian Camp. It had previously gone under the Porta Chiusa, which was shewn in the excavation of 1868, and in the photograph 1057. The specus runs under the wall of the Camp all round. It is still visible on the north side, faced with the reticulated work under the fine brickwork of Tiberius (870). There was an opening into it at the north-east corner of the camp, into which a dog or a boy might be sent (981, 982), until it was closed in the recent restoration. Remains of it may still be seen at the foot of the wall in several places by experienced eyes. The general plan of this aqueduct is shewn in Nos. 1970*, 1971*, 1976*, 1977*, and 1967*.

III. Marcia, made in the year of Rome, 608, B.C. 145.[223]

This aqueduct was made in the year B.C. 145, and has its source a few miles below Subiaco; the springs are collected in a small lake called Aqua Serena (1537), the water from which flows into the river Anio; but a portion of it was intercepted for this aqueduct, and is now again taken from the same spot and brought into Rome. It has always been celebrated for its extreme coldness and great purity. The old specus or viaduct was found in 1870 in this lake, having long been concealed by being under water; but by drawing off some of the water it was brought to light, and the engineer of the new company decided on carrying his new specus up to this point. The previous plan had been to draw the water from another lake nearer to Rome, which is nearly equally good water, but not the real Aqua Marcia so much prized, and this is now again brought into Rome. The source of the old aqueduct is celebrated for its extremely picturesque character, as well as for the fine construction of the arcade of large square stones, and the scientific arrangement of the reservoirs (castella aquarum) and filtering-places (piscinæ). The sources in the Aqua Serena are shewn in Nos. 1538, 1539. Another source for an additional supply was on the lake of the Mole d’Agosta, 1543.

In the earlier part of its course the specus is underground; but on arriving at the valley called the Valley of the Arches, about two miles above Tivoli, it emerges upon the fine arches which give the name to the valley, and is here carried across the river Anio. These arches are in two series, and are among the most picturesque objects in the neighbourhood of Rome; the effect is improved by a medieval tower built upon the first pier of the bridge. This is shewn in Nos. 1053, 1054.

It then appears again on the other side of Tivoli, on the road called the Promenade of Garciano, which is on the edge of the hill looking towards Rome, and above the winding road up the hill; S. Peter’s is visible from this point. On this platform there are a number of fine remains of the specus and of the castella of the Aqueducts, some of the finest of which are of the Marcia. The Plan and Section of a very fine Reservoir and Piscina here is given in No. 535*.

Another very fine one has a wall on the edge of the cliff of the character called Cyclopean (Nos. 1513 and 1528). Chambers of this remarkable early reservoir are shewn in Nos. 1520 and 1521.

A considerable part of this aqueduct was rebuilt by Augustus[224] (B.C. 11), and again about a century afterwards by Trajan[225], and of the specus of that time we have examples in 1524 and 1525, shewing a very peculiar kind of the ornamental construction called Opus Reticulatum. Another reservoir of this time is shewn in 1526, and an earlier one belonging to the original construction of the kind called Opus Incertum, which probably belongs to the earlier period, is shewn in 1527.

From Tivoli the Aqueducts again pass underground for some miles, gradually winding down the hill from the high level to that of Rome on the Campagna, at about seven miles distance. They were carried upon bridges, some of which are very fine and picturesque, across the gorges of the hills and the mountain streams. At the place where they arrive at the lower ground, there are large reservoirs and filtering-places for them, and the locality is called from them the Piscinæ.

From thence they are carried on the fine and celebrated arcades across the Campagna, presenting some of the finest pictures in the neighbourhood of Rome.

At the Piscinæ, the Tepula and Julia, from the Alban Hills near Marino, were added to the Marcia, and carried on the same arcade. The greater part of them was destroyed, and used for building materials by the engineers of the Aqua Felice in the sixteenth century; but there are some very remarkable and picturesque remains of the arcade at intervals, the more interesting because so little is left of it. One fine piece remains at a locality called Sette Bassi and Roma Vecchia, five miles from Rome (1435), where a small portion of each of the three Aqueducts on an arcade can be seen in Nos. 1006 and 536, and the Piscinæ near to it, 534, 1434, 1438.

This arcade is seen again at the Torre Fiscale, a medieval tower built upon the aqueducts at one of the points of junction, and at one of the angles, which they made at every half mile. Here the more lofty arcade of the Claudia and Anio Novus is carried over that of the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia; while the Anio Vetus runs underground at the foot of it, and the Felice is built up against it; so that at this point seven aqueducts cross each other, and have a tall medieval tower built on the top of them[226]. The Torre Fiscale, with this remarkable junction, is shewn in Nos. 528, 529, 530, 531, 532. A plan and section of it are given in 689*.

There is another angle and crossing at the Porta Furba, half-a-mile nearer to Rome, which makes another very picturesque point of view (shewn in Nos. 551, 552). A small portion of it remains built into a gardener’s cottage at another angle, about a mile from Rome, and a fine large reservoir near to it. The ground then rises, and the arcade is buried for some distance; the upper part of the arches of brick, as rebuilt by Trajan, are then visible by the side of the old road that runs close to the northern side of the great Claudian arcade, on the line of the Marcian, which was parallel to the Claudian for some miles into Rome.

It then occurs again very conspicuously at the last angle, close to the Porta Maggiore, where the Claudia was again carried over it, and afterwards incorporated in the City Wall of Aurelian. Here the last pier of the arcade remains with the three specus of the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia passing through the wall at a right angle (31, 59). Inside the wall a part of the first arch remains with the specus upon it (60); on the other side of the road, the pier of the same arch remains built into the wall of the garden; and a little further on in the garden or vineyard, a gardener’s house is made out of another reservoir or castellum aquæ (538; section, 700*).

It then passes again underground parallel to the city wall for a short distance, and near the Minerva Medica it runs into the bank on which that great wall is carried. A portion of this underground arcade was brought to light in some excavations in 1871, but is now covered up again (2320). After passing underground in the bank on which the wall stands for some distance, it emerges near the Porta Tiburtina, now called Porta di S. Lorenzo (see a plan and section of this in No. 1938*). As the ground here is lower it is on an arcade, one arch of which is made into the gate (21, 1870), and a portion of the specus is very distinctly visible on the southern side of the gate, with an opening into it by which persons can go inside of it (shewn in Nos. 69, 572*, and 1487).

After passing the Porta Tiburtina, it went on upon the bank or outer mœnia of Rome to the Prætorian Camp, and there was a large reservoir for it near the Porta Chiusa, remains of which were visible in the excavations of 1868, with the wall of Rome built across it (shewn in 1059). From this reservoir the three aqueducts, Marcia, Tepula, and Julia, were carried along the side of the old road to the inner gate in the great agger of Servius Tullius on the Viminal, where the railway station has now been made, and where the three Roman princes carried on excavations in 1869, in which they found the upper specus; that of the Julia, which was left open for a time, passing between the cippi or boundary-stones, with inscriptions upon them, recording that the three aqueducts passed there between them.

Another division of the Marcia went along the same line as the Arches of Nero to the Cœlian, and along that hill as far as the great reservoir over the arch of Dolabella; then turning to the left or south, it came to an end above or over the Porta Capena[227]. These words may mean—either, in the reservoir on the cliff of the Cœlian Hill just above the gate, rebuilt in the time of Trajan, of which the remains are shewn in 1147*;—or, in the reservoir in the valley close to the west side of that gate (also rebuilt in the time of Trajan, and now a gardener’s house, as before mentioned). In that case it must have passed over the gate, and the specus that is cut in the wall of the western tower belonged to it (710*).

The general plan of the Aqua Marcia near its source is shewn in 1972*, and the line of its course in 1981*, 1982*; the bridge for it in 1983*.

In the early part of its course, above Tivoli, the new aqueduct for this water, called the Aqua Marcia Pia, is carried on a stone specus upon an arcade, after the same fashion as the old one (a portion of this new arcade is shewn in No. 1553).

IV. The Tepula, and V. The Julia, being carried on the same arcade as the Marcia for the seven miles into Rome, have left remains visible in some places, especially at the Gates of Rome, the Porta Maggiore (31), and the Porta Tiburtina (21, 572*); in other places, they have generally been destroyed. Near the Sette Bassi, there is a portion of the specus of the Julia visible just at the surface of the ground, the other two being then subterranean, as the level is rather higher in this part than usual. This portion has been examined by Signor Moraldi, at a junction whence a branch was carried to supply a reservoir at the great villa called Sette Bassi, and there are remains of the loch in the channel to turn off the water, shewing the same arrangement as in a modern canal. (A plan and section of this is given in 696*.) The specus near this point, built of concrete faced with brick, is also shewn in 1006. The specus of the Marcia is always of squared stone, so that one is readily distinguished from the other. There are remains of a castellum aquæ or reservoir for the Tepula, near the Porta Tiburtina, or Porta Viminalis of Frontinus, now called Porta di S. Lorenzo. This is shewn in the Plan of that Gate, Nos. 1111* and 1238*, and a view of it in No. 25. It is a remarkable building of brick of the first century, and has on a level with the specus a series of small corbels projecting from it, evidently intended to carry a hourd, or wooden balcony as a passage for the Aquarii, and perhaps for defence also. It is incorporated in the great Wall of Aurelian. It projects slightly from the line of that wall, and the end of the specus, with its triangular head, is visible in the angle.

V. Julia.

Between this building and the gate, but within the wall, though on the bank on which it stands, are slight remains of another castellum aquæ, supposed to have been for the Julia (Nos. 26, 869, 1873), which has its external face in the direction of the wall, and must have been concealed by it when that was built. This is also of the first century, as is shewn by the brickwork, and it seems to have been a castellum aquæ by the disproportional size of the buttresses used to support the weight of the water, one of the invariable marks of such a structure. The other mark is the peculiar cement with which the wall is lined, called Opus Signinum in Latin, Coccio Pesto in Italian, which is made of broken pottery, and is the hardest cement that is known; it is often impossible to break it, even after it has been exposed to the weather for centuries.

A plan and section of the ground between the two gates, called by Frontinus Esquilina (S. Lorenzo) and Viminalis (Maggiore), shew the difference of level, and the three aqueducts passing underground in the middle between the two gates, and carried on arches at both ends near the gates (see No. 1938*).

The plan of the ground at the sources of the Tepula and Julia is given in 1980*.

VI. The Virgo (now called Aqua di Trevi) was made in the year of Rome 732, B.C. 21.

This aqueduct has its sources in the meadows of Lucullus, on the banks of the river Anio, on the old Via Collatia, eight miles from Rome, about a mile further than the Aqua Appia, not at the same level, but comparatively near the surface. There are several springs, each of which has its own separate reservoir just below the surface of the ground; in some of them the vault is scarcely perceived. These are also called conduit-heads (864, 863, 862). From each of these small reservoirs a conduit runs into the central reservoir (860, 861), which is considerably larger, circular in form, surrounded by a wall, lined with the cement called coccio pesto, and one part of this central reservoir under the road now remains. This is near Salone, with its medieval tower. (See the Plan, 1155*.)

From this large central reservoir the surplus water is carried off by short conduits into the country ditches, and so into the river Anio. The main specus into Rome begins at the central reservoir, and runs generally underground along the line of the old Via Collatina, now called Lunghezza. The course of the aqueduct can be clearly traced by the small pyramidal or conical structures over the wells at regular intervals, called Respirators (660*), or which might have been called Ventilators, as they give air to the specus below. It runs in the high bank of the old road for two or three miles, behind the ruin called Torre d’ Scavi, supposed to be the Thermæ of the Gordiani, in a direct line towards the Porta Maggiore; but about half-a-mile before arriving there, it turns sharp to the north along the bank of the great foss or valley, and being underground is traced by the Respirators. Further to the north, beyond S. Agnes, at some little distance, the old line can be traced in the catacomb of S. Priscilla on the Via Salaria, where the specus is visible, half filled up with the deposit of clay (1109*, 1466). In the road on the bank on which the Wall of Aurelian is built, near the Porta Salaria, it can be traced by the low arcade at the foot of the wall which is built upon it (5).

But when the line was altered, it was carried still further to the north, and it enters Rome under the garden of the French Academy (the Villa Medici); it here is marked by two cippi (2088, 2089), with inscriptions upon them, and under the garden is a large reservoir very deep, level with the ground in the great foss on the outside, and with the Campus Martius inside the walls. It was then divided into two branches, one of which went along the Via de Condotti, the other along the Via del Nazzareno (83, 1108*) to the Fountain of Trevi, rebuilt in A.D. 1735 (1356); originally, it went to the north end of the Septa, near the Pantheon. Some remains of this were shewn in 1871 in the Piazza di S. Ignazio (2326). The specus can be seen, with an inscription upon it recording repairs by the Emperor Claudius (82), in the yard behind a house near the Palazzo del Buffalo.

The plan of the ground at the sources of the Aqua Virgo (or de Trevi), is given in 1968*, and Sections of it in 1979*.

VII. The Alseatina.

This aqueduct was made by Augustus in the year of Rome 763, A.D. 10, to bring water for his great Naumachia, or sham naval battles in the Trastevere; the water was not good for drinking[228]. It was brought from the lake called Alseatina, in the hills on the western side of Rome. It is altogether distinct from the great series of aqueducts on the eastern side. The source can be seen in the bank of the lake, and the specus or subterranean conduit can now be entered, the water of the lake having recently been drained, and reduced to a much lower level.

To these was added from another lake about three miles distant from the Alseatina, another branch called the Sabatina. The two conduits were united after a few miles near the old city of Cariæ, at a castellum aquæ or reservoir, now made into a house, and called the Osteria Nuova. The Alseatina was at the lowest level of all the aqueducts, and it is now very difficult to see any remains of it, except the specus in the lake at its source.

Trajan afterwards adopted the Aqua Sabatina, but omitted the Alseatina, and carried the Sabatina at the highest level instead of the lowest (see Aqua Sabatina, Aqueduct X.) Pope Paul V., who restored these aqueducts to use, went back to the Alseatina lake, and his specus can be seen there on a different side of the lake to that of Augustus; both are now left dry. There is, near the junction at the Osteria Nuova, a remarkable flight of steps for the use of the aquarii, or the men who had charge of the aqueducts. It passes through the upper specus, and goes down to the lower one (No. 2959*). The respirators of these two lines can be seen and traced; they are of a different size and form. The two can be seen close together at the Osteria Nuova (No. 2960*). The specus is also seen in No. 2961*.

