The archæology of Rome, Part 8 : $b The aqueductsParker, John Henry
History
The archæology of Rome, Part 8 : $b The aqueducts
Parker, John Henry
Rome -- Antiquities
From Tivoli the Aqueducts again pass underground for some miles,
gradually winding down the hill from the high level to that of Rome on
the Campagna, at about seven miles distance. They were carried upon
bridges, some of which are very fine and picturesque, across the gorges
of the hills and the mountain streams. At the place where they arrive at
the lower ground, there are large reservoirs and filtering-places for
them, and the locality is called from them the Piscinæ.
From thence they are carried on the fine and celebrated arcades across
the Campagna, presenting some of the finest pictures in the neighbourhood
of Rome.
At the Piscinæ, the Tepula and Julia, from the Alban Hills near Marino,
were added to the Marcia, and carried on the same arcade. The greater
part of them was destroyed, and used for building materials by the
engineers of the Aqua Felice in the sixteenth century; but there are some
very remarkable and picturesque remains of the arcade at intervals, the
more interesting because so little is left of it. One fine piece remains
at a locality called Sette Bassi and Roma Vecchia, five miles from Rome
(1435), where a small portion of each of the three Aqueducts on an arcade
can be seen in Nos. 1006 and 536, and the Piscinæ near to it, 534, 1434,
1438.
This arcade is seen again at the Torre Fiscale, a medieval tower built
upon the aqueducts at one of the points of junction, and at one of the
angles, which they made at every half mile. Here the more lofty arcade of
the Claudia and Anio Novus is carried over that of the Marcia, Tepula,
and Julia; while the Anio Vetus runs underground at the foot of it, and
the Felice is built up against it; so that at this point seven aqueducts
cross each other, and have a tall medieval tower built on the top of
them[226]. The Torre Fiscale, with this remarkable junction, is shewn in
Nos. 528, 529, 530, 531, 532. A plan and section of it are given in 689*.
There is another angle and crossing at the Porta Furba, half-a-mile
nearer to Rome, which makes another very picturesque point of view (shewn
in Nos. 551, 552). A small portion of it remains built into a gardener’s
cottage at another angle, about a mile from Rome, and a fine large
reservoir near to it. The ground then rises, and the arcade is buried
for some distance; the upper part of the arches of brick, as rebuilt by
Trajan, are then visible by the side of the old road that runs close
to the northern side of the great Claudian arcade, on the line of the
Marcian, which was parallel to the Claudian for some miles into Rome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account