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 the Villa dei Quintilii it went parallel to the Via Appia. One of
the reservoirs of it nearer to Rome is made into a farm-house, with a
tower to it, and has the appearance of a church at a little distance;
it is called the Casale di S. Maria Nuova (2348); it then passed again
underground. Near the head of the valley of the Caffarella there remains
a _piscina_ for it nearly perfect (1372); this is very near also to the
Circus of Maxentius and his son Romulus. There is another _piscina_ or
small reservoir for it near the church of S. Urbano, often mistaken for
a tomb; here it again forms an angle, and the _specus_ descends (plan
and drawing, 831*) to the Nymphæum, or so-called Fountain of Egeria
(262). The _specus_ is then continued in the cliff of the valley of the
Caffarella, from that fountain towards the tomb of the first century
called Dio Ridicolo. Nearly opposite to that tomb the _specus_ is visible
in the cliff, with large openings into it, between which it passes
underground. Wherever it was above ground it has been carried off as
building materials and destroyed, so that it has not again been found
until it arrives at the remains of a _piscina_, just to the south of the
Porta Latina (984). It then entered the city of Aurelian through the bank
on which his wall is built, and supplied the Thermæ of Commodus within
that gate (as has been said), 1485, 1486.
XIV. ANTONINIANA, A.D. 215.
This aqueduct was used to supply the great Thermæ of the Antonines, now
called after Antoninus Caracalla. It is more easily traced backwards,
passing along the inner side of the bank on which the Wall of Aurelian
is built, then upon an arcade which has been destroyed in this part, but
of which remains are visible inside of the Porta Ardeatina (986), by the
side of the Arch of Drusus, just within the Porta di S. Sebastiano (73,
1772, 1202). It then passes underground through the bank, and emerges in
the city wall at the angle between the Porta di S. Sebastiano and the
Porta Latina (539, 883). It here crosses the road, and is visible in the
garden on the opposite side (884).
XV. ALEXANDRINA, A.D. 225.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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