VIII. The Claudia, and IX. The Anio Novus, A.D. 38-52.

These two aqueducts were made together, or were so closely connected that we cannot separate their history, although they were not the same water; the Anio Novus came from some miles higher up the river Anio than the Claudia. The latter was, like the previous aqueducts, taken from springs, that were intercepted before they fell into the river Anio; but the Anio Novus was part of the river itself, in which a gigantic loch was made by building a great wall across it, about a hundred yards in front of a natural waterfall, and forcing the water to flow over it, forming a magnificent cascade, and at the same time causing some of the water to flow through the specus which was cut in the cliff by the side of the river, at a rather lower level than the top of the wall. The sources of the Claudia are below this cascade, those of the Anio Novus are above it. The line of each of these aqueducts is distinct in all the early part of its course; but after they come down to the valley of the Campagna of Rome, at the Piscinæ, the two are carried on the same fine lofty arcade into Rome.

These were the highest, and passed over the Marcian arcade with the three aqueducts upon it. They form the finest feature in the landscape on the eastern side of Rome. The sources are above Subiaco, and in what is considered by artists as some of the most picturesque scenery in the world. The photographs illustrating this are very numerous, the subjects being some of the best that can be imagined for this purpose. The history of these two most important aqueducts can now be better seen in this series of photographs than in any other manner, and better understood than by any written description of them, after the outline of their history is once given.

They were begun in the year of Rome 789, A.D. 38, under the Emperor Caius Cæsar, or Caligula; carried on and completed by his successor, Claudius, in the year of Rome 803, A.D. 52. They were therefore fourteen years in construction, according to Frontinus[229]; but Nero was then married to Octavia, he was the actual governor of Rome, and he carried on the great work upon what are called the Arches of Nero, along the Cœlian Hill, as far as the arch of Dolabella, where a large reservoir for this water was built. This work was afterwards carried on by his successors in three branches, one to the Colosseum, a second to the Palatine, and over it to the Capitol, and a third to the Aventine. Frontinus himself, who has left us his admirable treatise on the subject, had the direction of these works for many years; he was Curator Aquarum under the Emperors Nerva and Trajan, and some of the greatest works were done in his time,—at his suggestion, and according to his plans.

Some of the sources of the Claudia were in the lake of S. Lucia, below Subiaco, between that and Vico Varo (see 1536). In its course through the hills the specus is almost entirely underground, and cannot be shewn in photographs; but the line of its course is shewn in the map of the aqueducts from Rome to Subiaco, reduced by photography in Nos. 1967* to 1984*, especially in Nos. 1976*, 1978*, 1979*, 1981*. It crosses mountain streams on the bridges called Ponte Lupo (1532) and Ponte di S. Antonio (1530); and an inscription relating to it, of A.D. 88, is given in No. 1976*.

When it reaches the level ground of the Campagna, nearly on the same level as the hills of Rome, the piscina for it is subterranean, and only the summit of this is visible, looking like a tumulus only (688); but from this the specus is seen to emerge, at first only just above ground, but gradually getting higher (or the soil, in fact, is getting lower), until it is carried on the grand series of arches or arcades across the country, which remain nearly perfect for some miles, as far as the Sette Bassi and Roma Vecchia. In 1002, a long line of this arcade is shewn with the Claudian specus upon it, and the Anio Novus over that in many places; the two can readily be distinguished, by the Claudian being built of large blocks of stone (with the edges chamfered off), and the Anio Novus being faced generally with brick, occasionally with opus reticulatum. Nearer to Rome, this fine arcade has been very much damaged, or carried off altogether as building material by the farmers, and by the engineers of Pope Sixtus V. to build the Aqua Felice; but some portions of the old arcade remain, and are shewn in No. 1006, where the distinction between the two specus comes out very clearly. In 1005, two of the brick arches with which it had been strengthened by Trajan are shewn, the stone-work having all been carried away.

In 689*, a plan and section of the Torre Fiscale is shewn, with the crossing of six aqueducts. 528 is a view of this tower and of the arches of the aqueducts crossing each other under it, with the Aqua Felice in the background. 529 shews the arch of the Claudia separately, and the construction of it, with the Aqua Felice passing under this arch of the Claudia. 530 gives very distinctly the arch of the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia, with that of the Claudia passing over it. 531 and 532 are more distant and general views of that tower, and the aqueducts passing under it. 1439 is a side view of it, and of the old tombs on the Via Latina in that part. 1004 shews the arches of the Claudia and Anio Novus in perspective, and the opening into the specus of the Claudia. In 550, another fine portion of the arcade is shewn, with brickwork of Trajan. The Porta Furba and a long line of the arcade is seen in the distance. 548 shews the Porta Furba at another crossing, with the fountain, and a portion of the arcade of the Felice; with the Marrana in the bed of the river Almo passing under it.

62 is a portion of the Claudian arcade, about half a mile nearer to Rome, with the arches filled up with brickwork of the time of Trajan; at this point there is another crossing. 63 shews a portion of the brickwork of Trajan, originally built to strengthen the stone arcade; but the latter has been carried away by the engineers of the Felice. 549 shews some interesting repairs of the time of Nero, with massive square buttresses faced with reticulated work. 70 is a medieval tower at the angle of the garden of the Sessorian Palace, now of the monastery of S. Croce, near the point where the aqueduct enters the wall.

547 shews the interior of the Tower and a piscina, at the entrance into Rome, the four chambers of which are visible, the inner wall of this tower having been destroyed; and into the interior of this the water of the Claudia entered in the first chamber and went out at the fourth. This photograph also shews the remains of a large castellum aquæ, now forming part of the Wall of Rome, on the north side of the garden, with a continuation of the arcade in the Wall of Rome in this part. In 544 the specus of the Claudia is plainly visible on the top of the wall, and remains of the Anio Novus over it. In the distance are seen some of the arches of Nero, across the valley and foss (?), from the angle near the Porta Maggiore to the Cœlian Hill. This garden might very naturally be called by Lampridius “The Garden of the Specus,” for the specus in the time of the Emperors must have been the most conspicuous object in it, or visible from it (542).

412 shews another of these reservoirs in the same garden, with repairs in brick by Trajan. The arcade of the Aqua Felice, built against the outside of the Wall, is also seen through the arches of the Claudia.

31. The exterior of the Porta Maggiore, with the specus over it, the lower one the Claudia, the upper one the Anio Novus. (The inscription of A.D. 404 is given in 1872.) Under these, but still on the top of the wall, the specus of the Aqua Felice may be seen, built as usual of rough stone concrete. To the right or north of this may be seen the three specus of the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia, passing through the wall in the opposite direction, now under the Felice, and originally under the Claudia and Anio Novus. These three specus are carried upon one of the piers of the Marcian arcade, built into the great wall. Just beyond these, further to the right, is part of the last tower of the Claudian arcade.

32. The Porta Maggiore, with the specus on it, seen sideways, and the north side of the Baker’s tomb.

The last tower and piscina of the Aqua Claudia; it stands at an angle of the wall projecting from it, and shews clearly that it stood there when the wall was built by Aurelian, and then incorporated into it. When the fortifications of Honorius at this gate were destroyed in 1833, the inscription relating to the aqueduct was preserved and built up to the right or south of the gate (shewn in 1872). Within the wall, behind the tower, is a large reservoir or castellum aquæ, of which there are slight remains, shewn in 967 and 968.

A panoramic view of the line of the Claudian arcade, on the north side of the Sessorian gardens, taken from the extreme end of them at the west, is shewn in Nos. 542 and 543. On the left hand is the beginning of the arches of Nero, going across the foss towards the Cœlian; then the Porta Maggiore is seen sideways, with the two specus on the top of it. Under this is part of one of the two great reservoirs believed to have been the Gemelli of Frontinus. Then comes the western wall of the Sessorian gardens, rebuilt by S. Helena, the construction being of the time of Constantine. To the extreme right is the ruin of the Basilica or Great Hall of the Sessorian Palace, repaired by him. This is miscalled a temple of Venus and Cupid on some of the maps.

Having thus traced the Aqua Claudia from its sources into Rome, we must now do the same for The Anio Novus, which in its early part is distinct from it, as we have said.

1514. Sources of the Anio Novus above Subiaco. The river Anio in the highest point, with which the aqueducts are connected, is seen winding through a gorge in the rocky mountain, with remains of the bars or dams, across the river, forming the two upper lakes or lochs. The celebrated monasteries of S. Scholastica and S. Benedict are visible on the hill to the left.

1515. The River Anio, a little lower down, with remains of the second barrage or dam across it, forming the third loch or lake, with the modern bridge built upon the ruins of the old wall that formed the bar. Chapels of the monks of S. Benedict are visible on the hill to the right.

1534. The Bridge of S. Francis, over one of the branches of the Anio that meet near the rocks before mentioned, above Subiaco.

1517. Remains of a great reservoir or castellum aquæ, of the time of Trajan, on the bank of the lake or loch before mentioned. The wall is faced with opus reticulatum, with layers of brick at intervals, the usual construction of the time of Trajan.

1518. The modern bridge, far below, and remains of the old high wall on which it is built, are seen under it; below are the cliffs of the third lake or loch, cut into a circular form. In the bed of the stream are large stones fallen from the wall or bar across the river.

1519. Remains of another castellum aquæ above Subiaco, and the mouth of a cave connected with the aqueduct.

1555. Specus of the Anio Novus cut in the cliff of the valley of the Anio. This is below the level of the great bar, and the water was forced to go through the specus into Rome by the bar being higher than the specus. A modern winding road has now been cut here, and the rock has been in part cut away, shewing an opening into the specus, which is six feet high and two feet wide. Above is seen a tower and an embattled wall of the modern Villa Gori.

1516. Part of the specus of Trajan, who repaired this aqueduct. The specus is cut as a tunnel in the cliff, with a reservoir by the side of it.

1556. A view of the gorge in the mountains above Subiaco, where the three lakes are situated.

1536. A small lake at the source of the spring called Fons Novus Antoninianus, one of the sources of the Anio Novus.

1558. Cascade at the Paper Mill, on the site of a piscina of the Anio Novus, above Subiaco.

1057. Arches of the bridges of the Marcia and Anio Novus, in the Valley of the Arches above Tivoli.

1052. Arch of the bridge on the Anio Novus, in the Valley of the Arches above Tivoli, with a medieval tower built upon it, forming one of the most picturesque objects in the neighbourhood of Rome.

1522. Specus of the Anio Novus below Tivoli, on the road to Garciano, called the Promenade, with openings into it, and an old tomb in front of it. This promenade is through an olive wood, and the roots of the olive trees run into many of the ruins.

1523. One side of a castellum aquæ of the aqueduct above the road to Garciano, faced with opus reticulatum.

1529. A bridge across a valley that passes the road to Garciano. This bridge is above the road on the left, in the valley called the Arcinelli.

1531. Ponte de S. Antonio, a fine bridge for the aqueduct below Tivoli, across a gorge. It is seen from above looking down upon it, with the chapel of S. Antony at the end of it, and a medieval castle in the distance. The road for horses, and the remains of the specus by the side of it, are here visible.

1532. Ponte Lupo, near Poli, west side, below Tivoli, the finest of all the bridges of the aqueducts. It crosses a valley from one cliff to the other, and is a solid wall for part of the way, the rest on arches. The two specus are here visible, as seen from below on the west side.

687. Arrived in the valley of the Campagna, the great piscina of the Anio Novus and that of the Claudia, which is near to it, is underground, and the summit of it only is visible, appearing like a tumulus. It is near the old Via Latina, and below the present roads to Albano, Frascati and Marino.

74 and 75. After leaving the great piscinæ, the two specus are carried on the fine arcade, of which a panoramic view is here given, shewing its general effect for some miles.

554. Passing by the remains of Roma Vecchia to the Torre Fiscale and the Porta Furba (given under the head of the Aqua Claudia), the specus rises to a remarkable reservoir, which from its great elevation must have belonged to the highest of the aqueducts. It is a most picturesque one, near the Mausoleum of S. Helena, but is earlier than her time; it belongs rather to that of Trajan, being faced with fine reticulated work, with layers of bricks on the exterior. The interior is distinguished by remarkably solid central buttresses, to support the wall against the pressure of the water (553).

926. Another large reservoir of the same period and style, and at nearly the same level; it occurs about a mile further from the main line of the aqueducts, at the place called Torre de’ Scavi, where the Thermæ of the Gordiani were afterwards made. This appears also to have belonged to the Anio Novus, as no other aqueduct is high enough for the water to have reached it.

Arches of Nero.

At the great reservoir inside the Porta Maggiore (the Porta Esquilina of Frontinus), the water of the Claudia and the Anio Novus was united for the general use of the City. This aqueduct entered on the highest ground in Rome, and the water supplied the deficiencies of any of the other aqueducts in case of need. Being a part of the river Anio, it never failed. It was forced to come through Rome, as has been shewn by the arrangements in the bed of the Anio above Subiaco. This united water was carried to all the fourteen Regiones of Rome, and in order to ensure an abundant supply, it was conveyed in the great stone specus, on the fine arches of Nero along the whole length of the Cœlian Hill for more than a mile; at the west end of the Cœlian an enormous reservoir was built for it on the level of the specus at the top of these arches, so that the base of the reservoir was fifty feet from the ground, and the road passed under it. From this great central reservoir, at a very high level, the water was distributed in various directions.

Before arriving at the Cœlian Hill, it had to be conveyed to and along the Cœliolum (now the Lateran Hill). It had come through the gardens of the Sessorium, as we have seen, in the two separate specus, after it had entered Rome at the extreme eastern corner, on the north side of these gardens, which are nearly half a mile long. These are the palace gardens mentioned by Frontinus. The Sessorium with its gardens (now the monastery of S. Croce in Gerusalemme) had been one of the two Prætorian camps, this one being at the south end of the great agger of the Tarquins, which formed the outer mœnia of Rome on the eastern side. The one, called the Prætorian Camp, is at the north end of the same great bank.

