The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

The Thermæ of Septimius Severus and Commodus were close to each other, and probably connected. They are mentioned together in the Regionary Catalogue as in the first Regio, and there are remains of them under the small hill, called Monte d’Oro, probably, from the golden colour of the sand in its original state, which is situated just within the Porta Latina, between that and the Porta Metronia. Some excavations were made there in 1870 by the Archæological Society, and large subterranean chambers and corridors were found similar to those under the Thermæ of Antoninus Caracalla. The specus of an aqueduct was also followed for a considerable distance in the direction of the Porta Latina. This must have been for the Aqua Severiana. Just outside of that gate are remains of two piscinæ or castella aquarum, one on either side, and on different levels. One of these belonged to the Aqua Aurelia, the other to the Severiana. The course of this latter is more doubtful, but it was probably only a branch from one of the great aqueducts, and would appear to have come in the bank on which that part of the wall of Aurelian was built, from the Porta Metronia to the Porta Latina. It arrived at the bridge over the Almo (on which the gateway-arch of the Porta Metronia is built), from the great piscina and castellum aquæ, on the cliff of the Cœlian, near the Porta Capena and the Camenæ, where two aqueducts are now visible, having been brought to light by the excavations of the Archæological Society. The construction of one of these aqueducts agrees with the time of Septimius Severus.

XIV. Antoniniana, A.D. 215.

This aqueduct enters Rome at the south-east corner near the Porta di S. Sebastiano, and passes over the arch of Drusus; a part of the arcade is visible by the side of it. The specus can be seen both in the wall of the city, through which it passes, and over that arch, and one of the arches of the arcade remains on the east side of it. It was carried in that manner for some distance across the valley or foss, until it reached the high bank of earth on which the Wall of Aurelian is built, near the Porta di S. Sebastiano, and then along the edge of that bank, which is the great agger of the ancient earthworks, against the outer side of which the Wall of Aurelian is built. The inner side of the bank is supported by a low wall here as in many other parts, and upon or against that inner wall the specus of the aqueduct is carried. It is sometimes on an arcade, in other parts it is carried on the wall to the Thermæ of Antoninus Caracalla. The demolition of part of this arcade in modern times is recorded by contemporary authors.

The specus passed upon an arch over the road in the old foss outside the wall into a garden on the opposite side, where it can be seen on the level of the ground; thence it can be traced through that large garden or vineyard as far as the railway, which passes on the outer side of it in a deep cutting. The remains of the brick arcade here form a wall between this garden and another. It is covered with shrubs, and looks like a hedge, from which circumstance it has hitherto escaped observation. The wall is cut through by the railway, but can be traced on the other side of it along the bank of a narrow deep lane, like what we call in England a Devonshire lane. This lane goes parallel to the Via Latina, on the southern side of it, for about a mile; the aqueduct then leaves it, turning short to the left. Near to this angle, at about half-a-mile outside of the Porta Latina, is a large reservoir belonging to this aqueduct. It is built against the western cliff of the valley of the Caffarella, the top of it level with the summit of the cliff, and therefore is not visible from above, as a person standing on the higher ground looks over it. It is also hidden by a clump of trees; but it is very distinctly visible from the valley below, and from some parts of the Via Appia, and is readily seen to be a castellum aquæ by the boldly-projecting buttresses to support the wall with the weight of water behind it. The Aqua Antoniniana ran along the edge of the cliff, and supplied this large reservoir, which is oblong as usual, and divided down the middle by an arcade, similar to the fine one of the Marcian near Tivoli, and many others. This has been plastered over, and made into a cow-house. It is far above the level of the Aqua Aurelia, which runs below along the side of the valley of the Caffarella. The Aqua Antoniniana clearly came from the higher aqueducts in the main line; and, according to the Einsiedlen Itinerary, it was a branch of the Marcian which went to supply the Thermæ of the Antonines called that of Caracalla. Part of the brick arcade, with the specus upon it, is here visible in another garden against a cliff; it then passes underground for a short distance, but soon emerges again, and can be traced against another cliff as far as the Via Latina, which is here upon a bank, or rather on the edge of higher ground, with the remains of a piscina by the side of it. The specus then again passes underground for some distance, and the next point where we have been able to find it is an old stone quarry, the vault of which fell down in 1870, and revealed this specus, which was not visible before. This is in the garden behind the Albergo de’ Spiriti, on the Via Appia Nova, about two miles from Rome, and near the point where it crosses the old Via Latina[184].

A large reservoir remains near the Porta Furba, about a quarter of a mile nearer to Rome, and just two miles from the Porta Maggiore. Here we excavated (in 1871) this large subterranean reservoir, near the Claudian arcade on the southern side, but not very close to it, rather nearer to the road to Tusculum (Frascati), which passes near the Porta Furba. This reservoir appears to have belonged to the Anio Vetus, which agrees with the account in Frontinus, of a branch of the Anio Vetus at two miles from Rome, going in the direction of a new road. The specus crosses the Via Appia Nova near the Albergo de’ Spiriti, and the Via Appia Nova was probably a new road in the time of Frontinus, as indicated by the tombs of the first century along the side of it.

XV. Alexandrina, A.D. 225.

The Aqua Alexandrina is distinctly mentioned by Lampridius in his life of Alexander Severus (c. 25), as made to bring water to his thermæ, which were near those of Nero, and therefore near the Campus Martius and the Pantheon in Regio IX. This could only have been a branch from the Virgo[185], as there is no aqueduct of the third century along the Cœlian, and no trace of a branch from the Palatine or the Capitol.