The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

PREFACE TO THE AQUEDUCTS.

It is impossible to understand the archæology of Rome without studying the Aqueducts. In every part of the City, and of the country round it, there are remains of them; they are frequently mistaken for something else, and called by other names, misleading those who have not given attention to the subject. They are necessarily mixed up with the Thermæ, for most of the aqueducts were made to bring water to those great establishments. There was also a reservoir of water supplied by the aqueducts under each of the palaces, larger houses and villas, as may be seen in many parts of the Palatine, under the palaces of the Cæsars. In their original state the Aqueducts must have been among the grandest objects in Rome, and the most conspicuous in all directions. The principal approach from the east passed between two fine arcades of the aqueducts, one carrying three of them, the other two. These two fine arcades were not more than a hundred yards apart; all the great roads from the eastern side were brought into this space, and certainly, for the last mile into Rome, must have had one of these arcades on either hand: to the left, or south, the Claudian arcade, fifty feet high; to the right, the Marcian, thirty feet high.

For the last half-mile, the Claudian arcade was also the boundary of the palace gardens of the Sessorium, the residence first of the Kings and afterwards of one branch of the imperial family (that of Verus or Varius), who resided there for more than a century. That portion of the arcade still exists for a considerable extent, forming the northern wall of that garden, and at the same time part of the wall of the city, Aurelian having adopted it, and incorporated it with his great wall. This portion is thoroughly shewn in my Photographs, as it is a very important part of the antiquities of Rome, and illustrates many points. It was the place where the principal aqueducts entered Rome, and the whole ground is full of remains of them with their reservoirs and filtering-places. The inner side of the wall is the part necessarily shewn, because the outer side is concealed by the arcade of the Aqua Felice, excepting in places where the specus of the Claudia and the Anio Novus appear above it. Just outside of this garden, at the west end of it, is the great foss which separated the Sessorium, or fortified palace, from the other fortifications of the City, and in it are remains of the two great reservoirs that were probably the Gemelli or Twins of Frontinus, made originally for the Appia and the Anio Vetus side by side, and used afterwards to receive the surplus water of the later aqueducts on a higher level. We then have a considerable number of the Arches of Nero, following a straight line for another mile to the west end of the Cœlian Hill; where remains of the great reservoir are on a level with the specus carried on the top of this arcade, fifty feet above the ground in that high situation, from which the water was distributed in all directions, first on other arcades, three of which branched off from this point, and afterwards in metal pipes when it was sub-divided; but for the main supply no metal pipes then to be had were large and strong enough to bear the pressure of a stream of water four feet deep and two feet wide, running at the rate of five or six miles an hour, if not more. The direct line went on over the Palatine to the Capitol, passing over the Forum Romanum on the bridge of Caligula, of which, also, some remains are shewn in my Photographs; the other two branches from the great reservoir over the Arch of Dolabella, went one to the right to the Colosseum (to supply the Stagna there), the other to the left to the Aventine, to supply the private house of Trajan and the Thermæ of Sura.

The Porta Maggiore stood at the end of the long vista between the two great aqueducts, and was itself made out of two of the arches of the Claudian arcade, in the last of the angles that occurred at every half-mile. The penultimate one was at the eastern end of the Sessorium palace gardens, where this water entered Rome, and then, after passing the angle to the north, with the usual piscina and castellum aquæ, or reservoir and filtering-place, turned again to the west, as far as that gate where the Claudian arcade terminated. From this point the Marcian turned to the north upon the great bank of earth which formed the outer defence of Rome in that part, and continued along it for another half-mile, as far as the Porta di S. Lorenzo, and beyond it to the Prætorian Camp; then turning again to the west, it went across the great inner foss between the outer bank, the great agger of Servius Tullius, which formed the inner line, where remains of it were found near the railway station in 1871, with inscriptions on two of the cippi, stating that the three aqueducts passed there. It is not quite correct to say that the arcades were carried there, because where the ground is high the specus are carried underground. This is the case between the Porta Maggiore (the Porta Esquilina of Frontinus) and the Porta di S. Lorenzo (the Porta Viminalis of the same). The specus is seen on arches close to each of the gates; but, between the two, it passed underground through a sort of hillock, about midway between the two gates, as is mentioned by Frontinus. The ground is high again near the Porta Chiusa at the Prætorian Camp, and in the great bank or agger of Servius Tullius.