Each of these fortified camps was surrounded by a great wide and deep foss or trench. These great banks and trenches are usually mistaken for natural hills and valleys; but natural hills and valleys are not merely high banks fifty feet high and perhaps a hundred feet wide, nor are natural valleys long narrow trenches of the same dimensions, running on each side of the great banks, being in fact the trenches from which the earth has been thrown to form the banks. Such a bank with such trenches can be clearly traced all round Rome by eyes that are accustomed to examine such things, although modern buildings have disguised them so much that an ordinary observer does not see them. People cannot see over modern walls of twelve feet high, still less over the great Wall of Aurelian fifty feet high, and they do not think of comparing the level of the ground on each side of that wall, nor can they easily do so. These great ancient earthworks were extremely convenient for the engineers of the Aqueducts, which were brought upon the high banks at the farthest corner. They were carried along the bank on the north side of the Sessorium, from its north-east corner to the south-west angle, where the great bank of the Tarquins joins on to it. Some branches of the Aqueducts, perhaps the main stream in some cases, were then carried along this high bank of the Tarquins to the north, as far as the other Prætorian Camp, and beyond it along the outer wall of Rome, as we have seen in the case of the Anio Vetus, the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia. These did not pass through the Sessorium, but parallel to it about a hundred yards on the north of it. The Claudian arcade had been at about that distance on the north of it, all the way from the Piscinæ into Rome. The Marcian arcade was made nearly over the Anio Vetus, which ran between that arcade and the Claudian, but much nearer to the Marcian.

On entering Rome, this main stream went straight on through the great bank to the large reservoir on the inner side. The reservoirs for the Tepula and Julia were much to the north, near the Porta di S. Lorenzo (the Porta Viminalis of Frontinus), as we have seen; that of the Marcia was much closer to the Porta Esquilina. The two great reservoirs, called by Frontinus the Gemelli, were made in the great foss between the Sessorium (S. Croce) and the Cœliolum (the Lateran). They had probably been originally made for the Aqua Appia and the Anio Vetus, being both at a low level, though one was much deeper than the other. Advantage was taken of these ancient reservoirs to erect the higher one required for the reception of the waters of the Claudia and Anio Novus over it, or by the side of it, as was very usual throughout Rome. The later reservoirs are always made nearly over the old ones. This is equally the case here at the entrance into Rome and at the other end of the Cœlian. The great high reservoir of Nero is close by the side of, and really over, the great subterranean reservoir of the Aqua Appia (now under the garden of the Villa Cœlimontiana, as described in the account of the Appia).

The foregoing explanation seems necessary to explain the photographs that now follow, belonging to the Arches of Nero. The first of these (No. 77) shews the junction with the Porta Maggiore; the two specus that pass over that great gate are visible to the right of the photograph. The beginning of the Arches of Nero is then seen, where they have to cross the great wide and deep foss of the Sessorium, and were therefore strengthened by sub-arches, as seen in No. 76. A more close view of these arches, nearly at the same point, is seen in 66.

These arches were used by the engineers of the Aqua Felice whenever they suited their purpose, and cut about or destroyed without mercy; they also made use of an old specus to carry their metal pipes whenever it was convenient to do so, and the old specus that ran along the Cœlian was very convenient for that purpose. 1295* is from a drawing made to shew this. The specus of the Aqua Felice was first carried on the lower arches of the double arcade of Nero, the upper part of the arcade being destroyed. The metal pipes were then carried down into the old subterranean specus (the Specus Vetus of Frontinus). This is in the same garden or vineyard as the Gemelli, in the great foss between the Sessorium and the end of one of the banks of the Tarquins, (on which the garden of the Villa Volkonski has been made, and along which the Arches of Nero run.) A portion of the grand arcade, with the specus very visible on the top of it, is shewn in 759. This is close to the Scala Santa of the Lateran; the arcade carrying the aqueduct passed along the bank on the north side of the Lateran fortress on the Cœliolum, and supplied that with water.

On the western side of the Lateran fortress is another great foss, between the Cœliolum and the east end of the Cœlian Hill. It was either thought more convenient to make a bank across that great foss for the aqueduct to rest upon, or this bank which traverses that great foss had been made before for an upper road, and was used first for the Aqua Appia and the Anio Vetus, and afterwards by Nero. The existence of such a foss between the east end of the Cœlian Hill and the Cœliolum is denied by those who have not paid attention to the subject, and have not been into the gardens and vineyards to examine it; but the fact is a matter of demonstration. The tomb of the first century (miscalled the House of Verus, probably a tomb of the great Lateran family), being on the western bank of that fortress and the eastern bank of the foss, and the other tomb of the first century also, in the garden of what was the Museum of Campana (under an arch that carries the modern road), on the western side of that great foss, are a demonstration that there was such a foss on the east side of the City of Servius Tullius, i.e. that the Cœliolum and Lateran did not form part of the City at that time. (See my chapter on the Tombs, and the photographs of these two tombs, 174 and 1942).

The Arches of Nero remain on the Cœlian in many parts of the line, by the side of the road from the Lateran to S. Stefano Rotondo and the Navicella, with the arch of Dolabella, which was under the great reservoir of Nero, and formed the entrance of the Claudium. The Arches of Nero are faced with the finest brickwork in the world (ten bricks to the foot, as usual at that period, and are chosen as typical examples). This is well shewn in 78, and the internal construction of rubble, faced only with the fine brickwork, in 358. A line of these, shewing the picturesque effect, is shewn in 131 and 357. The aqueduct formed one of the usual angles between the Lateran and the arch at the west end of the Cœlian. It has been destroyed in this part; but this accounts for the arches being sometimes on one side of the road and sometimes on the other.

We have now arrived at the arch of Dolabella, built when he was consul, A.D. 10, as an entrance to that part of the Cœlian Hill which had been the keep when it was a separate fortress, and was afterwards made the Claudium. This arch is of very simple construction, of travertine, the same construction as the early part of the Basilica Julia, built by Julius Cæsar and Augustus. It was used by the engineers of Nero as a foundation for their great reservoir, or rather for one corner of it, as we clearly see in 72. The work of the time of Nero terminated here, but the design was carried on by his immediate successors. The water was then divided into three branches; the one on the right hand, to the north, went to the great reservoir between the Cœlian and the Esquiline, called the Stagna Neronis, and was used for the sham naval battles. Around these Stagna the Colosseum was afterwards built. A portion of the arcade on which the specus was carried is visible in the garden of the monks called the Passionists of SS. John and Paul, and is well shewn in No. 1773, looking towards the east, with the ruins of the reservoir over the arch of Dolabella, and the church of S. Stefano Rotondo in the distance. There are remains of a reservoir for this, of the third century, in the garden of the monks on the terrace of the Claudium, opposite to the Palatine, shewn in No. 1765. The ruins of the fine arcade of the Claudium stand on this terrace; the specus also is in a wall here, behind the arcade. A portion of another reservoir or piscina for them can be seen at the foot of the cliff of the Claudium, at its north-east corner, opposite that part of the Colosseum near the Meta Sudans; this is also shewn in No. 1743, with opus reticulatum of the time of Nero. This branch continued in use in the third century; for there are remains of another reservoir for it, again at the foot of the Claudium opposite to the Colosseum, but more to the east, near the north-east corner of the Claudium, and near to the eastern end of the Colosseum. The remains of this reservoir are shewn in No. 1735. A colonnade carrying the specus from this reservoir to the second story of the Colosseum, is shewn on one of the coins of Septimius Severus, who probably built this reservoir. In the corridors of the Colosseum are open stone troughs lined with the cement for water. These carried water from this aqueduct in a constant running stream to cool the air. They are work of the third century, with old inscriptions on some of them, shewing that they were made of old materials.

Another branch from the great reservoir went straight across to the Palatine, and from thence to the Capitol; it first follows the line of the road down the Clivus Scauri, on the left or southern side, and a fragment of it is visible opposite to the church of SS. John and Paul, as seen in No. 305. At the foot of the Clivus Scauri it formed an angle, and passed against the cliff on which the apse of the church was afterwards built; it now forms the lowest and last of the series of arches that are carried across the road to support the side of the church. Then, after this angle to the north, it resumes its course to the west upon the arches across the valley to the Palatine, which was a double arcade; but the lowest tier of it only remains, as is shewn in 116. A portion of the upper tier is also visible at the end of it; an arch of this upper tier remains, which, having been made into a back gate of the Palatine, has been suffered to remain, and is shewn in No. 72. A large reservoir for it was made at the south-west corner of the Palatine, on which the palace of Commodus was afterwards built; part of this reservoir and specus is shewn in 683 (made from a drawing). The specus went across the middle of the Palatine, and has been found more than once in some of the recent excavations, but not understood. It was then carried on the bridge of Caligula to the Capitol, a small portion of which remains connected with his palace, as is shewn in Nos. 1447 and 1451.

The third branch from the great reservoir over the arch of Dolabella on the Cœlian was made in the time of Trajan, to carry water to supply the thermæ on the Aventine, called after Sura, the cousin of the Emperor; these thermæ were closely connected with the private house of his family, rebuilt in his time, and called in the Regionary Catalogue “Privata Trajani,” of which there are considerable remains, now subterranean. The first place where this branch of the aqueduct is visible is in another reservoir (1147) against the cliff of the Cœlian, opposite to S. Balbina. This is partly above the level of the hill, and has been thought part of the Palace of Commodus, on the Cœlian (which may possibly have been built over it, but the existing remains are of the time of Trajan). The lower part is under this, and is excavated in the cliff. These were brought to light in the excavations of A.D. 1868 (559, 1008, 1009, 1010, 1011). The plan and section of it are to be seen in 1150*, 692*. Against the cliff the aqueduct formed one of the usual angles towards the north, and this was carried across the valley on the agger or bank of Servius Tullius, first passing over the arch of the gate of the Porta Capena, above the Aqua Appia, on a much higher level, and on an arcade, probably a double arcade, like the Arches of Nero near the Porta Maggiore, on account of the great height at which the water had to be carried from one hill to the other. All that remains of this lofty arcade is a line of brick piers passing across from the Cœlian to the Aventine, over the Aqua Appia, before described, and passing by the north end of the Piscina Publica, as rebuilt in the time of Trajan over the old one, which had belonged to the older aqueducts. There are considerable remains of the walls of this period, that divided the chambers shewn in 557, 558, 1288.

This arcade can then be traced against the cliff of the Pseudo-Aventine, on the north side of S. Balbina, though partly concealed by the filling up of the space against the cliff before mentioned. The tall arcade then crosses the valley from the Pseudo-Aventine to the other part of the Aventine, and from the garden of S. Balbina to that of S. Prisca, and, in the latter garden, there are considerable remains of it on the cliff opposite to the Palatine. At the north end is the specus upon the arcade (the top is open, and there is a walk upon it), 79. A small portion of the Thermæ of Sura is also shewn, with the specus in front of the ancient wall of tufa, called the Wall of the Latins (833).

From the piscina and reservoir on the cliff of the Cœlian another branch went to the south, over the spring of the Camenæ (?) 692, and near that of Egeria (?); it was carried over the Porta Metronia, and on the bank of the City Wall as far as the Porta Latina.

Another fine arcade of the time of Nero (No. 1317) leads to the Nymphæum before mentioned, where the Trophies of Marius were hung. The elevation shews that this water must have come from the highest of the aqueducts, the Anio Novus; and the remains of the reservoir near the Porta di S. Lorenzo, supposed to have been for the Aqua Julia, being on high ground, may have been for this branch, which conveyed water to the Thermæ of Titus.

X. Sabatina Trajana.

Great works for the aqueducts were carried on in the time of Trajan. One great work of his time was to bring water from the lake Sabatina to the top of the Janiculum. Augustus had previously brought water from that lake, supplementary to his aqueduct, from the lake Alseatina (VII.), to supply his Naumachia in the Trastevere; but the Aqueduct of Augustus was on the lowest level, that of Trajan on the highest. It does not appear that Trajan made use of the old specus of Augustus; but his aqueduct was afterwards made use of by the engineers of Pope Paul V. for the Aqua Paola, although they also brought a branch to it from the Alseatina, as Augustus had done.

That of Trajan is chiefly subterranean, and has been described under the head of the Alseatina (VII.), but nearer Rome it is above ground, and is carried on an arcade against the wall of the Villa Pamphili-Doria, near the Porta di S. Pancratio. Both the arcade and the specus are faced with the opus reticulatum of that period. (664* is from a drawing, 1065 from nature.) In some parts, one side of the specus has been cut away (1063). Just on the outside of that garden a large castellum aquæ of this aqueduct has been made into a farm-house, and in the yard of that house a branch from it can be seen (665*), apparently for the purpose of irrigation; or, as some think, this was formerly the point of division, one branch going to the Vatican, the other to the great fountain on the Janiculum (960), above S. Pietro in Montorio. The division now takes place at a short distance from this point. Procopius, writing in the sixth century, admires the enormous quantity of water brought by this aqueduct to the highest point in Rome; as it descends the hill, it turns the wheels of the flour-mills. After it arrived at the low level of the ground in the Trastevere, the respirators of the pipes for this aqueduct are carried in tall pyramids resembling chimneys (540). Part of the arcade and specus rebuilt by Paul V., near the garden before mentioned, is shewn in 1064, with the inscription of A.D. 1609 above it.

XI. Hadriana (?), Trajana (?) or Alexandrina (?).

The next great work of the period of Trajan or of Hadrian, on the eastern side of Rome, was probably begun in the time of Trajan. It brought water from springs under Labicum, now La Colonna, the same that is now brought for the Aqua Felice. The water from several springs was collected in a central reservoir, on which an inscription of Hadrian was found by E. Q. Visconti in the eighteenth century. This is between Pantana and Gabii, in the valley under La Colonna (1540). There are several other reservoirs of the time of Trajan or Hadrian along the line (1637, 1638). This aqueduct was considered by Fabretti to be of the time of Alexander Severus, and since his time it has usually been called the Aqua Alexandrina. It may have been partly rebuilt and brought into use again in his time, after having been choked up with stalactite, one of the springs used proving to be a petrifying spring.

