The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

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.