“Montecassino Manuscript,” an account of which with the translation is given by Mr. Clemens Herschel in his entertaining work, “Frontinus, and the Water-supply of the City of Rome.” [1] The first permanent water commissioner in Rome was M. Agrippa, son-in-law of Cæsar Augustus, who took office B.C. 34. He was one of the greatest Roman engineers and constructors, if indeed he was not the first in rank. As near as can be determined Frontinus lived from about A.D. 35 to A.D. 103 or 104. Judging from the offices which Frontinus held and the honors which he enjoyed throughout his life, it would appear that he was a patrician; he was certainly a man of excellent executive capacity, of intellectual vigor and refined taste, and a conscientious public servant. The water-supply of the city was held by the Romans to be one of the most important of all its public works, and its administration during the life of Frontinus was entrusted to what we should call a water commissioner, appointed by the emperor. It was considered to be an office of dignity and honor, and the proper discharge of its responsibilities was a public duty which required a high order of talent, as well as great integrity of character. =26. The Roman Aqueducts.=—Frontinus states that from the foundation of the city of Rome until 313 B.C., i.e., for a period of 441 years, the only water-supply was that drawn either from the river Tiber or from wells or springs. The veneration of the Romans for springs is a well-known feature of their religious tenets. They were preserved with the greatest care, and hedged about with careful safeguards against irreverent treatment or polluting conditions. Apparently after this date the people of Rome began to feel the need of a public water-supply adequate to meet the requirements of a great city. At any rate, in the year 313 B.C. the first aqueduct, called the Appia, for bringing public water into the city of Rome was attempted by Censors Appius Claudius, Crassus, and C. Plautius, the former having constructed the aqueduct, and the latter having found the springs. Appius must have been an engineer of no mean capacity, for it was he who constructed the first portion of the Appian Way. The origin of this water-supply is some springs about 10 miles from Rome, and they may now be seen at the bottom of stone quarries in the valley of the Anio River. This aqueduct, Aqua Appia, is mostly an underground waterway, only about 300 feet of it being carried on masonry arches. At the point where it enters the city it was over 50 feet below the surface; its clear cross-section is given as 2½ feet wide by 5 feet high. The elevation of its water surface in Rome was probably under 60 feet above sea-level. [Illustration: Claudia, of dimension stone, and Anio Novus, of brick and concrete, on top of it.]