Near the sources this arcade is low and much damaged, and the specus where it remains is nearly filled up with stalactite (1541, 1542). In some parts of the line the stalactite has all the appearance of a petrified cascade, and is evidently formed by the water oozing out and dripping and petrifying as it fell (1436). Further on there is a fine arcade for it across the country in the direction of Cento-Celle; and in some places the arcade is double to raise the specus to the necessary level, as in the Arches of Nero (1428, 1429). A portion of the arcade, where it is broken off, is seen in 1427, with the tower of Cento-Celle in the distance. Another portion of this fine arcade is shewn in 1640. It is of two periods; the upper part is of the third century, and may have been rebuilt by Alexander Severus (as has been said). At Cento-Celle the ground is high, and the aqueduct passes underground for some distance, along the side of the road towards Rome.

About a mile nearer to Rome, there is a branch aqueduct from the foot of the Marcian arcade, in the direction of the Mausoleum of S. Helena, which Fabretti considers as part of the same aqueduct; but it is difficult to see upon what grounds. There is a fine arcade here also for about a quarter of a mile; but it is of the time of Constantine, and I have not been able to trace any connection between this and the other. This arcade has been originally double, and the lower one only now remains, with a modern specus made upon it (555 and 556); but the water now flows from the Marrana, at the foot of the arcade of the great aqueducts, which were here on higher ground, and runs down upon this arcade to the garden and small monastery of S. Peter and Marcellinus, at the Mausoleum of S. Helena, called the Torre Pignattara, from the earthenware pots of which the vault was made.

XII. Aurelia, A.D. 185, and XIII. Severiana, A.D. 190.

These two aqueducts were made to convey water to the Thermæ of Commodus and Severus in Regio I., of which the remains were found in the excavations of 1870, just within the Porta Latina. The first part was originally made by Marcus Aurelius, for the use of his great villa on the Via Appia, called the Villa dei Quintilii, and the great reservoir and thermæ connected with it remain (2346, 2349, 2350, 2351, 2352). From thence it was brought into Rome by his successor, Ælius Aurelius Commodus. The water came from the Alban hills, near Marino (2358, 2359, 2360, 2361, 2362, 2363), at first underground, and then on an arcade, of which there are considerable remains near the Torre di Mezza Via di Albano (1626 and 1627).

From the Villa dei Quintilii it went parallel to the Via Appia. One of the reservoirs of it nearer to Rome is made into a farm-house, with a tower to it, and has the appearance of a church at a little distance; it is called the Casale di S. Maria Nuova (2348); it then passed again underground. Near the head of the valley of the Caffarella there remains a piscina for it nearly perfect (1372); this is very near also to the Circus of Maxentius and his son Romulus. There is another piscina or small reservoir for it near the church of S. Urbano, often mistaken for a tomb; here it again forms an angle, and the specus descends (plan and drawing, 831*) to the Nymphæum, or so-called Fountain of Egeria (262). The specus is then continued in the cliff of the valley of the Caffarella, from that fountain towards the tomb of the first century called Dio Ridicolo. Nearly opposite to that tomb the specus is visible in the cliff, with large openings into it, between which it passes underground. Wherever it was above ground it has been carried off as building materials and destroyed, so that it has not again been found until it arrives at the remains of a piscina, just to the south of the Porta Latina (984). It then entered the city of Aurelian through the bank on which his wall is built, and supplied the Thermæ of Commodus within that gate (as has been said), 1485, 1486.

XIV. Antoniniana, A.D. 215.

This aqueduct was used to supply the great Thermæ of the Antonines, now called after Antoninus Caracalla. It is more easily traced backwards, passing along the inner side of the bank on which the Wall of Aurelian is built, then upon an arcade which has been destroyed in this part, but of which remains are visible inside of the Porta Ardeatina (986), by the side of the Arch of Drusus, just within the Porta di S. Sebastiano (73, 1772, 1202). It then passes underground through the bank, and emerges in the city wall at the angle between the Porta di S. Sebastiano and the Porta Latina (539, 883). It here crosses the road, and is visible in the garden on the opposite side (884).

XV. Alexandrina, A.D. 225.

The Aqua Alexandrina is mentioned by Lampridius in his life of Alexander Severus, but it was probably a branch from the Anio Novus only, as the Nymphæum engraved on one of his coins[230] has been identified with the ruins near S. Maria Maggiore (2126, 2127). This stands on very high ground, and the only aqueduct that could reach it was that of the Anio Novus. This branch can be traced in the wall by the piers of the arcade, which have been built into the Wall of Aurelian near the Porta Maggiore (80 A, B). The specus and the arches were destroyed by the engineers of the Aqua Felice; the piers only remain, and these cease just before we arrive at the point where the railway now enters Rome through the wall (99). They come to an end directly in a line with a large reservoir, now a gardener’s house, near the Minerva Medica, almost between that and the wall, but a little to the south of it; one pier, however, of the tall arcade of the third century remains, as a sort of buttress, against that side of the fine building of the same period called the Temple of Minerva Medica (537). There are great remains of thermæ and fountains in the large vineyard in which this building stands. Some of these are of an earlier period; but a considerable part of them are of the third century, and of the time of Alexander Severus. The Nymphæum before mentioned was at the north end, and is a fine picturesque ruin, with very evident remains of the aqueduct in it (61, 963, 964). The water was here divided into several branches, of which we see portions of the specus going in different directions. One of the most important of these goes to the great reservoir of the Thermæ of Titus and Trajan, called the Sette Sale. This was made long before the time of Alexander Severus, who only rebuilt the Nymphæum; and there is an arcade of the first century leading to this Nymphæum from a reservoir near the Porta di S. Lorenzo.

At a short distance to the south of this celebrated Nymphæum is another very curious reservoir, now in a very bad state, having been turned into a gardener’s house, but which must have been of considerable importance, and probably belonged to the thermæ of the third century (2322, 2323). There is a cippus with an inscription, which indicates that the building was a castellum aquæ (2324).

XVI. Algentiana, A.D. 300.

This aqueduct was made to supply the great Thermæ of Diocletian on the Viminal Hill, but is believed to have been entirely subterranean, so that little is known about it. There was a reservoir for it on the eastern side of the Thermæ, under the present railway station. Drawings and a plan of this were preserved by Visconti[231].

XVII. The Aqua Crabra, the Marrana, A.D. 1124, and the River Almo.

These three may all be treated as one aqueduct for the supply of Rome, partly natural and partly artificial. They all come from the Alban Hills; the first from near Rocca di Papa on very high ground, the second from about a mile above the small and very picturesque town of Marino; the third lower down the same hill. They are all mountain streams, and partake of the usual character of such streams; in dry weather the springs that supply the Almo bring so little water, that it is only sufficient to fill some ponds for cattle at the foot of the hill. The deep bed of the river, which winds about the Campagna for miles, is therefore dry for a great part of the year, but the other two streams never fail; they are united at the foot of the hill, not far from the place where the Aqua Aurelia came from. The greater part of their united waters runs into the river Anio, but a portion of it is diverted near the ruins of the ancient fortified village or pagus, called Centroni (2315, 2316, 2317, 2318, 2319), on the road to Tusculum, (now Frascati,) about eight miles from Rome. This branch to supply Rome is first brought through an ancient tunnel of the Aqua Julia, at each end of which remains can be seen of the stone specus and the flood-gates (2310, 2311, 2312, 2313). The water is then conveyed in a bank of clay for about a mile, and then in the bed of one of the many branches of the mountain stream called the river Almo, and so brought into Rome (1309, 1318), under the Porta Metronia, which is built upon a bridge over it. The stream passes under some other bridges with mills upon them, and eventually falls into the Tiber through an aperture left for it in the Pulchrum Littus, or fine tufa wall of the Kings (drawing, 1235*; plans, 368*, 1234*; views, 77, 166, 157).

Another branch from it is carried from the junction or separation between the Torre Fiscale and Roma Vecchia (1937*) by the side of the cross road from the Via Appia Nova to the Via Appia Antiqua. Sometimes in the bed of the Almo, and in other parts, where the ground is low and the stream is liable to floods, an artificial canal is made for it, which may be seen in the valley of the Caffarella. This excellent plan was carried out in the most economical but effectual manner by a company in the twelfth century. This is really an aqueduct, though not usually so called; it is kept in repair by the present Water-Company, and is of great importance for Rome; as the floods to which the Almo was always liable along its whole line, and within the walls of Rome, (as is mentioned by Cicero,) are effectually kept out of Rome, and a constant, regular supply of water is obtained.

XVIII. Aqua Felice, made A.D. 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. (Felice Peretti).

The sources of it are the springs under the hill on which La Colonna stands. The same water had been used long before, and brought into Rome by the aqueduct (XI.) of Hadrian and Trajan before mentioned. The large reservoir for the water now in use is very near to the remains of the old one of Hadrian. The construction of this aqueduct is very rude and rough, of concrete and rubble-stone only, and this stone consists entirely of old materials; still the large scale of the work, and the height at which the specus is carried upon the arcade, give it a grand effect. At a little distance, the inferior construction is not seen, and this almost modern aqueduct is frequently mistaken by strangers for one of the old ones of the time of the Empire, of which it is only an imitation. It is seen in several of the views of the older aqueducts in the Campagna, especially those at the Torre Fiscale (531, 1028, 1029) and the Porta Furba (68, 1437). Here it crosses the road to Frascati on an arch, with an inscription upon it. In the latter part of its course it is made on the piers of the Claudian arcade, and it enters Rome at the same point, the north-east corner of the gardens of S. Croce. After passing along the north side of them, it is divided into different branches by a reservoir at the angle, close to the south side of the Porta Maggiore (30). The principal stream then passes along upon the Wall of Aurelian (80 A, B, 81), on the same high bank as the earlier aqueducts had done; it was cut through in making the railway, but a new bridge over that road was built for it (29). Near this it can be seen that it is carried on the piers of an older aqueduct for some distance (28). See Alexandrina (XV.)

Further on towards the Porta di S. Lorenzo the ground is higher, and in order to keep the level necessary for the specus, it is brought within the wall, and built up against the inside of it (1871). The Marcia, Tepula, and Julia, over which it is carried, as is seen at the two gates where their arcade is visible under the specus of the Aqua Felice, are here still under it, but underground also, owing to the higher level of the ground. It passes over the Porta di S. Lorenzo to a reservoir on the north side of it, and then turns to the west by the side of the road, which it crosses upon an arch, with an inscription upon it, at a short distance within that gate (81). The principal termination of it is at the Fountain of the Termini (called of Moses,) 71. Behind the fountain is a reservoir after the old fashion, which is illustrated by a plan and section (704*). The celebrated Fountain of the Triton (1196), in the Piazza Barberini, is also supplied by this aqueduct, as well as all the upper terraces upon the hills. The lower range, on the Campus Martius, is chiefly supplied by the Virgo. Another branch goes from the reservoir at the Porta Maggiore along the bank on which the Arches of Nero are carried, to the Lateran, where the fountains are supplied by this water. The old aqueduct was used according to the custom of the time, and there is a cascade specus from the level of the Marcia to that of the Appia (shewn in 541).

The specus of each of these old aqueducts was used to carry the metal pipes of the Aqua Felice, when it was convenient to do so (1295*), as has been previously mentioned.

The Aqua Marcia Pia was made by a Company between 1860 and 1870, and has been mentioned under the head of the Marcia (a part of it is shewn in 1553).

THE AQUEDUCTS.
ANIO NOVUS.—THE RIVER ANIO.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTO-ENGRAVINGS.

Plate I.

AQUEDUCTS—SOURCE OF AQUA APPIA.

ANCIENT QUARRY OF THE KINGS.

Source of the Aqua Appia, in a very ancient Stone-quarry of the time of the Kings, in the meadows on the bank of the river Anio, formerly called the meadows of Lucullus. They are not far from Lunghezza, the site of the ancient city of Collatium. This cave has two springs of water in it, and the two streams meet at the mouth of the cave in a channel, which is at first open at the top, and crosses the low meadow with the appearance of a ditch only, to a central reservoir, also in a cave, from which the tunnel specus begins that runs on, into and through Rome. Three streams meet at the same central reservoir, and their united water goes through the specus. Each specus can be traced by the line of bushes in the meadows, each bush being over one of the wells; these descend at regular intervals into the specus. These wells are also called respirators or ventilators, as they give air to the current of water, or as the people say, enable it to breathe. This cave is easily overlooked, and any person passing on the higher ground over it, is almost sure not to see it. It is scarcely visible until close to it. The ancient quarry from which it comes is earlier than others in the neighbourhood. The celebrated Caves of Cervaro are also ancient quarries; they are about a mile from this point, and although very early, are not quite so early as this, which is more distant from the river Anio. It seems probable that this was one of the quarries for the city of Collatium, before the time of Servius Tullius.

Plate II.

AQUEDUCTS—SOURCE OF AQUA APPIA.

ANCIENT QUARRY OF THE KINGS.

Source of another Spring of the Aqua Appia, in another ancient stone quarry on the bank of the river Anio. This is one of a fine series of ancient quarries, now caves, about a mile higher up the river than the Caves of Cervaro. These are believed to have been the quarries from which the large blocks of tufa for the walls of the Kings of Rome were taken, especially the great wall of Servius Tullius, which was a mile long, fifty feet high, and in some parts twelve feet thick, and which would require an enormous quantity of stone. This was probably floated down the Anio on wooden rafts, which served for timber also. The pool at the source of this spring appears as if it came from the water dripping through the rock above, which serves for a roof; but the old shepherds, who have watched it for years, say that the water never fails, and that it is a natural spring, although the quantity of stone refuse thrown into it makes it impossible to see exactly where it rises. These caves are extremely picturesque, more so even than the Caves of Cervaro, though these are the favourite resort of the German artists in their annual festival.

Plate III.

1. The Aqueducts above Subiaco.

2. River Anio, the Upper Lochs.

—— the third Loch and the Bridge.