These two great arcades are those chiefly known to visitors to Rome as The Aqueducts; but the underground aqueducts are at least equally interesting when understood. The Anio Vetus being near the surface can be traced all over Rome; the Appia being very deep, is not so easily traced, and can only be seen with certainty near its source and its mouth. There are other arcades nearly as fine as these; but, as they do not come so near Rome, they are less known; in the parts nearest to the City they are either underground or destroyed. One of them is that called Alexandrina by Fabretti; but the original parts of it are of the time of Hadrian and Trajan. This runs from the source near Gabii and Labicum, now la Colonna, to the place called Cento-Celle. Possibly some of the hundred cells or vaults found there and supposed to have been all tombs, were really reservoirs of water. At every great villa there are always remains of these great cisterns for the supply of water, and this is about three miles from Rome, where a great villa of Hadrian was situated. This arcade extends for miles across the country between the two great roads, one from Gabii, the other from Preneste (now Palestrina). Another fine arcade is seen on the road to Albano, at the Tor di Mezza Via (or half-way house). This has been ascertained to be the Aqua Aurelia, which goes to the villa of the Quintilii on the Via Appia, and from thence into Rome to supply the Thermæ of Commodus and Severus, of which also remains have been found; the latter part of its course is chiefly underground.

It was very difficult at first to ascertain to which of the aqueducts each of the remains belonged that were seen on all sides; and I found it necessary to follow each aqueduct up to its source, and then down to its mouth, in order to ascertain this. This work has taken me some years, in connection with the other branches of the general subject of the Archæology of Rome. It has now been done, with one exception,—the aqueduct made to bring water to the Thermæ of Diocletian on the Viminal,—which has not been traced; but there is great probability that it was a branch from one of the older aqueducts, probably brought across from the great reservoir where the Nymphæum of Alexander Severus was situated, on which the Trophies of Marius were hung. This is on high ground, and at a short distance only, so that it would be very convenient for the purpose. We see that there are several branches from that point, and one of them probably supplied these great Thermæ, for which purpose more than one aqueduct would be tapped. It may be that the curious sort of tower reservoir—long supposed to have been a tomb, a short distance to the south of the Trophies of Marius—was the one for these Thermæ; in either case, these reservoirs were supplied from the great old aqueducts.

I may almost say that wherever the aqueducts are visible, they can now be seen in my Photographs, and in some places the remains have been destroyed since these were taken, during what is called the Restoration of the City Walls. Perhaps the finest and most interesting part of the Aqueducts are the great cascades at the source of the Anio Novus above Subiaco, in the bed of that river, situated in some of the finest scenery in the world. Among later works the ingenious manner in which the bed of the small river Almo is made use of to carry the water of two other mountain streams, the Aqua Crabra and the Marrana, the water of which never fails; and the manner in which the tunnel of the Aqua Julia has been used again in the twelfth century, are the most curious and interesting. This had hitherto escaped observation, and was not easily traced. The Aqua Felice was unfortunately carried out in a very rude manner; the plan of the Pope was a good one, but was spoiled by the ignorance of the engineer.

The new aqueduct, the Aqua Marcia-Pia, restoring the celebrated Aqua Marcia to use in Rome, is a work deserving of high commendation. It is much to be regretted that my lamented friend the late Mr. Shepherd, to whose energy and perseverance we are chiefly indebted for this, did not live to see the completion of his work. Much credit is also due to Signor Moraldi, the originator of the scheme, to whom the Company still pay a premium, which he well deserves. His map[1] of the Aqua Marcia, of which he kindly gave me a photograph, was of great service to me, as far as it went; but I saw it was necessary to go further, and include all the Aqueducts on the eastern side of Rome. I was fortunate in meeting with Dr. Fabio Gori, who is a native of Subiaco, and has been interested in the Aqueducts from his boyhood. He shewed me that Signor Moraldi had not gone quite far enough, and that the real spring of the Marcia is about a mile further from Rome than the one he supposed to be so, which was a subsidiary spring, though of equally good water. At the original source the stone specus was found, having been long concealed by being a foot or two under water. I saw it, and stood upon it, and had a photograph made, so that there could be no mistake, and the engineer of the company also saw it, and carried his aqueduct to that point; so that the real ancient Aqua Marcia now comes into Rome again, and is getting rapidly into general use, being much the best drinking water. The water supply of ancient Rome has long been a subject of interest, and can now be more perfectly understood than it ever could before. The series of Photographs of them are a thorough illustration of their history, such as could not have been made before that art was invented.