The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

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*.