AQUEDUCTS ABOVE SUBIACO

RIVER ANIO THE UPPER LOCHS

THE THIRD LOCH AND THE BRIDGE

The water for the aqueducts of Rome was chiefly drawn from the river Anio, or from springs or tributary streams that fell into that river. It rises in the high mountains above Subiaco, which are generally covered with snow for the greater part of the year, and the supply of water never fails entirely, though it is not always equally abundant. It is generally a clear, bright mountain stream, coming through rocks, but it is liable to sudden and violent floods, which bring down a great deal of mud, and therefore great precautions are taken for filtering it. The latest and most important of the great aqueducts were the Claudia and Anio Novus; the latter was the most abundant of all, being in fact a branch of the river compelled to pass through Rome by clever engineering. A series of great lochs was made by building dams across the river, with cascades from one to another. There were three of these about two miles above Subiaco, and about forty-two miles from Rome. The uppermost one of them is seen in the upper part of the plate, but in the third loch, the lowest of the three (shewn in the lower part of the plate), the bed of the river is so deep, that the water is not seen. The country through which it passes is celebrated as among the most beautiful in Italy.

Plate IV.

AQUEDUCTS ABOVE SUBIACO

ANIO NOVUS, THE THIRD LOCH

ANIO NOVUS, SPECUS CUT IN THE CLIFF

1. Anio Novus, the third Loch, as seen from below, where the dam, that formerly kept up the water and formed a great cascade, has been thrown down, and appears only as rocks in the stream; the modern bridge seen in this view is built upon the two ends of the old dam.

2. Anio Novus, Specus. The specus is here a tunnel cut in the cliff, on the side of the valley on which the town of Subiaco stands; it is six feet high, and only eighteen inches wide (an opening into it may be seen in the cliff, on the left-hand side of the view). The round tower, seen on the right, is that of the Villa Gori, about a mile above Subiaco.

Plate V.

Aqueducts above Subiaco—Anio Novus, Castellum.

AQUEDUCTS ABOVE SUBIACO

ANIO NOVUS, CASTELLUM

LINE OF THE SPECUS OF ANIO NOVUS

Photogravure Dujardin, Paris

This is the loch below the modern bridge, which is made upon the remains of the old dam across the river, destroyed in the fourteenth century by making a hole at the bottom to let the water escape from a flood in the upper country. The force of the water once let loose soon destroyed the dam, and the large stones of which it was built are still lying as rocks in the river, and are seen in the photograph and the photo-engraving.

Line of the Specus of the Anio Novus. It is here carried in the cliff of the valley of the river Anio, seen on the left of the picture. Both of these views are continuations of those seen in Plate [IV.], and one helps to explain the other. The specus continued in this way for many miles underground, in one sense, when seen from above, but not underground when seen from below. When it has to cross the mouths of the small subsidiary streams that fall into the Anio, it has to be carried over bridges or arches, at other times it is cut in the rock or cliff.

Plate VI.

The Claudia, Anio Vetus, and Novus, and Marcia in the Valley of the Arches above Tivoli.

AQUEDUCTS—CLAUDIA AND ANIO-NOVUS.

IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARCHES, NEAR TIVOLI.

This valley is about two miles above Tivoli, where there is a junction of another stream with the Anio, in rather a wider valley than the usual valley of the Anio only. One arch of the lofty Claudian arcade is left on the side of the valley next Tivoli, and on the top of this a medieval tower has been built, which has an extremely picturesque effect. Through the arch may be seen a small portion of the Marcian arcade, and at a few yards to the left the Anio Vetus, which there passes half-underground at the foot of the tall arcade of the Anio Novus.

Plate VII.

AQUEDUCTS ABOVE TIVOLI

ANIO NOVUS. MEDIEVAL TOWER

IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARCHES

Photogravure Dujardin, Paris

Two other Views of the Ruins of the Arcades of the Claudia and Anio Novus, in the Valley of the Arches above Tivoli. In the foreground, the Marcian seen through the arch, and the Anio Vetus again through the arch of the Marcian. These views are celebrated for their picturesque character, as indeed is all the country about Tivoli and Subiaco.

Plate VIII.

Aqueducts at Tivoli. Cascades of the Anio, with the Round Temple of the Sibyl at the top.

AQUEDUCTS AT TIVOLI

TEMPLE OF THE SIBYL AND CASCADES

CASCADES OF THE ANIO

This cascade shews the character of the country through which the aqueducts had to be carried, but the waters of the aqueducts taken out of the river Anio were necessarily confined each within its own specus, here in tunnels, which are carried in a zig-zag course gradually down the hill to the level of the Villa of Hadrian in the valley below.

Plate IX.

Aqueducts below Tivoli.

AQUEDUCTS BELOW TIVOLI

MARCIA ON THE VIA DI CARCIANO

MARCIA CASTELLUM. B. C. 145

The Marcia, a great Castellum Aquæ or Reservoir on the Via di Carciano. This is sometimes called the “Promenade” of Carciano, being a favourite walk on the brow of the hill, from which there is a distant view of S. Peter’s at Rome. This fine reservoir (of which two sides are here shewn) is of the time that this aqueduct was made, B.C. 145. It was probably from this reservoir that a branch specus descended to the Villa of Hadrian below, to which there is a bridle-road from near this point.

Plate X.

Aqueducts below Tivoli. Aqua Marcia, Reservoir.

AQUEDUCTS BELOW TIVOLI

AQUA MARCIA RESERVOIR

RESERVOIR OF AQUA MARCIA INTERIOR

This is another of the great reservoirs to receive and retain a supply of water on the edge of the hill, both as one of the many such reservoirs for the supply of water to Rome, and for the purpose of local irrigation. It consists of two large chambers, divided by an arcade, which is the usual plan, and is probably part of the original construction of B.C. 145. These reservoirs are remarkably picturesque and finely situated.

Plate XI.

Aqueducts below Tivoli. Anio Novus, Castellum.

AQUEDUCTS BELOW TIVOLI

ANIO NOVUS, CASTELLUM

MARCIA, CASTELLUM OF TRAJAN

This is another of these fine reservoirs, about a mile further on; it is faced with the reticulated-work of the first century, and is part of the original work of the time of Nero.

Marcia, Castellum of Trajan, who repaired the aqueducts in several places, as is recorded by inscriptions. The reticulated-work with which this is faced is very peculiar, and is believed to be unique, at least it has not been observed elsewhere.

Plate XII.

The Claudia and Anio Novus in the Campagna of Rome, near Roma Vecchia.

THE AQUEDUCTS. CLAUDIA AND ANIO NOVUS

IN THE CAMPAGNA NEAR THE PISCINAE AND ROMA VECCHIA.

This grand arcade is the most perfect part of this finest of the aqueducts, and extends for about a mile, from near the farm-house called Roma Vecchia, about four miles from Rome, to the piscinæ where the arcade becomes gradually lower as the ground rises towards the foot of the hills. The two specus are clearly seen with their usual characteristics, the Claudia built of large squared stones; the Anio Novus is visible, faced with brick in most parts, but here is faced with reticulated-work. In the first part of this view are seen the ruins of one of the enormous reservoirs, or Castella Aquarum, at one of the angles which occur at each half mile along its course. The object of these very numerous reservoirs probably was two-fold, one for local irrigation, the other for keeping up a constant and never-failing supply for Rome, even in the hot season, when many springs cease to flow.

Plate XIII.

AQUEDUCTS ON THE VIA LATINA.

NEAR PORTA FURBA

UNDER THE TOR FISCALE MARCIA & CLAUDIA

Photogravure Dujardin, Paris

The Marcia, Tepula and Julia passing under one of the arches of the Claudia and Anio Novus, now under the Tor Fiscale. A medieval tower built upon the celebrated crossing of the aqueducts, where seven aqueducts crossed each other at different levels. The Anio Vetus passes under it just underground, and the Aqua Felice by the side of it. The specus of the Aqua Marcia, built as usual of squared stone, is seen upon the arch that carried it; the others are concealed by a modern wall, but can be traced passing under the stone arch of the Claudian. The other view in the upper part of the plate shews another crossing, at one of the angles made to break the force of the water. The Marcian and the Claudian arcades running parallel to each other at a short distance only, the angle of this goes across the intervening space, and then changes sides for a time. The road which here runs between the two arcades passes under the arches at both ends of this junction, near the Porta Furba, which is seen in the distance. The character of the brickwork of the arch in the foreground indicates the time of Trajan, with later repairs, which were made at all periods in this arcade.

Plate XIV.

AQUEDUCTS

MARCIA AT PORTA TIBURTINA

CLAUDIA AND ANIO NOVUS AT ANGLE OF THE SESSORIUM

The upper view represents the stone specus of the Aqua Marcia at the Porta Tiburtina, now of S. Lorenzo, just within the gate, and in the wall on the southern side, with an opening by the side of it, through which a man can now walk into the specus and along it. To the right of this, still in the wall, is a Castellum of the Aqua Felice, which is here, as at the Porta Maggiore, above the Marcia, Tepula and Julia, and below the Claudia and Anio Novus.

In the lower view is the Claudia and Anio Novus, at the north-east angle of the gardens of the Sessorian Palace (now of S. Croce in Gerusalemme). One of the stone piers of the Aqua Claudia is seen just within the projection of the tower at the angle, which is an addition of a later period. Within this portion of the City wall is a great Castellum Aquæ, extending from the corner to the tower, through which the aqueducts entered Rome. The interior of the tower is a piscina, which is shewn in another plate.

Plate XV.

Aqueducts at the Porta Maggiore. The Marcia, Tepula, and Julia entering Rome.

AQUEDUCTS AT THE PORTA MAGGIORE.

MARCIA TEPULA JULIA ENTERING ROME

MARCIA ETC. WITHIN THE WALL.

The upper view shews the exterior of the wall, with the three specus passing through it, under an arch of the Claudian arcade, now destroyed. These are carried upon one of the piers of the Marcian arcade, built of squared stone, as the part near Rome always was. In the left lower corner of this view may be seen the Anio Vetus, half underground, as usual for this aqueduct. [This opening has been built up since the photograph was taken. The demolition of all traces of the old aqueduct as far as possible was part of the plan of the architect, who directed what were miscalled the restorations of the City wall.]

The lower view represents the specus of the Aqua Marcia, of squared stone, carried on one of the arches of the Marcian arcade through the wall, within it at the same point as that of the exterior shewn above.

Plate XVI.

Claudia and Anio Novus.

AQUEDUCTS

ANIO NOVUS ON THE CAELIAN

CLAUDIA AND ANIO NOVUS OVER THE PORTA MAGGIORE

I. Over the Porta Maggiore. In the lower view the two specus are seen endways, built of squared stone, as part of the gateway. The point of view for this is nearly the same as that of Plate [XV.], looking south instead of west. The curious tomb of the Baker Eurysaces is seen on the left, with the stone kneading-troughs of which it is built.

II. The upper view is one corner of the great reservoir of Nero on the Cœlian, near the west end, over the Arch of Dolabella, which is seen built of well-cut stone, and perfectly plain. This has an inscription, with the names of the Consuls of the time of Augustus (A.D. 10), forty years afterwards; the arch, which was the eastern entrance into the Claudium, was used by the engineers of Nero as a substructure for the corner of the great reservoir of water for the supply of that part of Rome, which was carried at the height of thirty feet from the ground. Some small square windows are seen in the wall, which belonged to the chapel of S. Thomas in formis (or in the arches), made in the remains of the arcade in the eighth century, and removed in the twelfth for a larger chapel, now in the garden of the Villa Celi-montana near to it. At the left-hand corner of this view is seen the gateway of the small monastery of the Redemptorists, with the celebrated mosaic picture over it, representing Christ between a black and a white slave, shewn in another plate of this work.

Plate XVII.

Arches of Nero within the Porta Maggiore.

AQUEDUCTS. ARCHES OF NERO.

WITHIN THE PORTA MAGGIORE.

AQUA MARCIA, WITHIN THE PORTA MAGG: 1871.

This double arcade crosses the valley or inner foss of the Sessorian Palace. It was built on this plan for greater strength, as the piers are of a great height. This arcade is a continuation of the one that forms the northern wall of the Sessorian gardens, in a direct line to the west, over the Cœlian to the great reservoir over the Arch of Dolabella (shewn in the last plate). The specus was carried at the top, and conveyed the water of the Claudian and Anio Novus, united at the Gemelli (a great twin reservoir which was close to that point, and at the north-west angle of the Sessorian gardens). The Claudian as a separate water turns at a sharp angle, and goes on to the Porta Maggiore, with the Anio Novus over it, and terminated at another tower just to the north of the place where the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia pass through the wall. But they left a considerable part of their water at that angle to be united to that of the Anio Novus at the Gemelli.

The lower view represents a fragment of the Aqua Marcia, as repaired and restored by Trajan, to the north of, and near the Porta Maggiore, in the vineyard in which the Minerva Medica stands, which has been the Exquiliæ, and afterwards the gardens of Mæcenas. This, which is parallel to the City wall, is joined to it a little further on. It was accidentally brought to light by some excavations in 1871, and is now buried again.

Plate XVIII.

The Claudian and the Anio Novus, in the North Wall of the Sessorian Gardens, near the Porta Maggiore.

AQUEDUCTS NEAR PORTA MAGGIORE.

CLAUDIA AND ANIO NOVUS IN THE WALL OF THE SESSORIUM.

NYMPHAEUM OF ALEXANDER SEVERUS WHERE THE TROPHIES OF MARIUS WERE HUNG.

The wall for about a quarter of a mile is entirely made out of this arcade, with the arches filled up, but it is built upon the old earthwork of the Sessorium, probably of the time of the Kings. The arcade extends from the angle at the north-east corner, where the aqueduct entered Rome, to the north-west angle near the Porta Maggiore, which was called Porta Sessoriana, because it entered into the Sessorian gardens.

The lower view represents the Nymphæum of Alexander Severus, where the Trophies of Marius were hung.

This is identified by a representation of it on one of the coins of that Emperor. It is commonly miscalled a Castellum of the Aqua Julia, but it is on too high a level for that water, and there is no other but the Anio Novus which is high enough; this was brought along the wall to another reservoir near the Porta Tiburtina, and then by a branch arcade to this point, where there is another large reservoir on high ground, from which the water was dispersed in different directions. One branch went to supply the great reservoir called the Sette Sale, which supplied the Thermæ of Titus and Trajan on the Exquiliæ, and from thence went on to the Colosseum and to the Tiber. Another branch supplied the Thermæ of Constantine, on the Quirinal.

Plate XIX.

Reservoir on the Arches of Nero over the Arch of Dolabella.

AQUEDUCTS—ON ARCHES OF NERO.

