The archæology of Rome, Part 8

by John Henry Parker

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.