OVER THE ARCH OF DOLABELLA

This Plate is almost a repetition of Plate [XV.], but from a different point of view, and this great reservoir is of so much importance for the history of the aqueducts in Rome, that it was necessary to shew it as clearly as possible. Without repeating what has been said before, we may add that the arch seen to the right in this view is the beginning of an arcade which led to the Colosseum. Another branch in a more direct line led to the Palatine, after passing first along the north wall of the garden of the Villa Celimontana, then by the western side of the Clivus Scauri, parallel to the church of SS. John and Paul, and at the foot of the hill passing across the road, and under the apse of the church; then turning again southwards on an arcade across the valley to the Palatine, of which there are remains; afterwards passing along the whole length of the Palatine underground, it is visible at the mouth of a tunnel on the platform opposite to the Capitoline Hill, and went across the Forum Romanum over the bridge of Caligula. The work of Nero stopped at the Arch of Dolabella, but it was taken up and completed by his successors.

Another branch went also to the left, on the west wall of the garden of the Villa Celimontana, to the valley between the Cœlian and the Aventine. There is a large reservoir for it on the cliff of the Cœlian, partly below and partly above it, and in the garden of the monks of S. Gregory. It then went on a tall arcade, over the Porta Capena and the agger of Servius Tullius, to the Piscina Publica, and from thence, again crossing the valley between the two parts of the Aventine, to the Thermæ of Sura, and the private house of Trajan, and the temples on the edge of the Aventine, and to the mouth of the aqueducts in the cave under the Priorato at the Porta Trigemina, and so to the Tiber.

THE AQUEDUCTS.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DIAGRAMS.

Plate I.

Plan of the Sources of the Appia (I.) and Virgo[232] (VI.)

I.

AQUEDUCTS—AQUA APPIA AND VIRGO.

Plan of the Springs at the Sources in the Meadows of Lucullus, on the Bank of the River Anio, Excavated in 1868

• 1. Farm-house of Cervaro.
• 2. —— Cervelletta.
• 3. —— La Rustica.
• 4. —— Salone.
• 5. Church.
• 6. Sources of the Aqua Appia.
• 7. —— Virgo.
• 8. —— Augusta.
• 9. Tombs.
• 10. Aqueduct of the Virgo.
• 11. Road of Cervaro.
• 12. —— La Rustica.
• 13. —— Prænestina (?).
• 14. —— Collatia.
• 15. Bed of the stream of the Fontanille.
• 16. —— of Tor Sapienza.
• 17. —— of Ponte Nono, the Rivus Herculaneus.
• 18. Direction of the Aqueduct of the Appia.
• 19. Stone-quarry of Collatium and Necropolis.

Plate II.

II.

AQUEDUCTS—AQUA APPIA, SPECUS.

In a Tower of the Porta Capena, under the Cœlian, now a Gardener’s Cottage, Excavated in 1868.

The Appia (I.) at the Porta Capena, in the eastern tower of the gate, now in the house of the gardener of the monks of S. Gregory. The specus is built of large blocks of tufa, and the lower part of it cut in the tufa wall of Servius Tullius; it was distinctly visible in the excavations of 1870, when this drawing was made. The line of the aqueduct upon the short agger between the Cœlian and the Aventine was also visible for several yards, and in three different places, where pits were dug fifteen feet deep, the last was where a branch was carried into the Piscina Publica. The middle pit was in waste land on the western side of the present south road through the gate of S. Sebastian, or the modern line of the Porta Appia. It was to this pit that his holiness Pius IX. was taken to see it by the Cavaliere Guidi, and he said there was no denying that this was part of the wall of Servius Tullius, but he was surprised that his Roman friends had not discovered this. The greater part of the pits that he opened might have been left open, if it had not been for the prejudices of the subordinate officers of the Government. The particular pit in question was in waste ground by the side of the road, and might have been left open without any inconvenience.

Plate III.

III.

AQUEDUCTS—AQUA APPIA, SPECUS.

In a Stone Quarry under S. Sabba, on the Aventine, where Seven Branches of Later Aqueducts cast their surplus water into the Appia, Excavated in 1868.

The Appia (I.) under S. Sabba, in an old subterranean stone quarry. Several branches of other and later aqueducts here cast their surplus water into the specus of the Appia, the earliest and the lowest (as shewn in the plan). The specus is also visible in several places, filled up to one-third of its depth by the deposit of clay left by the water, which comes from swampy meadows on the bank of the river Anio, in which the soil is clay, upon tufa rock, called the “Meadows of Lucullus.”

Over the plan in this plate are two sections of the specus; in the one to the right the clay deposit left by the water is shewn, in the one to the left a small pipe coming into the specus, probably part of the system of irrigation, which was one great use of the aqueducts; the green lines winding through the quarry represent the lines of the various streams of water coming at different levels, sometimes with a very rapid descent, and all falling into the old deep specus of the Appia, before that was carried across the last road that it had to pass. In this instance it was probably carried under the road, and not over the arch of the gate. At this point four roads meet, which is almost a certain indication of the site of a gate. In most cases the specus was carried over the gate, but here the level seems too low, unless the old foss-way has been filled up even more than the usual fifteen feet. The specus is visible again in another subterranean stone quarry under S. Prisca, in the same large vineyard formerly of the Jesuits, now of Prince Torlonia, in which, at a higher level, are also the remains of the Wall of the Latins on the Aventine, and of the Thermæ of Sura and the private house of Trajan. Another aqueduct passed over this to supply the Thermæ; this is on a very high level, and was carried on a tall arcade across the valley, from the Cœlian to the Aventine, passing over the Porta Capena and on the old agger. There are remains of the tall brick piers in several places, and of the arcade and specus on the hill near S. Prisca, visible from the Palatine.

Plate IV.

IV.

AQUEDUCTS—AQUA APPIA, MOUTH.

In a Cave of the Aventine, under S. Alexio, at the Porta Trigemina, near the Marmorata, Excavated in 1868.

Mouth of the Appia (I.), in a cave under the Priorato or Priory of the knights of Malta on the Aventine, near the Marmorata and the Porta Trigemina. At the back of the cave, and connected with it by a natural tunnel, is a large reservoir of water in the heart of the hill, supplied by a natural spring, which was added to the water brought by the aqueduct for distribution. The latter part of this cave, behind the part here shewn, is under the garden of the monastery of S. Alessio, and the cave belonged to those monks. A plan and section of it is given in another plate. In the inner part of the cave is the natural spring, so that it is always knee-deep in water. This seems a likely place to have driven cattle into for concealment; there is no other natural cave under the Aventine, and this is close to the Porta Trigemina. The idea that there was a cave near the Forum Boarium seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding as to the exact site of the Porta Trigemina, which was supposed to be close to that Forum, instead of being a quarter of a mile from it, and close to the Sublician, or wooden bridge, where some remains of it have been found. The specus of the Aqua Appia leads directly into this cave, and other aqueducts also meet there. The surplus water of the Trajan, far above this level, descends into it by a vertical pipe of terra cotta. Piranesi, in the last century, recognised the cave as the mouth of the Aqua Appia, and gives one of his admirable etchings of this part of the Aventine, with the cave at its foot. He was in advance of his time, but a great deal of fresh evidence has come to light since that period.

Plate V.

I. Aqua Appia.

V.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—APPIA.

Reservoir in the Garden of the Sessorium, now of S. Croce, called Thermæ of S. Helena.

A. Section. B. Plan.

The Aqua Appia (I.) is at so great a depth near the Porta Maggiore (which stands on very high ground), that it is difficult to trace it, but the specus was found in making the railway in a deep cutting about half-a-mile outside of that gate, and was described in the Bulletino di Correspondenza Archæoligia at the time it was found. There is reason to believe that it entered Rome under the wall on the north side of the Sessorian Gardens, and was received in a reservoir, of which there are remains at a considerable depth, especially the lower story. This is near the reservoir of the great Basilica or Hall of the Palace, of which the apse remains. The plan and section of this reservoir are shewn in this diagram. The specus from this point turned to the west, and passed along the Cœlian Hill at a low level, nearly under the arches of Nero; but before arriving at these, it passed through another large and deep reservoir to the south of the Porta Maggiore, now in a vineyard, with another large reservoir close to it. These two are believed from the situation to be the Gemelli of Frontinus. An inscription was found on the one in the garden of the Sessorium relating to the Thermæ of S. Helena, who resided in that palace, and probably the water for her bath-chambers was taken from this reservoir.

Plate VI.

II. Anio Vetus.

VI.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—ANIO VETUS. RESERVOIR NEAR THE PORTA FURBA.

A. Section, shewing the depth underground.

B. Plan of the two Chambers and the Entrance.

The reservoir, of which the plan and section are given in this plate, is situated at about a quarter of a mile from the Porta Furba, near the junction of the old Via Latina with the Via Appia Nova. It is just two miles from Rome, and so agrees with the text of Frontinus. It seems clear that at this point part of its water was carried by the Octavian specus to the Porta Maggiore, while the main stream went on along the side of the Via Appia Nova to the Asinian Gardens, just within the Porta Asinaria. It was shewn in some excavations made under my direction in 1871. We had long been looking for it, and the gardener informed us that there was a vaulted chamber under part of that garden or vineyard, where we found it, a few feet underground, and about a hundred yards from the arcade of the great aqueduct on the southern side, nearer to the present road than the reservoir.

Plate VII.

Loch in the Aqua Julia, near the Imperial Villa, called the Sette Bassi (Septimius Bassus?).

VII.

THE AQUEDUCTS.

A Loch in the Aqua Julia, near the Villa called Sette Bassi. Plan and Section.

A. Section of the Branch.

B. The Specus.

B. Plan, shewing the Division and the Loch.

A. A. The Specus.

B. The Loch for the Branch.

The Aqua Julia at this point, which is about four miles from Rome, is just underground, and this loch and branch to supply the Villa was discovered about 1850 by Signor Moraldi, when he was making a map of the Aqua Marcia, with a view to having it brought again into use; which has since been done, but by a different line.—To save carrying it so far round as the old aqueduct was carried (in order to avoid the mouths of the many streams that run into the river Anio), the modern engineers used metal pipes in this part. Above Tivoli they built a stone specus after the old fashion, as in that stone country they found it the cheapest and the best plan. They now say they regret that they did not continue the stone specus over the level Campagna also, as the metal pipes are continually bursting from the force of the water. Previous to this discovery of Signor Moraldi, it was not known that there were lochs in the aqueducts, though it is obvious that when branches had to be taken from them, such an arrangement would be required. The Tepula and the Marcia are underground in this part. The Julia, being the uppermost of the three, was close to the surface. This was also the case on the side of the great agger of Servius Tullius near the railway station, where the Julia only was excavated, with two cippi, on which were inscriptions stating that the three aqueducts passed there.

Plate VIII.

Aqueducts and River Almo, near the Porta Furba.

VIII.

THE AQUEDUCTS AND RIVER ALMO, NEAR THE PORTA FURBA.

A. Plan at a Crossing.

B. Plan and Section at another point.

C. Plan and Section in the Quarry at the Albergo de’ Spiriti.

D. Plan and Section of Reservoir near the same.

A. Arcades of the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia; the Claudia and Anio Novus at one of the angles and crossings; and the Aqua Felice, which is carried first on one and then on the other of the old arcades. Also, there is an indication of the situation of the great tumulus and tomb called “Monte del Grano,” in which the fine sarcophagus was found which is now in the Capitoline Museum, and was long supposed to be that of the Emperor Alexander Severus and his wife Mammea. This is given to indicate the situation. The river Almo is seen crossing the two arcades near the gate or arch over the road.

B. The same two arcades, at about a quarter of a mile nearer to Rome, or just two miles, with the river Almo winding between them; and a Section to shew the elevations.

C. Plan of the junction of the old Via Latina, with the modern road to Albano, at two miles from Rome, shewing the situation of the aqueduct in a stone-quarry at the back of the “Albergo dei Spiriti,” near C.

D. Plan and Section of the reservoir, at two miles from Rome, near the Porta Furba.

Plate IX.

The Seven Aqueducts at the Tor Fiscale.

IX.

THE AQUEDUCTS AT THE TOR FISCALE.

A. Section.

B. Plan, shewing the crossing of Five Aqueducts in the Tower, and two under it.

At this important junction and crossing of the aqueducts the Marcian arcade originally made one of the usual angles. The more lofty arcade of the Claudia and Anio Novus was then carried over it, with the Anio Vetus half underground, nearly on the same line; and the modern aqueduct, called the Felice, is here carried against and partly upon the old Marcian arcade. The medieval architects took advantage of this crossing to build a tall tower upon it; the five conduits or specus can be seen inside the tower, and half arches abutting against it in a very picturesque manner, all of which are shewn in the Section in the upper part of the plate, and in the Photo engravings.

The Plan in the lower part of the plate shews the arrangement, and also the small river Almo, now called the Marrana, winding round it.

Plate X.

X.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—CLAUDIA AND ANIO NOVUS.

Entering Rome in a Tower of the Sessorium.

A. Section.

B. Plan, of the Piscina made in the Tower.

Piscina of the Anio Novus at the entrance into Rome, in a tower of the Wall of Aurelian, and of the gardens of the Sessorian Palace, now of S. Croce in Gerusalemme.

A. The Section.

B. The Plan.

By a singular coincidence it happens that the inner wall of this tower has been destroyed, so that the whole of the interior is displayed, and shews exactly what an ancient piscina was. The water comes into the right-hand upper chamber, it then descends into the chamber under it, as is marked by the arrow in the drawing, it then passes through small holes in the partition wall into the left-hand lower chamber. [The artist has represented a large opening through this wall, but this must be a mistake, owing to the wall being partially broken away; there are always small holes through this partition wall.] The space between this tower and the corner of the wall in the Sessorian gardens, where it turns sharp to the west, was a large reservoir, or Castellum Aquæ, for the Claudia; it is not at a sufficiently high level for the Anio Novus.

Plate XI.

The Aqueducts at the Porta Maggiore and the Porta Tiburtina.

XI.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—AT THE PORTA TIBURTINA.

A. Marcia, Tepula, Julia, and Felice.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—AT THE PORTA MAGGIORE.

B. Marcia, Tepula, Julia, and Felice; Claudia and Anio Novus crossing over them.

In the lower part of this plate is seen the Wall of Rome on the northern side of the Porta Maggiore, with the tomb of Eurysaces the Baker in front of it. The wall here makes an angle, and the section of it is shewn just beyond the gate; the Claudia and Anio Novus (which here passed over it) are shewn in section, the specus of the Claudia being nearly square, that of the Anio Novus over it considerably higher in its proportions. The Marcia, Tepula, and Julia here pass under these at a right angle, and through the wall, which in that part is made by filling up the arches of the Claudian arcade of the aqueducts. A pier of the Marcian arcade is shewn in the lower part of the section. The Aqua Felice is carried between the Julia and the Claudia, and it continues on to the Porta Tiburtina, always at the same level, over the Marcian arcade, but between the gates it passes through higher ground, and is therefore in that part underground, but emerges on arches at the two ends, near the gates, as Frontinus mentions. The Claudian arcade terminated at a tower in an angle of the wall, just to the north of this view, and with a great reservoir within the wall. In the upper view the Porta Tiburtina is shewn, with the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia passing over it. The different levels of the old road and the new one are also shewn. The arch on which the aqueducts are carried has inscriptions upon it of the time of Augustus, A.D. 10, and is of his time; it is buried up to the springing of the actual arch; the jambs are entirely buried by the filling up of the foss-way, but the two arches of the time of Honorius, A.D. 405, are tall arches, standing on the ground at its present level; the raising of the level of the road, therefore, took place between A.D. 10 and A.D. 400.

Plate XII.

Anio Novus—Nymphæum, where the Trophies of Marius were hung.

A. Section of the Tower and Arches.

B, C. Plans of the Three Stories.

XII.

THE AQUEDUCTS.—ANIO NOVUS.

At the Nymphæum, where the Trophies of Marius were hung.

A. Section of the Tower and Arches.

B. C. Plans of the three Stories.

This Nymphæum is represented on one of the coins of Alexander Severus, and belonged to the great Thermæ of the third century on the eastern side of Rome, which, having been long in progress, are called by the names of different emperors of that period. The ground had been originally the Exquiliæ, the great burial-ground of the time of the Republic, afterwards the garden of Mæcenas; it is full of aqueducts of different periods, and at different levels, and there are several reservoirs for them, some underground, others at a higher level. This one was formerly considered to have belonged to the Aqua Julia, but on taking the levels it appears that the only water in Rome that is high enough to reach it is the Anio Novus, the highest of the aqueducts, and the water has been brought from a reservoir belonging to that, near the Porta Tiburtina; having just been brought along the high bank on which the Wall of Rome stands, part of an arcade of an aqueduct leading to it remains, coming from that gate. Near the Porta Maggiore there are also remains of an aqueduct at a very high level, coming from the Anio Novus, but the construction of the arcade is of the third century. It is now part of the wall.

This Nymphæum or reservoir at that high level has several branches leading from it, one of which goes in the direction of the other great reservoir on the Esquiline Hill, called the Sette Sale, and this, from the high level, probably supplied the Sette Sale and the Thermæ of Titus and Trajan.

Plate XIII.

River Almo. Division into two Branches, now a Loch of the Marrana.

XIII.

RIVER ALMO, NOW THE MARRANA.

Division into two Branches, now at a Loch of the Marrana. Plan, View, and Section.

This loch is situated about half-way between the Tor Fiscale and the farm-house called Roma Vecchia, rather more than three miles from Rome, and a quarter of a mile to the left of the Via Appia Nova. The Almo is a mountain stream coming down from the Alban hills, often flooded in the rainy season and dry in the hot season, with a very deep bed called a foss. This bed was convenient for the engineers who made the mill-stream, now called the Marrana, in the twelfth century, and they used it when the ground was high and the foss deep; but in other parts, when the ground was low and liable to be flooded, they banked up the stream, or made a new channel for it on a raised bank, for sometimes half a mile together, then joined the old winding bed again for perhaps another mile. At the point where the division into two streams takes place, one branch is banked up and comes through Rome, the other remains in the deep bed and receives the surplus water from the loch, made at this point, and this second stream runs through the valley of the Caffarella, and has its mouth near the church of S. Paul f. m. The Plate shews the plan at the division, one section of the loch, and the lasher. The second stream has no other beginning than this division, and the deep bed or foss can be traced in its winding course by the side of the cross-road from the Via Appia Nova to S. Urban, at the head of the valley of the Caffarella.

Plate XIV.

River Almo, now the Marrana.

Entrance into Rome under the Porta Metronia.

XIV.

RIVER ALMO, NOW THE MARRANA.

Entrance into Rome under the Porta Metronia.

A. Elevation, with the Bridge under the Gate.

B. Plan and Sections—A. B. The Bridge; C. D. Sections.

C. Plan of the Ground without and within the Wall of Rome.

A. Elevation, with the bridge under the gate.

The lower bridge under the modern road is of the time of the Early Empire, and can be seen, though not without some little difficulty, by climbing upon the bank of the mill-stream, which now runs in the deep winding foss of the Almo, and makes a bend under the gate, as is seen in the small plan in the centre, marked M.

B. Plan and sections, longitudinal and transverse, of the bridge, with the gate upon it. The longitudinal section A B has the line of it, marked on the small plan M; the transverse section is marked C D.

C. Map of the corner of the Wall of Rome, shewing the great bend that it makes to the south at this point. The wall is indicated by the towers at short intervals, and the stream of water by its winding course. The roads within the walls, and the road on the outside under the wall are also indicated. The house shewn in the lower part, to the left in the plan, is believed to be on the site of that of Crassipes, the father-in-law of Cicero, near the Via Appia. The stream after passing the road turns sharply round to the north, under the cliffs of the Aventine, and runs through the Vallis Murcia, in which the Circus Maximus was made, first having passed by the Piscina Publica, under that part of the Aventine on which the Reformatory of S. Balbina now stands.

Plate XV.

River Almo. Mouth in the Pulchrum Littus. View.

XV.

RIVER ALMO, NOW THE MARRANA.

Mouth in the Pulchrum Littus. View.

This is the mouth within the Walls of Rome from the earliest period, and it was here in all probability that the priests washed the blood off their knives, and not at S. Paul’s, a mile outside the town. The remains of the early wall of tufa in this part are well shewn in the drawing, and the mouth for the stream to pass through, left when the wall was built. This was part of the second Wall of Rome, built when the peace was made between the Romans and the Sabines. The construction of that period, of the usual large blocks of tufa with very fine joints, is clearly shewn in the drawing.

Plate XVI.

River Almo. Mouth in the Pulchrum Littus. Plan.

XVI.

RIVER ALMO, NOW THE MARRANA.

Plan of the Mouth in the Pulchrum Littus.

In the Plan the old arrangement is clearly shewn, and the division of the stream into two branches, one of which now turns a mill-wheel, and is probably part of the alterations in the twelfth century,—this is the straight line. The other is probably the original end of the stream, or at least of this branch of it. The frequent change of the sand-banks by the great floods of the Tiber sometimes obscure this part. Advantage was taken of the water being low in the Tiber to get this plan and the view in Plate [XV.]

THE AQUEDUCTS.
PLATE XVII.

SOURCES OF THE AQUA APPIA.

XVII.

SOURCES OF THE AQUA APPIA.

Description of Plate XVII.

SOURCES OF THE AQUA APPIA[233].

A. Spring in a very ancient stone-quarry on the bank of the river Anio, probably one of those from which Servius Tullius had obtained the stones for his great wall, which had been floated down the river on rafts. The spring is so filled up with broken stones that it looks like merely a pond formed by drippings from the roof and the earth above, but the shepherds are certain that it is a spring, and the water never fails.

B. Central reservoir where two streams meet and are united in one specus, which conveyed the water into Rome. The aperture in the rock above is not original, or it has been greatly enlarged. This was probably a well to draw water for the cattle, and to give air to the specus.

C. Two streams coming out of a sort of double cave, and meeting at the mouth of it, from whence they are carried across the meadow in a specus open at the top for a certain distance, and having the appearance of a ditch only; but the water from this spring also never fails, and these two streams united gave a certain steady supply to the aqueduct. The meadow through which these streams flow has a clay soil, and the water is always liable to be muddy after rain, and left a large deposit of clay in the specus, as is shewn in other plates.

THE AQUEDUCTS.
PLATE XVIII.

AQUA APPIA, OR APPIAN AQUEDUCT.

XVIII.

THE APPIAN AQUEDUCT PASSING OVER THE PORTA CAPENA AND THROUGH THE TOWER.

Description of Plate XVIII.

AQUA APPIA, OR APPIAN AQUEDUCT.

Crossing the valley from the Cœlian to the Aventine upon the agger of Servius Tullius and over the Porta Capena, this was the only part that was above ground, as we are told by Frontinus[234]. In this view the pavement of the Via Appia is seen in the foreground, then the wall of Servius Tullius, twelve feet thick, (as usual with the walls of the Kings;) by the side of this, to the left, is seen the arcade that carried the specus of the aqueduct; this goes as far as the branch of the river Almo (now called the Marrana), which runs through the valley. On the further side of the stream the land is high, and the aqueduct is again underground, but it has been traced not only across the valley, but under the cliff on the northern side of the Pseudo-Aventine, with a branch to the left to supply the Piscina Publica, which was an enormous swimming-bath for the whole population of Rome at that period, extending as far as the north end of the Thermæ of Caracalla, where the hollow with the bank round it can still be seen, and where a great reservoir remains, lined with the cement called opus signinum (or coccio pisto). The ruins of another great reservoir rebuilt in the time of Trajan are at the north-west corner, nearly under the Aventine, and are called the Piscina Publica.

THE AQUEDUCTS.
PLATE XIX.

PLAN AND SECTION IN A CAVE IN THE AVENTINE.

XIX.

AQUEDUCTS—PLAN AND SECTIONS IN A CAVE IN THE AVENTINE

Description of Plate XIX.

PLAN AND SECTION IN A CAVE IN THE AVENTINE.

This is the same cave on the Pseudo-Aventine, nearly under the church and monastery of Santa Sabba, which has been before described when partially excavated (Plate [III.][235]), but which has now, in 1875-6, been more thoroughly examined and made accessible.

A A. General Plan of this part of the specus of the Aqua Appia, made into a stone-quarry for many years, and part of it still in use for that purpose, but another large part has been long out of use[236].

B. Entrances to the two parts, the steps distinguish that leading to the part excavated.

C C. Section of part of the cave-quarry.

D. View of that part of the specus of the Aqua Appia which is built of squared stones, and has a terra-cotta water-pipe on each side of it.

E E. Longitudinal Section of this part.

F. Transverse Section of the same.

Details of the Plan A.

a a. Entrance to the cave or quarry.

b b. Via di San Paolo, the carriage-road to that gate.

c c. Via di Santa Sabba, the carriage-road up the hill to the south.

d. Via di Santa Prisca, the road up the hill to the north.

e e. The most perfect part of the specus where it is built, and not merely a tunnel cut in the bed of tufa, as in other parts.

f f f f. Windings of the tunnels for the Aqueducts.

g g. Water-pipes of terra-cotta, by the side of the specus in the part where it is built, and not merely cut out of the tufa.

h. The specus half filled up with the deposit of clay.

i. Steps made to give access to the cave.

THE AQUEDUCTS.
PLATE XX.

THE JUNCTION AT THE WEST END OF THE CŒLIAN, NEAR THE CLAUDIUM.
Plan and Section.

XX.

AQUEDUCTS AT THE WEST END OF THE CELIAN

Description of Plate XX.

THE JUNCTION AT THE WEST END OF THE CŒLIAN, NEAR THE CLAUDIUM.
Plan and Section.

A B C. Line of the Section.

a. Colosseum.

b. Claudium.

c. Arch of Dolabella.

d. Reservoir and Spring of water.

e. Aqueduct of Nero.

f. Cave-reservoir and Spring, with ten wells down into it, erroneously called a vivarium.

g g g. Porticus of the Claudium.

h. Church of SS. John and Paul.

i. —— S. John of Mata.

k. —— S. Maria in Domnica.

l. —— S. Gregory.

m. Clivus Scauri.

n. House of the family of S. Gregory the Great.

o. Villa Celi-Montana (formerly called Villa Mattei).

p. Vineyard of Marchese Rappini.

q. Ground called Orto Botanico.

r. Place of S. Gregory.

s. Arch of Constantine.

t. Meta Sudans.

u. Via Sacra.

v. Summa Sacra Via.

x. Proposed Drain, for turning off the water of this spring from the Colosseum.

y. Branch of an existing subterranean drain under the Via di S. Gregorio, between the Cœlian and the Palatine.

z. Excavation made in 1876 in the Vigna Rappini, in consequence of a land-slip; but nothing was found beyond an old quarry of tufa, at a great depth, and a branch of an aqueduct at nearly the same depth, the water having come originally from the spring in the cave (?) or quarry (?) called a vivarium.

THE AQUEDUCTS.
PLATE XXI.

SECTIONS OF THE SPECUS OF EACH OF THE FIFTEEN AQUEDUCTS OF ROME.

XXI.

SECTIONS OF THE SPECUS OF EACH OF THE 15 AQUEDUCTS OF ROME

Description of Plate XXI.

SECTIONS OF THE SPECUS OF EACH OF THE FIFTEEN AQUEDUCTS OF ROME.

The names of each are given under the section of it, and it will be observed that no two are alike; this was no doubt done in order that the workmen might always know which aqueduct each belonged to, at the points where they cross each other, so that if there was any obstacle in one of them it might be readily removed. Some of those which came from a clay soil, as the Appia and the Virgo, were liable to get choked up by the quantity of deposit left by the water, and it was necessary to have them cleared out from time to time, as is still the case with the Virgo, now called the Aqua di Trevi. One of the small streams that were collected to form the Aqua Hadriana, which comes from near Gabii, was a petrifying spring, which quite choked up the specus in the course of a century. It was restored by Alexander Severus, but the same water seems still to have been used. The Aqua Felice comes from the same sources, but the petrifying spring was carefully excluded, and now runs in a ditch, giving a coat of stone to the sticks and the weeds.

PLAN OF THE AQUEDUCTS.
ON THE CŒLIAN.

AQUEDUCTS ON THE CŒLIAN AND ESQUILINE LEADING TO THE COLOSSEUM.

PLAN OF THE AQUEDUCTS.

On the Cœlian[237].

Three branches diverge from the great central reservoir at the Arch of Dolabella,—one goes straight on, nearly due north to the Palatine, the second north-east to the Colosseum, and the third west to the Aventine.

And on the Esquiline.

From the other great reservoir called the Sette Sale, or the Thermæ, and from thence to the Colosseum.

A.A.A. The drain under the road between the Cœlian and the Palatine, now called Via di S. Gregorio, leading to the Via Appia.

B. Arch of Constantine.

C. Meta Sudans.

D. Thermæ of Titus on the Esquiline, with the great piscina called Sette Sale, and the aqueduct leading from it to the Colosseum.

E. Monastery and Church of S. Gregory.

F. Site of the Porta Capena, with the aqueduct over it, leading to the Piscina Publica under the Aventine: and on to the mouth at the Porta Trigemina, in the bank of the Tiber.

G. Church and monastery of SS. John and Paul.

H. Church and monastery of S. Clement.

I. The great reservoir and Piscina of Nero over the Arch of Dolabella, and reservoir of the Aqua Appia to the left of it; this is underground in the garden of the Villa Celimontana, and from thence the specus goes underground to the cliff of the Cœlian, where another piscina is shewn, near the bottom of the plan, to the left.

Under that part of the Cœlian Hill on which the Claudium stood are seen four piscinæ, two on the western side opposite to the Palatine, and two on the northern side opposite to the Colosseum; of these latter the one at the corner is of the time of Nero, that in the middle of the northern front is of the time of Alexander Severus, when the upper storey of the Colosseum was building of stone.

MAP OF THE AQUEDUCTS
ON THE
EASTERN SIDE OF ROME.

Map of the Aqueducts on the Eastern Side of Rome

Whiteman & Bass, Photo-Litho’ to the Queen, 236, Holborn

This map is reduced by photography from one made for this work on a very large scale, which was thought necessary in order to shew the line of the course of each aqueduct, which, being to a large extent subterranean, are not shewn in the usual maps of the country. In the immediate neighbourhood of Rome the lines are so complicated that they could only be shewn on this large scale. (At the Tor Fiscale, for instance, they remind English travellers of the railways at Clapham Junction near London. There are many coincidences between the aqueducts and the railways; both are carried at different levels in order to cross each other; both are in some parts in tunnels, and in other parts carried on embankments, or on arches). This map was made by Signor De Mauro, an engineer and surveyor, who took much interest in the work, and is generally very careful and accurate, under the direction chiefly of Dr. Fabio Gori, who is a native of Subiaco, near which the principal aqueducts have their sources. The author of this work went with them from time to time to verify what they had done, but as it was a work of several months, and necessarily done in the summer, it was not practicable for him to do more than to go to the source of each aqueduct and follow it down to its mouth. The large map, which covers one side of a room, being 135 ft. long and 90 ft. wide, has been reduced by photography to three different sizes; the first makes eighteen photographs of the usual size, called the “normal size,” and the whole on this scale is about 15 ft. long and 10 ft. wide; this again has been reduced to two sheets[238], 21 ins. long and 14 ins. wide; and then to the same size as this outline; but on this small scale the lettering requires a powerful magnifying-glass, and therefore the bare outline has been taken from it to shew the general features of the line of the great aqueducts. The reservoir at the source of each is marked by a dark circle, and from each of them the line can be traced into Rome. Within the walls a separate and careful examination was required, as so much of the work is subterranean; this examination has been made, and the line of each of the aqueducts has been traced to its mouth. It will be observed that the specus or conduit of each aqueduct is of a separate form, and this was no doubt necessary to distinguish one from the other, as they frequently intersect and cross one another in a very singular manner, and in case of repair being necessary, it would have been very difficult for the workmen to know which aqueduct was at fault, or how to find the part that wanted repair, without this arrangement.

1. The earliest aqueduct, the Appia[239] (B.C. 312), being entirely underground at a considerable depth, is marked by a dotted line. It comes from old stone quarries on the bank of the river Anio, just beyond the Caves of Cervaro, about eight miles from Rome, near the ancient Via Collatina, called by Frontinus Prænestina, because in his time the road to Præneste went through Collatia.

2. Anio Vetus[240] (B.C. 272), comes also from the bank of the river Anio, but at a much higher level than the Appia, between Tivoli and Subiaco, near the village of Agosta, twenty miles from Rome, but the winding course makes the whole length of the aqueduct 42 miles, 779 paces underground, and 221 paces (about 350 yards) above ground on a substructure. It is brought at a considerably higher level than the Appia, but still underground for the most part, though near the surface, and sometimes only half underground. It was not legal to build over an aqueduct anything but another aqueduct, consequently the later aqueducts are all brought on the same line, each on a higher level, so that the line of the Anio Novus, carried on the arches of Nero, shews at the same time the line of the Anio Vetus nearly under it.

3. Marcia[241] (B.C. 145). This stream also comes from near Subiaco, 39 miles from Rome, 36 on the Via Valeria, and 3 off it on a cross-road, near the village of Arsoli. There is a small lake 38 miles from Rome on the same road (which is another source of this aqueduct), into which the water gushes out from under the limestone rock; it is intensely cold in all weathers, and the water is of a light green colour in the lake. “The length of the course is 61 miles 710 paces, of which 54 miles 247 paces are underground, 7 miles 463 paces above ground, on an arcade for 6 miles 472 paces, on a substructure for 528 paces,” and in several places on bridges across the gorges in the hills. This water was brought into Rome again in 1860-70 by a new line, and was then called Aqua Marcia Pia, from Pius IX.; the name of Pia has since been dropped.

4. Virgo[242] (B.C. 21), made by Agrippa for his Thermæ, restored to use by the popes in the eighth century, and frequently repaired; now called the Aqua di Trevi, from the fountain so named. The source is on the Via Collatina, 8 miles from Rome and 1 mile beyond the source of the Appia. There are several springs, each with a separate small reservoir, collected in one large reservoir, now under the road. “The length of the course is 14 miles 105 paces.”

5. Tepula[243] (B.C. 126). The sources of this are 12 miles from Rome, near Grotta Ferrata and Marino, 2 miles from the old Via Latina.

6. Julia[244] (B.C. 34). This source is on the cross-road from Grotta Ferrata to Marino, on the old Via Latina, 14 miles from Rome, and also 2 from the Via Latina (there are still washing-places at each of these two sources). The two streams, when they arrived on the level ground at the foot of the hill, were carried on the same arcade as the Marcia for 6 miles into Rome.

7. Augusta[245]. This name is a mistake of the artist for Aurelia; it is the aqueduct made by Marcus Aurelius for the Villa de Quintilii on the old Via Appia, and united with the Severiana to supply the Thermæ Aurelianæ et Severianæ in Rome.

8. Anio Novus[246] (A.D. 52). “The source of this is 42 miles from Rome, on the Via Sublacensis; the length of the channel is 58 miles 700 paces, of which 49 miles 300 paces are underground, 9 miles 400 paces above ground, 2 miles 3 paces in the upper part and near the City, 609 paces on substructure, 6 miles 491 paces on an arcade of the highest arches, in some places 109 ft. high.” This stream was part of the river Anio itself; a great dam was made across the river in a rocky part, about 2 miles above Subiaco. A great loch (lacus) was formed between this dam and a natural cascade about a hundred yards higher up the river, and a specus was cut in the rock by the side of it at rather a lower level than the top of the dam, so that the water of the river must go into the specus and so into Rome, before any of it could fall over the artificial cascade made by the dam. From this cause the water of this aqueduct never failed in the hottest and driest weather, but it was sometimes muddy after a flood in the upper country, and had many piscinæ or filtering-places for that reason; there is usually one at each half mile in the arcades near Rome, and a castellum aquæ, or reservoir along with it, at each of the angles, made to break the force of the water.

9. Claudia[247] (A.D. 38). The source of this is 38 miles on the Via Sublacensis, just above Subiaco, about 2 miles nearer to Rome than the Anio Novus. They are carried in two distinct specus as far as Tivoli and to the foot of the hill, but on the level ground; both specus are carried on a lofty arcade, which turns at an angle at every half-mile, and there has a piscina, and at each of these points it was carried across the lower arcade, which served for the Marcia, Tepula, and Julia.

10. Hadriana or Trajana[248] (A.D. 120), and Alexandrina (?). The sources of this are under La Colonna, about three miles from Gabii. The specus is carried on a fine arcade for two or three miles between the two great roads. The same water was afterwards used for the Felice, with the exception of one of the springs, which was found to be of a petrifying quality, and had choked up the specus of the old aqueduct. It seems probable that the stalactite produced by the petrifying spring had choked up the specus of Trajan and Hadrian before the time of Alexander Severus, that he restored it to use, and it was then called by his name. The construction of the Piscina and Castella Aquæ near the source is distinctly of the time of Hadrian, but in some parts the arcade which carries the specus is of the time of Alexander Severus.

11. Severiana[249] (A.D. 190). The sources of this are in a swampy ground on the lower part of one of the Alban Hills, under Marino and Grotta Ferrata, nearly the same as those of the small river Almo, and the Tepula and Julia. The course is at first underground as far as the Torre di Mezza Via di Albano; from thence it is carried on a fine arcade of the third century to the Villa de Quintilii, and from thence into Rome for the Thermæ of Aurelius Commodus and Septimius Severus, near the Porta Latina.

12. Alexandrina (?)[250]. There is some doubt about the source and the line of this aqueduct.

13. Algentiana[251]. This aqueduct went to the Thermæ of Diocletian, where the specus has been found, but it is almost the same as the last. Both were probably branches from the great early aqueducts.

14. Aqua Felice[252], A.D. 1587. Made by the Pope, Felice Peretti, or Sixtus V. Its source is the same as that of the Hadriana, which was mistaken in his time for the celebrated Aqua Marcia.

15. Aqua Marcia Pia. The real old Marcian water was brought into Rome by a Company in 1860-70. The course as far as Tivoli is in a stone specus, like the old aqueduct, but after it reaches the level ground it is carried in cast-iron pipes on the other side of the river Anio, and passes under it by a great syphon. This was to avoid repeating the great circuit made by the old aqueduct, and was also done to escape the necessity of crossing the mouths of the number of small streams that fall into the river Anio and drain the Campagna; these are often flooded in the wet season, and would have been likely to injure the bridges of the aqueducts where they crossed the stream; the iron pipes avoid them by being on the other side of the river.

MAP OF THE AQUEDUCTS
ON THE
WESTERN SIDE OF ROME[253].

Map of the Aqueducts on the Western Side of Rome

Whiteman & Bass, Photo-Litho’ to the Queen, 236, Holborn

The account given of the map of the eastern side of Rome applies almost equally to this, but the difficulty to be surmounted was here greater. Neither Dr. Gori, nor Signor De Mauro, nor the author knew the ground; we had only Frontinus and Fabretti to help us, and the course is much more subterranean on this side than on the other. There are none of the great arcades to carry the specus for five or six miles; the only portion where they are carried on an arcade for any distance is on the side and upon the wall of the garden of the villa Pamphili-Doria, and there the arcade as seen is the work of Pope Paul V. (Borghese), who restored them to use in the sixteenth century, making use of the old subterranean specus and the ruins of the old arches, which can be seen against the wall of that garden. From this point they are mostly subterranean, we traced them to the three lakes which served as reservoirs for them. The first specus on this side of the Lacus Alsietinus has been kept separate from the one on the other side. In the time of Augustus the water came from the two upper lakes, but it was brought at a very low level, and the water from these being always muddy and bad, Frontinus, under Trajan, rejected it, and brought the water only from the Sabatina; Pope Paul returned to the use of the upper lake, Alsietina.

This map is also reduced by photography from one on a much larger scale, though not so large as the one for the eastern side, as that was found inconveniently large, and on this side there was less complication to examine and explain. Great credit is due to Signor de Mauro for the tact with which he traced the subterranean lines. He found that there are wells and air-holes at intervals, not always regular, but nearly so, and that when they are in grass-land or barren land, shrubs have always grown over the top of each well on account of the moisture that remained in it, and by means of these shrubs he was able to follow the line.

These aqueducts, which supplied the fountains in the Trastevere, all come from the lakes on the hills. The Alsietina of Augustus comes from the lake of that name (now called Martignano), between the Via Claudia and the Via Aurelia, but not very near to either, being 6½ miles from the Via Claudia at the fourteenth milestone, as Frontinus states. This was made to supply the Naumachia of Augustus, which were near the present monastery of S. Cosimato in Trastevere; the water was very abundant, but not fit for drinking. It entered Rome at a lower level than any of the other aqueducts, because the Naumachia were very little above the level of the Tiber. At the small town called the Cariæ (near the present Osteria Nuova), about fifteen miles from Rome, it received an additional supply of water from the Lacus Sabatinus. Trajan restored to use that part which came from the latter lake; this is better water than the Alsietina. Pope Paul III., A.D. 1540, again restored this to use, and it is now called Aqua Paola. His engineers brought the water from three lakes, the two before mentioned, and a smaller one above the Alsietina, called Stracciacappe. The object of bringing the water from this very high level, 500 ft. above Rome, was to supply the splendid fountains in front of S. Peter’s, the water of which rises to a great height. This lake was drained in 1870, and at the same time the water in the Alsietina was also much lowered, by which means the three specus were brought to light on the bank, and the sites are shewn on this map. The Aqueduct of Trajan was carried at a much higher level than that of Augustus, and entered Rome on the top of the Janiculum. Procopius, in the sixth century, admired the profuse supply of water at that point; and the water was then, as it is now, used for a series of mills on the slope of the hill. The engineers of Pope Paul made use of the water of all the three lakes, and a most abundant supply still flows into Rome through the Fountain, above the Church of S. Pietro in Montorio. How far the old specus was used it is difficult to tell, but most probably that of Trajan was used for a large part of the distance; it is almost entirely underground until the last mile into Rome, where it was carried on an arcade of the time of Trajan. The Aqua Paola is there also carried on an arcade, parallel to it and near to it, but not the same.